Learn how Roosevelt acted quickly upon becoming President to establish plans to build the Panama Canal. After the Spanish-American War in 1898, American territory extended further into both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, making it increasingly important to build a canal that would bridge the two seas. The French, who had successfully overseen the construction of the Suez Canal in 1869, had tried and failed to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama - at that time part of Colombia. Once he became president, Roosevelt acted quickly to establish plans to build the canal. In 1902, the U.S. reached an agreement to buy rights to the French canal property and equipment. Next, the U.S. then began negotiating a Panama treaty with Colombia.