Roosevelt's Panamanian Photoshoot

Presidential diplomacy now routinely involves hundreds of trips on Air Force One - but, until Theodore Roosevelt travelled to inspect the Panama Canal on 9th November, 1906, no serving US President had ever ventured abroad.

It was the biggest infrastructure project a President had ever undertaken, costing hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of lives. To reassure Americans he was at the helm, Roosevelt was photographed sitting atop a steam shovel, wearing a pristine white suit.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal the most recent President to remain ‘at home’ throughout his Presidency; consider whether Roosevelt had ADHD; and explain why one of George H W Bush’s foreign trips inadvertently inspired the Japanese to create a new word for vomiting. 

Further Reading:

• ‘7 Little-Known Legacies of Teddy Roosevelt’ (HISTORY, 2020): https://www.history.com/news/teddy-roosevelt-legacies

• ‘The Panama Canal’s Forgotten Casualties’ (The Conversation, 2018): https://theconversation.com/the-panama-canals-forgotten-casualties-93536

• ‘George H.W. Bush Vomits’ (January 8, 1992): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_KVL-wtpgg

For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors

‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Every Thursday is 'Throwback Thursday' on Today in History with the Retrospectors: running one repeat per week means we can keep up the quality of our independent podcast. Daily shows like this require a lot of work! But as ever we'll have something new for you tomorrow, so follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors

Love the show? Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!

Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.

Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices