Oh, Panama!

You say that you've got a problem too large to solve?

"[Teddy Roosevelt] had to create and staff an entirely new administrative organization which had to be responsible for digging, dredging, and constructing locks and dams on a huge scale [in order to build the Panama Canal]. It had to provide for the regular and systematic flow of supplies and materials from the Unites States over 2,000 miles of water to tie Isthmus. It had to recruit a laboring force of skilled and unskilled labor, to transport the force to Panama, and then to house and feed these men. The care of their health required a large medical staff to fight yellow fever and other tropical diseases. Furthermore, this administrative unit had to govern the Canal Zone and handle relations between the Americans and the Panamanians. Finally, the organization had to operate under pressures from Congress, labor officials, the press, and the American public."

Back to work!