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cover of episode Roosevelt and the Renegade (Panama Disaster 2)

Roosevelt and the Renegade (Panama Disaster 2)

2025/5/23
logo of podcast Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
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John Stevens
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Theodore Roosevelt
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Theodore Roosevelt: 我对史蒂文斯在信中表达的对巴拿马运河项目的消极态度和不满感到非常不满。我认为巴拿马运河对美国至关重要，史蒂文斯应该感到荣幸能参与其中。我不能容忍他违背承诺，在运河尚未完成时就想辞职。我需要一个能坚持到底的人，而不是一个只关心金钱和个人利益的人。我希望他能认识到这项工程对美国的战略意义，并以荣誉感和责任感来完成它。我原本希望他能像士兵一样，为国家的利益而战，但他似乎并不理解这一点。因此，我接受了他的辞职，并决定寻找一个更合适的人来领导这个项目。 John Stevens: 我从未主动要求担任巴拿马运河的总工程师，接受这个职位违背了我的意愿。我不喜欢在巴拿马的工作，而且我在巴拿马的运河工作让我损失了很多钱。对我来说，运河只是一个大水沟，它的实用性对我来说并不像对其他人那么明显。荣誉和爱国主义对我来说并不重要，不能弥补我所做的牺牲。我感觉我无法承受未来八年的压力，我想休息一下。我为我们所取得的成就感到自豪，并相信从现在开始，运河的迅速完成的前景将变得越来越光明。我意识到运河的问题在于运输，而不是挖掘，所以我专注于解决运输问题，并建立了一个新的铁路系统。

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President Theodore Roosevelt initiated the ambitious Panama Canal project, but his first chief engineer quit. Roosevelt then appointed John Stevens, who expressed his reluctance and dissatisfaction with the project in a letter to the president. This letter led to Stevens' resignation being accepted by Roosevelt.
  • Theodore Roosevelt initiated the Panama Canal project.
  • John Stevens, the second chief engineer, expressed his dissatisfaction.
  • Stevens' resignation was accepted by Roosevelt.

Shownotes Transcript

Sixteen years have passed since Ferdinand De Lesseps' catastrophic failure in Panama and the dramatic collapse of the French Panama Canal company. Now, President Theodore Roosevelt has picked up the task. “No single great material work,” Roosevelt tells Congress, “is of such consequence to the American people.”The Americans have their work cut out. Enter chief engineer John Stevens. How does he spot a problem no-one else has noticed? And what does he do to solve it?

For a full list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com).

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