PANAMA CANAL- A ship canal, about 82 km (51 mi) long, crossing the Isthmus of Panama in the Canal Zone and connecting the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean(Mifflin). LOCKS- The locks in the Panama Canal are stretches of water enclosed by gates built into the canal to raise or lower the water from one level to another(Mifflin). Theodore Roosevelt- President of the United States after William McKinley's assassination in 1901. Approved construction of canal.(Mifflin 359-367)