President Theodore Roosevelt helped make the United States a world power by expanding its influence through a strong and assertive foreign policy. He modernized and expanded the Navy, built the Panama Canal to control an important strategic waterway, and upheld the Monroe Doctrine with the Roosevelt Corollary, which asserted U.S. intervention rights in Latin America to maintain stability. Roosevelt's diplomacy included brokering peace between Russia and Japan, pursuing the Open Door Policy to keep China open to trade, and maintaining U.S. influence in the Caribbean and Pacific regions. His approach combined military strength ("speak softly and carry a big stick") with strategic diplomacy to elevate the U.S. as a global power.
Additionally, President Franklin D. Roosevelt also played a key role in establishing the United States as a world power during and after World War II. He expanded U.S. influence through economic and military support that helped the Allies, oversaw mobilization of the American economy for the war effort, and was instrumental in founding the United Nations and global post-war institutions promoting a rules-based international order. His leadership during this time solidified the United States' status as a global hegemon with shared political values.
