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President Roosevelt wanted to keep relations with South American countries on good standings for more than one purpose. Not only did the United States hold much of South America in debt, but the U.S. had other obligations in Latin America as well. The construction of the Panama Canal had not yet been completed and Roosevelt needed United States relations with the nations of the Caribbean Sea to remain undivided. .
President Roosevelt was aware of the fact that for his nation to remain unopposed, his financial responsibilities, and the nations that housed them, must remain out of harm's way as well. By enforcing the Roosevelt Corollary and completing the construction of the Panama Canal, Roosevelt hoped to improve the ability of the United States to project its power within the Western Hemisphere. President Roosevelt began his distortion to the Monroe Doctrine as an unyielding dominating world power, saying on December 6, 1904 "that a general intervention by some civilized nation which, in the Western Hemisphere, the United States alone had a right to exercise," (Kissinger, 39). .
When Roosevelt first initiated the Corollary, the Latin American nations felt sheltered by the United States, but they now felt that the U.S. were exerting their domination where none was needed. "Latin Americans mistakenly cursed the unoffending Monroe, when they should have cursed the offending Roosevelt," (Bailey, Cohen, and Kennedy, 658). The military's endless involvement in the Caribbean Sea did nothing for the image of the United States, and only helped Roosevelt's Corollary promote the "Bad Neighbor" policy. .
In 1904, hostilities between Russia and Japan allowed Roosevelt to demonstrate his authority and gave him the opportunity to expand American influence into Asia. As the war began to show the loss of Japanese troops and money, Tokyo officials "approached Roosevelt in the deepest secrecy and asked him to help sponsor peace negotiations," (Bailey, Cohen, and Kennedy, 659).
