Editing William McKinley (section)

====Panama canal====
Closer to home, McKinley and [[John Hay|Hay]] engaged in negotiations with Britain over the possible construction of a canal across Central America. The [[Clayton–Bulwer Treaty]], which the two nations signed in 1850, prohibited either from establishing exclusive control over a canal there. The war had exposed the difficulty of maintaining a two-ocean navy when the Navy had to sail all the way around South America to reach the Pacific.{{sfn|Gould|pp=196–98}} Now, with American business and military interests even more involved in Asia, a canal seemed more essential than ever, and McKinley pressed for a renegotiation of the treaty.{{sfn|Gould|pp=196–98}} Hay and the British ambassador, [[Julian Pauncefote, 1st Baron Pauncefote|Julian Pauncefote]], agreed that the United States could control a future canal, provided that it was open to all shipping and not fortified.{{sfn|McCullough|pp=256–59}} McKinley was satisfied with the terms, but the Senate rejected them, demanding that the United States be allowed to fortify the canal.{{sfn|McCullough|pp=256–59}} Hay was embarrassed by the rebuff and offered his resignation, but McKinley refused it and ordered him to continue negotiations to achieve the Senate's demands.{{sfn|McCullough|pp=256–59}} He was successful, and [[Hay–Pauncefote Treaty|a new treaty]] was drafted and approved, but not before McKinley's assassination in 1901.{{sfn|McCullough|pp=256–59}} The result under Roosevelt was the [[Panama Canal]].