To realise great vision almost always requires huge sacrifice. This was well illustrated in the design and construction of the Panama Canal. Hailed as a triumph of engineering upon its completion in 1914, it took 35 years of struggle to complete and cost the deaths of at least 20,000 men, including its designer, Ferdinand de Lesseps. Theodore Roosevelt and his engineer John Stevens finished the job just before World War 1 broke out, which was just as well, since the canal played an important strategic role.