Zachary Taylor’s secretary of state, John M. Clayton, met with a British representative, Sir Henry Bulwer, to calm a potentially troublesome issue in Central America. Both powers had studied the feasibility of constructing a canal to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the narrow isthmus in Central America. Initially the most promising site appeared to be in Nicaragua. Neither party was prepared in 1850 to undertake the massive project, but wanted to ensure that one country would not act in the absence of the other.