Long-distance travel before the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System was not always so easy. It seems to me that we shouldn't take for granted the enormity of the accomplishment: 46,876 miles of highway.
Long before taking office, Eisenhower recognized the importance of highways. According to his biographer, Stephen Ambrose, his first realization of the value of good highways occurred in 1919, when he participated in the U.S. Army's first transcontinental motor convoy from Washington, DC, to San Francisco.
On the way west, the convoy experienced all the woes known to motorists, and then some—an endless series of mechanical difficulties; vehicles stuck in mud or sand; trucks and other equipment crashing through wooden bridges; and extremes of weather, from desert heat to Rocky Mountain freezing.
During World War II, Gen. Eisenhower saw the advantages Germany enjoyed because of the autobahn network. He also noted the enhanced mobility of the Allies when they fought their way into Germany, and would later advocate for a U.S. interstate highway system that could rapidly move our troops across great distances.
Ambrose stated: "Of all his domestic programs, Eisenhower's favorite by far was the Interstate System." Eisenhower's 1963 memoir, Mandate for Change 1953-1956, explained why:
"More than any single action by the government since the end of the war, this one would change the face of America. ... Its impact on the American economy—the jobs it would produce in manufacturing and construction, the rural areas it would open up—was beyond calculation."
The next 50 years would be filled with unexpected engineering challenges, unanticipated controversies and unforeseen funding difficulties. Nevertheless, the president's view would prove correct. The interstate system, and the federal-state partnership that built it, changed the face of America.
Interestingly enough, the Highway Trust Fund financing mechanism established in the 1956 Federal Aid Highway Act satisfied President Eisenhower's "self-liquidating" demand. As a result, construction of the Interstate System did not contribute to the national debt.
To learn more on the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System, click here.
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