National US Highways 1958

In 1919, future President Eisenhower, then a young army officer, joined the Transcontinental Motor Convoy, an expedition designed to highlight the need for improved investment in US roads. The convoy would take two arduous months to travel from Washington to San Francisco. By 1944. Eisenhower was Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, and able to appreciate at first-hand how their advance accelerated once they hit the high-quality German autobahn system. Once president (1951-60), Eisenhower supported the Federal Aid Highway Act (1956) providing for the construction of 41,000 miles of roads nationwide over 10 years. In practice the passage of the final bill owed more to the Democrats than Eisenhower’s fellow Republicans, who were insisting upon 70 percent of the costs being met by individual states (which would inevitably have led to huge delays). A Democrat team crafted a 90 percent funding vehicle, the Highway Trust Fund, with just a 10 percent state contribution, thereby ensuring the successful completion of what was to become the largest public works project in US history.