Bob S. wrote: General Eisenhower started the Interstate system in the 1950's. He admired the German Autoban and had bad road experiences after the first World War. (He was in charge of a convoy of vehicles that traveled 4,000 miles, coast to coast, to show off the military hardware to the public. He spent much of the trip traveling on dirt roads.)
As US President, he proposed a system of interstate roads to link the major cities in the USA. Part of the idea was that this would be a great way to move men and materials from one City to the next. The expense was large and the opposing politicians expanded the idea to include spending more money within the cities. It created public jobs and destroyed some blighted housing. Eisenhower objected, but the Democrats idea was the winner. REPLY: Eisenhower was actually part of the Army Corps of Engineers that played a significant part in the building of the original US Highway system (the roads identified as US#, eg. US 1, US 12, etc.). This gave him lots of experience with what a good highway system could do for many business aspects of his country. He recognized this and wanted to implement the Interstate Highway system for lots more than military reasons. However, this did not stop him from capitalizing on his military presitige and stating that the country needed the interstate for military purposes so that he could get the system built. Note: We came damn close to using atomic weapons to blast through the Rocky Mountains for the roadways! Larry
