The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, popularly known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, was enacted on June 29, 1956, when a hospitalized Dwight D. Eisenhower signed this bill into law. Appropriating $25 billion for the construction of 40,000 miles of interstate highways over a 10-year period, it was the largest public works project in American history to that point. is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dwight David Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American General and politician, who served as the thirty-fourth President of the United States (1953–1961). ... A bill is a proposed new law introduced within a legislature that has not been ratified, adopted, or received assent. ... For other uses, see Law (disambiguation). ... Interstate Highways in the lower 48 states. ... Look up Public works in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The money was handled in a highway trust fund that paid for 90 percent of highway construction costs with the states required to pay the remaining 10 percent. It was expected that the money would be generated through new taxes on fuel, automobiles, trucks and tires. It is said he drew six lines (three vertical and three horizontal) on a piece of paper and told his people to base their freeway system on it. In common law legal systems, a trust is a relationship in which a person or entity (the trustee) has legal control over certain property (the trust property or trust corpus), but is bound by a fiduciary duty to exercise that legal control for the benefit of someone else (the beneficiary... “Taxes” redirects here. ...

Eisenhower's support of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 can be directly attributed to his experiences in 1919 as a participant in the U.S. Army's first Transcontinental Motor Convoy across the United States on the historic Lincoln Highway. The highly publicized 1919 convoy was intended, in part, to dramatize the need for better main highways and continued federal aid. The convoy left the Ellipse south of the White House in Washington D.C. on July 7, 1919, and headed for Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. From there, it followed the Lincoln Highway to San Francisco. Bridges cracked and were rebuilt, vehicles became stuck in mud, and equipment broke, but the convoy was greeted warmly by communities across the country. The convoy reached San Francisco on September 5, 1919. Lincoln Highway bridge in Tama, Iowa The Lincoln Highway was the first transcontinental highway in the United States. ... For other uses, see White House (disambiguation). ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... Gettysburg is a borough 38 miles (68 km) south by southwest of Harrisburg in Adams County, Pennsylvania, USA, of which it is the county seatGR6. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ...

The convoy was memorable enough for a young Army officer, Lt. Col. Dwight David Eisenhower, to include a chapter about the trip, titled "Through Darkest America With Truck and Tank," in his book At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends (Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1967). "The trip had been difficult, tiring, and fun," he said. That experience on the Lincoln Highway, plus his observations of the German autobahn network during World War II, convinced him to support construction of the Interstate System when he became President. "The old convoy had started me thinking about good, two-lane highways, but Germany had made me see the wisdom of broader ribbons across the land." His "Grand Plan" for highways, announced in 1954, led to the 1956 legislative breakthrough that created the Highway Trust Fund to accelerate construction of the Interstate System. This article is about the German, Austrian and Swiss road system. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Eisenhower argued for the highways for the purpose of national defense. In the event of an invasion by a foreign power, the military would need good roads to be able to quickly transport troops around the country. Following completion of the highways the cross country journey that took the convoy two months in 1919 was cut down to two weeks.

Another result of the act was the direct subsidization of the suburban road infrastructure, making commutes between urban centers to suburbs much quicker and furthering the flight of citizens and businesses and divestment from inner cities.

References

• The Greatest Decade 1956-1966 Part 1 Essential to the National Interest at United States Department of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration
• History of the Interstate Highway System at United States Department of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration