[81alum]

Eisenhower had crossed the nation in a military convoy on the Lincoln Highway early in his career, and it took two months.  Then as  Commander in Europe he learned the strategic advantage Germany had by being able to move military equipment east/west and west/east.  When he lobbied in 1956 for the Highway Act he argued that the United States should have the same advantages that Germany had possessed for moving troops and supplies.

The bomber argument sounds pretty wild, but probably has a grain of truth somewhere.  I would guess that Germany must have used some of its autobahn for runways and that argument could have been thrown around by some pro Highway Act congressman during the 1956 debate.  It doesn't mean it was the main purpose.

It is possible/probably that Eisenhower knew that the highway system was needed for economic development, and that the military uses were a convenient argument during the Cold War, but I would have to dig a lot deeper to try to prove that.

[81alum]

Eisenhower had crossed the nation in a military convoy on the Lincoln Highway early in his career, and it took two months.  Then as  Commander in Europe he learned the strategic advantage Germany had by being able to move military equipment east/west and west/east.  When he lobbied in 1956 for the Highway Act he argued that the United States should have the same advantages that Germany had possessed for moving troops and supplies.

The bomber argument sounds pretty wild, but probably has a grain of truth somewhere.  I would guess that Germany must have used some of its autobahn for runways and that argument could have been thrown around by some pro Highway Act congressman during the 1956 debate.  It doesn't mean it was the main purpose.

It is possible/probably that Eisenhower knew that the highway system was needed for economic development, and that the military uses were a convenient argument during the Cold War, but I would have to dig a lot deeper to try to prove that.