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Running Head: Research on The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and

Defense Highways

Americans in the Fast-Lane: “The Road not to Prosperity”

Elijah J. Clark

Saint John’s University

Author Note

Elijah Clark, First Year Student, Saint John’s University

Research supported solo, with help from Saint John’s Faculty and Publications

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Elijah J. Clark,

Contact: eclark001@csbsju.edu

Elijah J Clark 1
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Research on The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways

Abstract:

This paper explores and researches the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of

Interstate and Defense Highways. This research seeks to examine if the government’s “road to

prosperity” sought the prosperity of all Americans. Through documentaries, online publications,

and printed books the research compiled suggests that Americas road to prosperity was also the

road to poverty. The paper is introduced with background information and sets the context for

the writer’s argument. This argument is backed up by analysis in three areas of American life.

The first aspect that is discussed are the landscapes of America, and rural America. Furthermore,

the paper also analyzes demographics of people, industries, suburbs, and cities.
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Research on The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways
Americans in the Fast-Lane: “The Road not to Prosperity”

“The world’s largest public works project has . . . reshaped the American landscape and way of life.”

- U.S. News & World Reports

July 7, 2003
Has society been destroyed by the novelty of speed? Are we so caught up in the “Fast-

Lane” that we get blind-sided from the truth, or the moment? In 1956, Dwight D. Eisenhower

introduced a bill to undertake a public works project of immense magnitude, The Dwight D.

Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways (commonly known as

the Interstate Highway System, Interstate Freeway System, Interstate System, or simply the

Interstate). When first introduced, officials, road workers, and the public were oblivious to the

implications of the system. Building “One-Mile” at a time workers failed to realize that each

mile would lead to the reshaping of the American lifestyle.

America, a nation many considered to have been transformed and changed with

construction of highways. The transformation and change of industries and populations took

place over 60 years of construction on the highways. America’s obsession with being the best in

all things protruded into the public eye with the introduction of the Federal Highway system.

Framers, with hopes of building “the road to prosperity” never saw that prosperity carry into

every community. Industries decimated by the federal highway system never saw prosperity.

Populations of people were left on the side of the road to prosperity. The road to prosperity,

paved in defense and American muscle wasn’t made wide enough to accommodate the whole of

society in America, just the majority. The societies that gave the most to this system, got the least

from it.

With the signing of the Federal-Aid Highway Act in 1956, Dwight D. Eisenhower started

the construction on what would lead to over 48,000 miles of adventurous, high-speed, mega
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Research on The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways
transit roads. (Lewis, T (2003)). Signed at the height of the Cold War, highways were designed

to provide defense, and were advertised to the American tax-payer as such; providing an “Escape

route” or evacuation route in case of an emergency, or war on U.S. soil. Since not everyone was

interested in the military, the government marketed to the fascinations of convenience, and

efficiency in the American mind. While the government painted their picture of the highway

system, Hollywood and media portrayed their own. Showing and telling of adventure, freedom

and speed, music and movies played to the attraction of society to travel the unknown.

With the new highway system, the limits of long-distance travel diminished and paved

the way for the countless road-trips to come. These marketers never talked about the cost, which

would end up costing over 500 billion dollars. Compromised in 1956, the cost of the proposed

interstate system would be split between states and the federal government. The 50 States, who

would foot 10% of the bill, while the federal government paid the remaining 90%, jumped on the

opportunity of transnational mass automobile transport. (Branham, A.)

To accurately judge the transformation caused, we must look at life before the highway

system. A nation known by the horrible roads, the United States took decades to create

convenient paths of travel. Patchy stretches of mud, holes, and gravel were displaced by miles

paved, smooth, asphalt, not only safer for you, but also your car (Gutfreund, O. D. (2004)).

Heavy cars, set on solid rubber wheels were made into waves by the roads natural bumps, and

turns of the landscape. Trade was limited to short distances and businesses could only reach

certain quantities of customers (Michaels, G. (2008)). Scattered around were developed cities,

and developing cities yet to be transformed. The highway system would give small-minded

America big, expansive opportunities at the expense of America’s own populations. The

modernity of such an expansive federal works project put the Interstate System ahead of its time.
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Research on The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways
Building for 1975, engineers envisioned a future filled with high amounts of automobile traffic

(Gutfreund, O. D. (2004)). Drawing inspiration from the Autobahn system in Germany, and due

to his time in the war Dwight Eisenhower saw it as a necessity of America to have cross-country

roads.

General Motors, one of the largest manufacturers of American cars, was the first big

corporation to promote the cause for roads, and in the 1939 world’s fair introduced the city of the

future. (Lewis, T. (2013)). Futurama, was a promise to show visitors "the world of tomorrow, a

ride that would take you through fake landscapes and roadways into the year “1960”. Futurama

went on to be the most popular exhibit at the fair, and set a precedent for roadway engineers and

urban planners for what we wanted our future to look like. These same engineers with the help of

hundred-thousands of other workers would be given the task of building these systems. They

followed with strict orders what the guidelines said, and stuck to the books on the way they

conducted business.

The population landscape of the United States was reshaped with the building of the

federal highway system. The novelty of rural life was placed head on with the modernity of the

turn of the century. Rural communities thrived in places they never had before. Highways built

around cities allowed the raw materials from farmers to make it to the market without spoiling,

and gave the consumer greater life on produce (Smith, T. M. (1994, Spring)). The introduction of

highways allowed small towns and farms to draw in tourists, this parallels statistics that show

counties with an interstate highway have advantages over counties without a highway. (Smith, T.

M. (1994, Spring)). Migration to farms and small towns became more available, people could

choose to live on farms and commute miles to work in a timely manner.

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Research on The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways
With highways being built throughout the country, farmers were at risk of losing land. At

the cost of the farmer the “road to prosperity” split through the fields of farmers, adding risk to

the job and diminishing profits. (Lewis, T. (2013)). Farmers, with less land area than before,

would have to travel across the interstate to get to their crops and goods. This was not only

dangerous, but a problem that could be avoided using proper urban planning tools. The highway,

accompanied with what was happening in cities, pushed and displaced famers and small town

citizens off the land either through migration or the building of the highway. (Lewis, T. (2013)).

Farmers and small town citizens being displaced, ravaged and destroyed small communities. To

boost business, small towns expanded to grow closer to the highway system and allowed access

to a theoretically almost endless possibility of consumers (Chandra, A., & Thompson, E. (2000)).

The highway system allowed these towns to reach populations unreachable before, but

was that what they wanted? Living for tourism, the rural way of life began to change and

transform. The novelty that is private, quiet, small town America became entranced with a

culture of travel and disruption. Minorities and the diversity of America were now cast upon

rural America, which reframed the lifestyles of rural communities. These close-knit

communities, open to tourists but sheltered from the acquittanced, were forced to see the

immigration of people of other races, ethnicities, sexual orientation, etc., which can always be a

positive thing, but left resentment in the minds of many small-town Americans. Future America,

would be better suited by a society that openly welcomes and educates on people of all walks of

life rather than having it forced upon them.

With rural transformation taking place across America, cities were having their own

revolutions due to the Interstate System. In the cities, things were changing, economically and

demographically. Interstates built in developing cities saw a huge increase in population,

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Research on The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways
tourism, and growth (Keane, T. F. (1996, Spring)). Cities such as Houston, Dallas, and San

Antonio were all still developing in 1956. The interstate highway gave great flexibility to these

yet-to-be-built mega cities, and has contributed to the rise of other cities. The reason developing

cities more easily boomed and became modern Boston’s, was because they could easily design

the system for the future. (Lewis, T (2003)). Cities that were already developed such as Boston,

had a much tougher time. Buildings, already built, crammed together, and unmovable were a

much tougher time for engineers and architects than the blank slate of developing cities, such as

Dallas. (Lewis, T. (2003). Engineers were forced to build risen highways through the cities,

creating many cities where sunlight no-longer shines on the side walk, blocked by the concrete

slate above. Cities and human-made concrete jungles once shown in immense magnitude against

the backdrops of pristine water, and dense forests were shown against the landscape of paved

concrete. This aesthetic of cities from off the highway became a great scene in the minds of

American drivers, nature on one side and structures on the other. Yet, these highways disrupted

the scenes of the homeowner that once lived against the beach, or the worker in his or her office

that now see only a glimpse between the gaps of cars passing by.

As industries, and factories moved away from the city centers, office centers and business

moved in. Factories, escaping to the suburbs allowed downtowns to be flooded with offices,

surrounded by buildings in decay. Whilst in the turn of the century, society was blindsided from

the implications highways Post-modern America has come to grips. The metropolitan mess of

today is a mess made by highways. America is the only country in which the closer you get to

downtown the more dangerous it is. (Lewis, T. (2003)). In post-modern highway America

downtowns became obsolete, and minorities suffered. “More housing was torn-down by the

interstate system than ever created by government housing programs”. (Lewis, T (2003)). Built-
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upon the invisible black-white line in cities, highways committed “political-drive by’s” upon

minorities. In Saint Paul, MN one of every seven African Americans in the city were displaced,

and in Saint Petersburg, Florida, ten African American churches were torn down or relocated.

(Lewis, T (2003)).

While white Americans had the novelty to freely migrate, black Americans were never

afforded the luxury of suburban homes. Unable to secure housing loans due to the blatant racism,

African Americans and other minorities were forced to stay in “inner-cities” that had been

physically and socially divided by pavement. White suburbia of the 1950’s didn’t want any

“negroes” in their neighborhoods. If this were to happen, housing prices would fall and therefore

their investments would fail, and they’d be forced to move to a smaller home or stay living with

the negro in their neighborhood. Obviously, they were not going to live in that kind of

neighborhood so they just denied them from the get-go. Building the highway through the

cheapest land, and on the lines of race perpetuated societal divisions and segregated

communities. After all, a child can’t walk across the highway to get to a school on the other side.

This left schools segregated, and businesses segregated.

Red-lining America, builders neglected the implications of the future. Unaware of their

actions, these naïve engineers were just following orders to build through the cheapest land, the

red zones. These red-lined zoned were mostly always minority communities deemed “unsafe” Commented [CEJ1]:

investments. America, the home of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, purposely chose to

invest solely in white America, instead of America. So, while white America, with the privilege

of travel and political power, was being expanded and invested in, minorities in America who

were giving up the most were left to decay in neglected “inner cities, creating the metropolitan

mess of today. In present day America, cities are having to invest and spend absurd amounts of
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Research on The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways
money in parts of town that never had to decay. We are now spending money to reverse our own

American-made problem, rather than using that money to help in other areas.

A prominent example of the minority communities was a place called “over town” in

Miami, FL. The place to be for minorities and people of color, this energetic, thriving

community, a melting-pot of cultures provided adventure and excitement into the lives of many.

However, an interstate happened to be constructed through the heart of the community and

within 10 years thirty of the forty-thousand citizens migrated and Overtown was diminished.

(Lewis, T. (2003)). Per demographic research, Overtown has increased population by nearly 15%

in the last 15 years, and now holds 20,000 Americans, which is still only half the population

from 6 decades ago. The effects have led to Overtown having, at its highest demographic (25-44

yr. old's), a median income of $30,000; If highways where the road to prosperity, why are so

many in this historic community, which is set along a highway, on the cusps of poverty? The

road to prosperity for many, was the road to poverty for many more.

Cities and rural communities were introduced to a new lifestyle, the suburbs. The

countryside of America was reshaped by the introduction of concentrated housing miles away

from the hearts of cities. The highway created an environment which allowed this freedom and

movement of people to thrive. (Gutfreund, O. D. (2004)). Landscapes, filled with trees, land, and

hills were quickly reshaped into living towns outside the “city”. City American’s loved suburbs,

and mainstream media soon began to produce shows glorifying suburbs. Suburbs would allow

American’s to build, newer, nicer homes for cheaper. (Gutfreund, O. D. (2004)). This allowed

citizens a more private, exclusive lifestyle, yet required a commute. Suburbs and the automobile

industry worked benefit-in-benefit in jumpstarting the automobile take-off.

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Research on The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways
Many researchers have argued that we should now “put the brakes on sprawl,” after

considering the effects of suburbia in America. While suburbs not only provide incentive for

driving, oil, and thus pollution, suburbs also de-incentivize walking, public transit, and cycling.

Due to how city planners originally zoned suburbs (as large areas of land with mostly homes)

commercial business’s, services, and industrial corporations are largely situated miles away from

much of suburban homes. The effects of this are that American’s are not as healthy as they could

be, and that city planners in the modern-era are spending large amounts of money to research and

implement neighborhoods and communities where biking, and walking for one’s needs are easily

accessible, and efficient. Also, due to the large sprawl of many towns public transit is very

costly, and inefficient for cities to build all the way from downtown into the suburbs 10’s of

miles away.

It can be said, that American’s oil dependency was birthed by the creation of the highway

system. As David Nordan said via the Atlanta Constitution (April 9, 1967), “During the few

short years of its existence, the word ‘Interstate’ has become a part of the language of the

American motorist”. Polluting inner cities, and having the convivence of expansion, factories

and industrial goods, began to move into the countryside. However, now that highways were

developed workers could not simply drive the extra distance to the factories ((Mowbray, A. Q.

(1969)). Factories at the time were mainly worked by the inner-city minorities. This created a

challenge when businesses began to move to the fringes of cities. Minorities, and factory workers

tended to be poorer, unable to get a car, and therefore unable to commute to work. Not being

able to work and losing their jobs, many minority communities ended up in turmoil, and these

communities, the “inner-cities,” where gradually turned into pockets of abuse, crime, and

addiction from years of finding an income supplement. (Lewis, T. (2013)).

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Research on The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways
The creation of suburbs also lead to the reshaping of concentrations of population. Once

settled in cities, and nestled in with inner-city minorities, whites began an exodus. (Lewis, T.

(2013)). This exodus would create the suburbs of today, but also the downtowns of cities like

Detroit. This exodus collapsed city residential housing market prices, which also drove up the

opportunity cost on landlords for maintenance. (Lewis, T. (2013)). This vacuum caused many

parts of major cities to decay or fade away. Since the construction of highways, cities have been

reframed from mega-housing, and bustling commercial districts into business districts and

“inner-city” living.

Before highways there was no such thing as “inner-city” living and housing, people just

called it housing, or living. Suburbs created the term “inner-city” when suburbs became the

standard in housing, and people began to commute into downtown areas to work. With

concentrations of people shifting areas, neighborhoods began to form. American’s began to form

coalitions of neighbors, which created communities and resources for one another. (Gutfreund,

O. D. (2004)). The suburbs were not only created into neighborhoods, but housing in the cities

were as well. Being freer to choose where they wanted to live, many people began to “invest” in

where they settled. (Gutfreund, O. D. (2004)). Neighborhood and community centers were

created for the boy or girl that needs exercise, learning, or a play from home. Neighborhoods

show the best of America, community coming together to create hope, and safety for others first,

and themselves second.

Looking at other solutions, could more of American’s have prospered, and not been as

badly affected if this government project would have been subsidized or ran by regional

corporations, along governmental standards? Being closer to each community, with better

representation American’s voices would have been given more political power in keeping
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Research on The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways
corporations accountable, and the government would have been able to get the best quality if

they also where to put pressure on corporations to do good work. With this pinch, the roadway

companies would have to put out their best bids in price, efficiency, quality and accountability

all in the public eye. This would have allowed many companies to be in competition with one

another to get these governmental bids, and competition in the free market tends to lead to better

results than a monopoly driven socialized program, that was the Highway System. This program

was modeled off socialism, and the Nazi’s, Senior Nazi Reich Minister Fritz Todt touted, in

these highways our engineering will reflect the National Socialist movement.” As a democracy,

the government embraced socialism in the time of the cold war. With capitalist corporations

Americans, would have more voice and choice in what THEIR roadways would look like, and be

shaped as. The government would do its job with compliance, and the technicalities, while

leaving it up to free-marketers to reshape the landscapes of America for a cheaper price.

The highway created opportunity, adventure, and despair. This system has created and

destroyed prosperity, what would America be like today without it? We may never know, but we

are allowed the blessing to look back and reflect on the incidence from it. America’s road to

prosperity was paved by those whose road lead them to decades of poverty and mistrust. This

unintentional, de facto segregation has taken the future from many, and gave it to others. Due to

monetary concerns and self-esteem issues America unintentionally planned a system that would

benefit the majority. Rather than listening to the communities, industries, and business’s that

rallied against several planned highway routes, the government created mass problems in the 21 st

century. Rather than building roads along routes that would benefit every American, Animal, and

Landscape they built it upon the lines of them. The federal highway-interstate system, the great

road not to prosperity.