Dwight D. Eisenhower (his pals called him ‘Ike’) never forgot that 2-month schlep getting a military convoy from one side of the country to the other. Serving in Germany in World War II, he must have been impressed with the autobahn. The autobahn was conceived as a cars-only road for long-distance traveling. When the Nazis took it over, the autobahn became a highway system that connected all of Germany—built strong enough for heavy military vehicles.*
When I say system, I’m talking about highways that allow access to all points north-south-east-west, and connect to each other strategically.
1956 Chevy Bel Air—yeah, baby.
As president, he championed the idea of an American interstate highway system and convinced Congress to enact legislation to make it happen. In 1956, President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act. The United States was getting an interstate highway system.
Did you know this? The interstate highways going east-west get even numbers. The interstate highways going north-south get odd numbers. Just remember east, west & even all have Es. North, south & odd all have Os.
* I’m not trying to make the Nazis look good. They were horrible monsters. Still, you can learn even from Nazis when they do something well. Ike learned from his life’s experiences, good and bad.
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/history.cfm
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/back0506.cfm
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/brainiacs/eisenhowerinterstate.cfm
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2006/summer/interstates.html
https://www.army.mil/article/198095/dwight_d_eisenhower_and_the_birth_of_the_interstate_highway_system
https://www.ourdocuments.gov/print_friendly.php?flash=true&page=&doc=88&title=National+Interstate+and+Defense+Highways+Act+%281956%29
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John Manders' Blog 
Very interesting, John! Oh, that the Nazis had plenty to teach us is certainly true! Mainly they provided horrific lessons on how to be inhuman monsters. However, at that time, they were also the world’s masters of technology, whether it was secret communication techniques (Enigma Machine), rocket science (Werner von Braun), explosive weapons, aircraft, automotive technology, military equipment, you name it. Jeff’s late uncle Hermann Birnbaum, a food chemist knew Einstein in the 1930’s and somewhere in a university archive is a letter between them.
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It’s through God’s good grace the Allies won. It’s hard now to imagine what a struggle it was, or how anyone could have followed Hitler.
Pretty neat about Jeff’s uncle!
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That’s my car John! A 1956 Belair!
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That’s wild, Jay! I wanted to draw an automobile from 1956 for this post about the interstate system. They knew how to make ’em look beautiful back then.
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