As a matter of practice, the federal portion of the cost of the Interstate Highway System has been paid for by taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel.

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 was memorable enough for a young Army officer, 28-year-old Lieutenant Colonel 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).

That experience on the Lincoln Highway, plus his observations of the German Autobahn network during World War II, may have convinced him to support construction of the Interstate System when he became president.

[5] In the event of a ground invasion by a foreign power, the U.S. Army would need good highways to be able to transport troops and material across the country efficiently.

The bill Eisenhower actually signed in 1956 was the brainchild of Congressional Democrats, in particular Albert Gore Sr., George Fallon, Dennis Chavez, and Hale Boggs.

However, Congressional Democrats and members of his own administration, including his Comptroller General Joseph Campbell, publicly criticized Eisenhower's proposed government corporation on that grounds that its bonds would, in fact, count towards the national debt.