"[He] was a force as powerful as his counterpart at the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover," insists historian Stephen B. Goddard, "yet was virtually unknown to most Americans.

"[2] Born a Scotsman in a Leadville, Colorado log-cabin to John MacDonald and Sarah Elizabeth Harris, his family returned to Poweshiek County, Iowa when he was young.

His father was a partner in T. Harris & Company, a grain and lumber dealer founded by his maternal grandfather, and Thomas grew up frustrated with the poor state of local roads.

He was soon named president of the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) and at the age of 38, was suggested by that group to serve as chief of the Bureau of Public Roads.

He also insisted on adoption of "the most liberal policy possible under the existing laws, in order to get actual construction work under way as early and as rapidly [as reasonable]."

MacDonald's popularity was such that when visiting towns he was given the finest hotel accommodations, free food and drink, and a guided tour of local roads.

In 1949, Robert Moses insisted "There is no better example of nonpolitical, effective, and prudent Federal, State and local cooperation than that afforded by the Public Roads Administration for almost 30 years under the respected leadership of Commissioner Thomas H.

"Perhaps what set MacDonald apart from his fellow engineers and certainly his railroad competitors," writes one historian, "was his early recognition that to sell roads, Washington would have to market them like a detergent.