Of all the bills that President Eisenhower signed during his 8 years in office, he probably put as much of himself into the one that created the Interstate System as any other, and more than most. Unfortunately, he did not have an opportunity to celebrate the occasion with a formal ceremony. The bill was among a stack that he signed on June 29, 1956, his last day at Walter Reed Army Medical Center following surgery on June 7. He made no recorded comment, issued no statement, had no celebratory photo taken. He was said to be "highly pleased." This link is a nice tribute to President Eisenhower and his concrete legacy. Today they are scheduled to do some speechifyin' in Emmitsburg Maryland, at a covered bridge that was one of the original impediments way back in 1919, when a young Lt. Eisenhower was part of an expeditionary transcontinental military convoy to assess America's military mobilization capacity. |
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