# How Ike's torturous trip helped lead to the Interstate Highway System **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [August 20, 2022, 2:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-ikes-torturous-trip-helped-lead-to-the-interstate-highway-system/185913 "2022-08-20T14:40:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2022, 2:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-ikes-torturous-trip-helped-lead-to-the-interstate-highway-system/185913/1 "2022-08-20T14:40:10Z")
As part of a US Army convoy, Ike experienced what it was like to drive across the US in 1919. The trip lasted more than two months, due to the total absence of roads in many areas of The West, and this experience left a lasting impression on Ike. > **[The Harrowing Tale of American History's Worst Cross-Country Road Trip](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/in-1919-dwight-d-eisenhower-suffered-through-historys-worst-cross-country-road-trip?utm_source=Atlas%2BObscura%2BDaily%2BNewsletter&utm_campaign=7d01265f38-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_08_19&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f36db9c480-7d01265f38-70763841&mc_cid=7d01265f38&mc_eid=371a1fc42f)** > > Dwight D. Eisenhower, contrary to popular belief, did not build the federal highway system for the sole purpose of evacuating cities in the event of an... ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2022, 10:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-ikes-torturous-trip-helped-lead-to-the-interstate-highway-system/185913/2 "2022-08-20T22:16:37Z")
That story would make for a good book, if there isn’t one already. Other non-fiction road-trip across USA books I’ve liked, (1)Mark Twain’s _Roughing It_, (2) forget title, something like _Horatio’s trip_ (Ken Burns made a film about this trip too), (3) a book recommended here about Harry Truman’s post-POTUS road trip from his home in Missouri to Washington DC and back. Twain’s book takes place in the late 1800’s & is the better of the three imo. Probably lots of the posters here recall when they were kids and no freeways. It would take all day just to drive 60 miles and back b/c of all the in -own 25- 35 mph speed limits stop lights along the way, every major highway went right through the center of every town. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 12:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-ikes-torturous-trip-helped-lead-to-the-interstate-highway-system/185913/3 "2022-08-21T12:11:11Z")
> [@George\_San\_Jose1](#): > > a book recommended here about Harry Truman’s post-POTUS road trip from his home in Missouri to Washington DC and back. I was the one who recommended _Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure_. While it certainly can’t qualify as great literature, this account of the road trip (in the pre-Interstate Era) in their '53 Chrysler New Yorker is well-written and entertaining. Bess frequently chided Harry about “driving too fast”, but he was probably not a speed demon–despite having one of the most powerful cars on the road in those days. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/b/2/b22087165baf31749103b2a695c1bf14bd52dcca.jpeg) > **[Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure: The... by Algeo, Matthew](https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Trumans-Excellent-Adventure-Matthew/dp/1569767076)** > > Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip \[Algeo, Matthew\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip ---
**Author:** ![Cavell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cavell/32/43396_2.png) [@Cavell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Cavell)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 1:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-ikes-torturous-trip-helped-lead-to-the-interstate-highway-system/185913/4 "2022-08-21T13:37:17Z")
Too bad we have to run interstate thru low income neighborhood next to city core. You DO want road to go downtown?