| Description |
xiii, 155 pages ; 22 cm. |
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text txt rdacontent |
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unmediated n rdamedia |
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volume nc rdacarrier |
| Series |
Landmark presidential decisions |
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Landmark presidential decisions.
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| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 129-147) and index. |
| Contents |
Introduction : presidential decisions -- Background and context, 1787-1952 -- Presidential initiative : Eisenhower's initial forays into highway expansion, 1952-1954 -- The Clay Committee and the development of Eisenhower's Highway Program, 1954-1955 -- Congress resurgent : the defeat of the Eisenhower Highway Bill in 1955 -- The final push and Congressional victory -- Conclusion. |
| Summary |
"On June 29, 1956, President Eisenhower signed into law the Federal Highway Aid Act, the largest public works project in American history. Given the hurdles Eisenhower faced at every stage of the project's development, his decision to support it is quite surprising. Among numerous other challenges, Eisenhower's decision to support this unprecedented expansion of federal power had required him to break from the tradition of his own Republican Party, which had consistently opposed similar public works programs when New Dealers had pursued them in the 1930s and 40s. Years later, Eisenhower's support for highway expansion and other big-government programs served as a rallying cry for conservatives like Barry Goldwater, who saw the Republican Party as having failed to offer a clear small-government alternative to the New Deal. Why did Eisenhower decide to advocate for such a controversial measure, and why did he persist in defending it in the face of so many setbacks and such forceful opposition from his own party? More broadly, what considerations went into his decision to pursue the largest expansion of federal infrastructure in American history, a decision that contradicted his own party's political philosophy and helped redefine the national government's role in the American constitutional order? Charles Zug pursue these questions through a sensitive historical analysis of the dynamics underlying Eisenhower's decision to campaign for the 1956 Federal Highway Act"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Subject |
United States. Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 -- History.
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Express highways -- Law and legislation -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
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Federal aid to transportation -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
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United States -- Politics and government -- 1953-1961.
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Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969 -- Influence.
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Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969 (OCoLC)fst00037714
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Express highways -- Law and legislation
(OCoLC)fst00918842
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Federal aid to transportation (OCoLC)fst00922296
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Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.) (OCoLC)fst00972484
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Politics and government (OCoLC)fst01919741
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United States (OCoLC)fst01204155
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| Chronological Term |
1900-1999
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| Genre/Form |
History (OCoLC)fst01411628
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| ISBN |
9780700636006 (cloth) |
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0700636005 (cloth) |
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9780700635993 (paperback) |
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0700635998 (paperback) |
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9780700636013 electronic book |
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