The construction of the Interstate Highway System was authorized by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, popularly known as the Interstate Highway and Defense Act of 1956.
It was a petition of the largest automobile manufacturers in the United States and promoted by President Dwight D. Eisenhower - influenced by his experiences as a young soldier crossing the United States in 1919 following the route of the Lincoln Highway and the knowledge of the German motorway network (Autobahnen) during World War II - as a necessary component of a national defense system. This would make possible a better displacement by land of troops and military supplies.
The design of a system of new superhighways began in the late 1930s, even before a federal committee was formed to build the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s. In the 1920s, some roads, such as those in the New York area, were built as part of the local or state systems.
