Topic: Interstate Highway

President Biden's speeches have occasionally conflated the 1950s Interstate Highway System with older "original" highways like Route 66. The interstate system, championed by Dwight D. Eisenhower, was designed with a military component to allow for the rapid movement of troops and the landing of aircraft. This historical precedent for infrastructure as a tool of national security was compared to Napoleon III's redesign of Paris streets.

Actor Alec Baldwin appeared on Piers Morgan's program to support President Obama's call for large-scale infrastructure projects. The discussion critiques the historical narrative of the Interstate Highway System, arguing it was a military project and a subsidy for the trucking industry at the expense of railroads. The hosts dispute the idea that such projects are the primary drivers of economic recovery.