In 1913, Carl Fisher proposed the “Coast to Coast Rock Highway,” and executives from automobile and tire manufacturers quickly joined the effort to put America on wheels. At the inaugural meeting on July 1, 1913, newly elected president Henry Joy proposed dedicating the highway to the martyred Abraham Lincoln, creating a cause Americans nationwide could rally behind. A highly successful marketing campaign convinced the public, and eventually the federal government, that better roads were needed. The Road Act of 1916 provided seed money to begin road improvement, and the Federal Highway Act of 1921 reflected the need for an interstate road network by providing $75 milion in funding to state highway departments. The Lincoln Highway became the most famous road in America and stood as a testament to the vision and perseverance of entrepreneurs who created the first successful, all-weather, coast-to-coast automobile highway. In the early 20th century, as bicycle popularity gave way to the expanding automotive industry, demand for improved driving conditions increased because muddy, treacherous stretches, roads clogged by broken down vehicles, and impassable expanses little better than cow paths were becoming intolerable to a mobile public.