August 1965 memoranda from White House advisor Bill Moyers relating to meetings “to identify and lay plans for the careful development and review of potential legislative proposals to the second session of the 89th Congress…
April 1955 opposition research memo from the Democratic National Committee criticizing the “Clay Commission” Interstate highway plan submitted by President Eisenhower.
June 30, 1965 resignation letter from FAA Administrator Najeeb Halaby to President Johnson where Halaby recommends the creation of a new Department of Transportation to include the FAA.
Analysis of the provision in Magna Carta preventing the Crown from forcing local landowners to build bridges across navigable waterways.
A series of three late November 1982 memos from DOT and OMB trying to refute the arguments that each agency made to President Reagan in the final Cabinet meetings to determine whether or not the…
A June 1961 memo to President Kennedy from the head of the Housing and Home Finance Agency transmitting the draft legislation to give permission for two or more states to establish joint planning organizations for…
A January 1923 memo to the U.K. Cabinet by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury questioning the wisdom of the Road Fund (created in 1909 with a dedicated revenue stream from motor vehicle taxes) and…
Briefing papers given to President Carter in anticipation of his December 11, 1978 meeting with Transportation Secretary Brock Adams where the two would decide on a general strategy for pursuit of trucking and rail deregulation…
Briefing papers prepared for President Ford in advance of an April 1975 meeting to discuss what kind of freight railroad rescue package to request from Congress. The legislation eventually became the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory…
February 1993 memo to President Clinton from his chief economic adviser giving the pros and cons of various types of new energy taxation. The memo framed the decision to request a BTU tax, which was…
Oral history given by former OMB Deputy Director Charles Zwick, who played an integral role in the creation of the Department of Transportation.
Internal White House summary of a proposed “New Federalism” initiative for President Reagan, dated January 1982, which would have turned back significant highway and mass transit spending (and their dedicated excise tax revenues) back to…