As many across the country acknowledge the contributions of and mourn President Jimmy Carter upon his passing, I want to share a story that doesn’t get much attention across mainstream outlets.
The year was 1974: President Richard Nixon signed a National Maximum Speed Limit law that restricted highway driving at 55 miles per hour across the country, in an effort to save fuel during the oil crisis.
At the time, the position of Special Assistant to the Secretary of Transportation was held by former Lieutenant General Benjamin O. Davis Jr. President Nixon selected him for that post, so Davis could assist with various transportation security and safety needs as they arose. In that position, Davis had led the effort to create commercial airport security, which is now knows as the TSA, as well as the U.S. Air Marshall program, to help keep the skies safe. Davis retired from civil service in 1974.
In 1975, Davis gets a call from President Jimmy Carter.
President Carter was responsible for finalizing and implementing what President Nixon had started with the 55 mph speed limit. Carter asked Davis to come out of retirement—again—to help lead the process of enacting the speed limit into law and supporting its nationwide promotion.
In 1976, Davis accepted a new position President Carter created for: special assistant to the secretary of transportation for the national maximum speed limit. Davis’s primary objective was to provide recommendations pertaining to the national speed limit, to keep drivers safe by minimizing speeding and accidents and to save gasoline by ensuring that cars drove at their peak rpm (revolutions per minute).
Davis became the face and voice of the program and was even nicknamed “Mr. 55.” He suggested that the White House collaborate with the Ad Council to spread the message, with an ad campaign that included the slogan “55 Saves Lives.”
Today, even though states can set their own speed limits, almost every American remembers the iconic black-and-white 55 mph speed limit sign.
Yet as commonplace as the speed limit is, most people don’t know it exists because of President Carter and Lieutenant General Ben Davis.
Why was this so significant?
Davis was an esteemed and decorated military hero: a West Point graduate, the commander of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, and one of America’s most skilled war pilots. But after he retired from the military, because he was a Black American, he was unable to get a commercial aviation job. At the time, de facto segregation was in place in the private aviation sector. But the federal government wanted to ensure Davis was positioned to succeed. So Nixon created a special role for Davis. But if Carter hadn’t also believed and trusted in Davis, the national 55 mph speed limit effort might have floundered and eventually failed.
Long before diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs were established, President Carter led by example to show that sometimes, you have to give difference the benefit of the doubt. Even though Davis’s vast experience was outside the scope of the area he was recruited to oversee, President Carter believed that Davis’s diverse skill set and style would be a strength in the position.
It’s just one of the many reasons so many adore Carter, and for myself, as a member of the Davis family, I can happily say that one decision changed our lives.