 And the concept was an auto industry pioneer came up with it as a way to encourage people to drive more, as a way to encourage people to buy cars. But it was also a way to encourage people to see more of the country. The original slogan was, see America first. A lot of people on the East Coast would vacation in Europe before they would go traveling across the country because it was so difficult traveling across the country because there were so few roads and cars were so primitive.