IIRC the origonal 55MPH rule came out of the Carter Admin. during it's gas crisis. It was limited to a couple of years. After it sundowned, the Fed. Gov't. started it's economic blackmail of the states.
No. The 55mph national speed limit was established by Nixon who signed the bill and it went into effect under Ford. Wage and price controls were a Nixon thing too. Carter didn't create Nixon's economic and energy mess, however, he did manage to make it much worse.