I don't point to the transcontinental railroads as a pinnacle of government-funded achievement. Obama does.

"In a little more than two decades, three transcontinental railroads were built with government help. All three wound up in bankruptcy courts. And thus, when James Jerome Hill said he was going to built a line from the Great Lakes to Puget Sound, without government cash or land grant, even his close friends thought him mad. But his Great Northern arrived at Puget Sound without a penny of federal help, nor did it fail. It was an achievement to shame the much-touted construction of the Erie Canal."

- The Story of American Railroads by Stewart H. Holbrook

Ayn Rand wrote extensively about railroad history back in the late 1950s, based on the research she had done to write Atlas Shrugged. In that book, there was a huge difference between businessmen who made their own way and businessmen who thrived on government power and favors. Through most of the book, the latter were actually much more successful and getting a lot richer than the industrial heroes.

"Most people would see no difference between businessmen such as J. J. Hill of the Great Northern and businessmen such as the Big Four of the Central Pacific. Most people would simply dismiss the difference by saying that businessmen are crooks who will always corrupt the government and that the solution is to let the government be corrupted by labor unions.

"The issue is not between pro-business controls and pro-labor controls, but between controls and freedom. It is not the Big Four against the welfare state, but the Big Four and the welfare state on one side—against J. J. Hill and every honest worker on the other."

- Ayn Rand, "Notes on the History of American Free Enterprise," 1959

P.S. Here's a link to a transcript of the interview you linked to if people don't want to take the time to listen through it. Richard White, at least what he says here, is right on the money.