In 1960, inspired by the relocation of the Brazilian capital to the new city of Brasilia,the movement to move the US capital to a centralized location picks up steam. In 1957, the US Congress passes a resolution calling for a commission to study the issue. The commission looks at three basic alternatives: (1) building a completely new city, which is eventually rejected as too expensive and politically infeasible, (2) relocating the captial to an existing very large city such as Chicago or St Louis, which is eventually rejected because of the prevailing opinion in the commission that the new capital should be primarily the seat of government, not just a big, important, city which also happens to have the US government located there, and (3) placing the new capitol in a relatively small city which does not have a pre-established identity in the nation at large. The 3rd option was selected.
Over the next 5 years potential locations in 15 central states were studied. Texas was ruled out because the entire state had a strong identity which might color the new capital, and locations in the far north or mountain west were eventually eliminated because of the potential for enclement weather and restrictions on air travel. Eventually the choice came down to a three-way contest between: Lincoln, Nebraska, Topeka, Kansas, and Norman, Oklahoma. Lincoln was initially favored because of the obvious name associations, but eventually Lincoln and Topeka were both eliminated because they were existing state capitals. The promoters from Oklahoma wisely avoided the temptation to propose their state capital Oklahoma City, opting instead to suggest nearby Norman, the home of the University of Oklahoma. Although the commission was initially very reluctant to choose such a small city (less than 30,000 in 1960) which lacked both a major airport or major rail hub as the new national capital, they were eventually swayed by arguments that a new federal district could be constructed on essentially vacant land owned by the University at the edge of town, with minimal need for massive demolitions of existing building stock, while nearby Oklahoma City (pop 400,000) would provide an excellent initial source of labor and housing for the expected boom. The deal was cemented when Oklahoma's senior senator Robert S Kerr was able to secure federal funding for a new international airport site and other necessary improvements.
By 1985 as the US national capital, the Norman Federal District grew to contain a population of approximately 250,000 people, while Oklahoma City expanded to over 2.5 million as the major business and housing district for the many related buisnesses attracted to the new seat of power. The federal complex itself is quite reminiscent of Canberra, featuring, like the Australian capital a modernistic, underground capitol building and other partially and wholly buried offices, presumably as protection against the frequent tornados which threaten the city in spring and fall as well as possible nuclear attack. Unlike old Washington and Canberra, however, the planners of the Norman Federal Distrrict chose a rigid rectangular grid pattern for the district's streets, and the city certainly lacks the charm of Washington with its many roundabouts and circular parks.
In 1992, as part of the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Columbus's discovery of the new world, the US government decided to give the new capital a new name with more historic significance. Although virtually everyone presumed the name would be either "Columbia" or "Columbus", the naming committee chose "Sequoyah", to reflect the native american heritage of the host State.