During World War II, American industrialist Henry J. Kaiser was brought to Washington, D.C., to testify concerning his ship building activities. He had claimed to be able to build a ship a day. He was being cross-examined by a somewhat hostile young lawyer who said, "So you think you can build a ship a day. You know, Rome wasn't built in a day."
Henry J. Kaiser looked the young lawyer squarely in the eye and answered, "I wasn't there."
Note: In November 1942, one of Kaiser's Richmond yards built a Liberty Ship (Robert E. Peary) in 4 days, 15 hours, and 29 minutes as a publicity stunt. Nationally, the average construction time was 42 days and by 1943, three Liberty Ships were being completed each day by Kaiser's company. It was said that the speed at which Liberty Ships could be constructed allowed the US to build cargo vessels faster than German U-boats could sink them. Here for more.