In the biplane era, there were some very short takeoff aircraft. The tiny Sperry Messenger [1] was a good example. In the 1920s, Sperry once landed one of those in front of the U.S. Capitol. (This was not considered a security incident at the time.)
That's a well-executed 1920s vision of a flying car.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verville-Sperry_M-1_Messenger
> Angered because the government was slow to make payments on his contracts, Lawrence fueled the plane and flew to Washington to strike a telling blow against the bureaucracy. Circling the Capitol at ground level to disrupt Congress, he landed directly on the Capitol steps and stormed into the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
I'm gonna guess this is when they started writing up some restrictions re: landing on the Capitol steps.