John F. Kennedy declared to Congress on May 25, 1961 that the United States should lead the world in space aviation and put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Assassinated before he could see it, we did indeed successfully land a man on the moon. When Neil Armstrong took those first few steps, he radioed back to NASA, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."True leadership is articulating a much needed goal and making it happen. Many scientific, computer, industrial, and medical advances resulted from the NASA project. We take MRIs, satellite communications (weather predictions, GPS, etc.), advanced heat withstanding metals and many more NASA moon related developments for granted.
Born in 1968, I was too young to celebrate the July 1969 moon landing with our jubilant country. Such a triumph defined not just our nation, but the positive mental health of a people. JFK openly discussed the finances of such a colossal mission with the public. By doing so, he made everyone feel a part of the project. He said the project cost each American family fifty cents each week, or in today's dollars-five bucks. This mammoth undertaking took great finesse to achieve. JFK envisioned and articulated the aim. Congress, namely key players such as Vice President and legislative power broker Lyndon Baines Johnson brought it to fruition. Vice President Johnson got Texans Albert Thomas, chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on Defense (overseeing NASA's budget) and George Brown (of the construction magnate Brown and Root, Thomas' college room mate at Rice) involved. George Brown also served as Chairman of the Board at Rice University. Through his connections, Brown got Humble Oil (now Exxon) to donate 1600 acres of Clear Lake, Houston land to Rice. Rice in turn, donated a thousand acres to NASA for the Manned Spacecraft Center. By spreading the largesse of NASA projects across many different jurisdictions, JFK secured the votes needed to keep NASA and its mission funded. JFK wisely chose James Webb, an attorney with military experience who had also served under Truman in the State Department, to head NASA. Webb shared JFK's passion. Webb had to fend off attacks as well as steer and coordinate all departments from engineering to accounting (where the budget was constantly under fire). It took monumental strength, perseverance and vision to see the project through. NASA suffered setbacks, a rocket fire which killed three astronauts, a restless Congress weary of huge expenditures, and the brutal slaying of our President, NASA's chief supporter and visionary. Through it all, the country plugged ahead to the sweet culmination of Apollo's 1969 "Mission Accomplished."
Our country is once again in need of vision, the courage to tackle huge problems with resolve and optimism. We have within our grasp the challenges of curing cancer, ending poverty, and tackling energy problems with environmental friendly alternatives, just to name a few. Presently, we have a virus, Covid-19, that has stretched our country's resources and economic health to the brink. We need the kind of audacious, altruistic and competitive resolve John F. Kennedy led with by throwing down the gauntlet on May 25, 1961. Leadership is not just making a country better than it was before. True leadership is the mettle to make it better than anyone dreamed it could be.
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