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John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon Palgrave Studies in the History of Science and Technology

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JOHN F. KENNEDY AND THE RACE TO THE MOON PALGRAVE STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY James Rodger Fleming (Colby College) and Roger D. Launius (National Air and Space Museum), Series Editors This series presents original, high-quality, and accessible works at the cutting edge of scholarship within the history of science and technology. Books in the series aim to disseminate new knowledge and new perspectives about the history of science and technology, enhance and extend education, foster public understanding, and enrich cultural life. Collectively, these books will break down conventional lines of demarcation by incorporating historical perspectives into issues of current and ongoing concern, offering international and global perspectives on a variety of issues, and bridging the gap between historians and practicing scientists. In this way they advance scholarly conversation within and across traditional disciplines but also to help define new areas of intellectual endeavor. Published by Palgrave Macmillan: Continental Defense in the Eisenhower Era: Nuclear Antiaircraft Arms and the Cold War By Christopher J. Bright Confronting the Climate: British Airs and the Making of Environmental Medicine By Vladimir Jankovic´ Globalizing Polar Science: Reconsidering the International Polar and Geophysical Years Edited by Roger D. Launius, James Rodger Fleming, and David H. DeVorkin Eugenics and the Nature-Nurture Debate in the Twentieth Century By Aaron Gillette John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon By John M. Logsdon John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon John M. Logsdon JOHN F. KENNEDY AND THE RACE TO THE MOON Copyright © John M. Logsdon, 2010. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 978-0-230-11010-6 All rights reserved. First published in 2010 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-29241-7 ISBN 978-0-230-11631-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230116313 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Logsdon, John M., 1937– John F. Kennedy and the race to the moon / John M. Logsdon. p. cm.—(Palgrave studies in the history of science and technology) Includes bibliographical references. 1. Space race—United States. 2. Astronautics and state—United States. 3. Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917–1963—Influence. 4. United States. President (1961–1963 : Kennedy) 5. United States— Politics and government—1961–1963. I. Title. TL789.8.U5L64 2011 629.45940973—dc22 2010025629 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: December 2010 To my students, past and present, at The George Washington University, International Space University, and The Catholic University of America. Thank you for listening, and then going on to make me proud of your accomplishments. Contents Preface ix Prologue “We Should Go to the Moon” 1 Chapter 1 Before the White House 5 Chapter 2 Making the Transition 15 Chapter 3 Getting Started 37 Chapter 4 First Decisions 55 Chapter 5 “There’s Nothing More Important” 69 Chapter 6 Space Plans Reviewed 83 Chapter 7 “A Great New American Enterprise” 99 Chapter 8 First Steps on the Way to the Moon 119 Chapter 9 “I Am Not That Interested in Space” 143 Chapter 10 Early Attempts at Space Cooperation 159 Chapter 11 To the Moon Together: Pursuit of an Illusion? 175 Chapter 12 Apollo under Pressure 197 viii CONTENTS Chapter 13 Were Changes in the Wind? 213 Chapter 14 John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon 223 Notes 245 Selected Bibliography 281 Index 285 Preface This book has had an extremely long gestation period. Understanding its evolution is important to an appreciation of its character and intent. My involvement with President John F. Kennedy’s role in the race to the Moon began as I prepared my doctoral dissertation in political science at New York University in the late 1960s, even as I began my academic career in Washington, DC, at The Catholic University of America in September 1966. I actually signed a contract to publish the dissertation before I defended it. As I moved from Catholic to The George Washington University in 1970, the MIT Press brought out a hardcover edition of the dissertation as The Decision to Go to the Moon: Project Apollo and the National Interest. The University of Chicago Press published a paperback edition in 1976. (As a side note, working on the study of the Apollo decision provided an opportunity to be present at the July 16, 1969, launch of the Apollo 11 mission, and also the Apollo 14 and Apollo 17 launches. Those experiences alone were worth the effort that went into research and writing the dissertation and subse- quent book.) My detailed study of the decision-making process by which President Kennedy became convinced that it was in the national interest for the United States to enter, with the intent of winning, the space race with the Soviet Union has been described as “classic” and “powerful and seminal” by lead- ing space historian Roger Launius.1 Such an assessment is, of course, very gratifying. But as the years passed, I became increasingly dissatisfied with the completeness of the study’s narrative elements. The basic story stood the test of time, but because my research for the book was carried out even before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin reached the Moon, only a very lim- ited base of primary documents on which to base the study was available. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library had not yet opened, and Lyndon B. Johnson was still president. That meant the narrative lacked the fullness made possible only by using the documentary record; also, many oral histo- ries discussing the Kennedy presidency were not yet available. The flip side of this situation was that the events and considerations that led to the deci- sion to go to the Moon were still fresh in the minds of the key participants in that decision, and I was fortunate enough to be able to interview most of them. Of those involved with the decision to go to the Moon, only Robert McNamara and President Johnson declined interview requests; of course, by that time both John and Robert Kennedy had been assassinated. Early on, x PREFACE NASA chief historian Gene Emme and through him NASA administrator James Webb became convinced that I was trying to prepare an unbiased account of the decision process, and their support greatly facilitated my research. Thus the 1970 book was based primarily on my interviews with participants in the decision process and the secondary literature, although I was able to gain access to a few key documents. That meant that the story of JFK’s lunar landing decision was not complete. I also came to realize that I had totally missed an important theme in President Kennedy’s thinking in the January—May 1961 period. His first instinct on coming to the White House had been to seek cooperation in space with the Soviet Union, not competition. Even after he announced his decision to send Americans to the Moon on May 25, 1961, Kennedy had suggested to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, as they met face-to-face for the only time ten days later in Vienna, that the United States and the Soviet Union should go to the Moon together. Khrushchev responded negatively, and at least for the time being, the cooperative alternative was foreclosed. There was no mention of this alternative path in the 1970 book. I also came to realize that I had told only one part of the story of John F. Kennedy and the lunar landing program. Achieving large-scale objectives through government action has two requirements. One is a well-crafted decision on what objective to pursue. I believe that JFK’s lunar landing decision was indeed an example of choosing a course of action only after careful thought and examination of possible alternatives. But turning a decision into action, and carrying that action through to completion, is also needed for success. While there have been a number of studies of Project Apollo that examined its technical and management elements, surprisingly I found that there had been no focused attention paid to the actions and decisions of President Kennedy and his White House associates from May 1961 through November 1963 that generated the political will needed to mobilize the financial and human resources which made the lunar landing program possible. This recognition led me in 1998 to propose to the NASA Headquarters History Office a comprehensive study of John F. Kennedy and the U.S. space program. Then NASA administrator Dan Goldin and his associate admin- istrator for policy and plans Lori Garver (now NASA deputy administra- tor) gave top-level support to my request, and NASA’s chief historian Roger Launius approved a modest contract to help me get started. Over the next several years, I carried out a first round of gathering primary documents and other material from the Kennedy Library and the NASA Historical Reference Collection at NASA’s headquarters, and drafted a few parts of the book. But my duties as professor and director of the Space Policy Institute of George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, plus a seemingly unquenchable appetite for international travel, took me away from sustained writing.
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