The Four Conversations

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Chapter Two Initiative Conversations: Create a Future

Landing a man on the moon began with an Initiative Conversation. On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy went before a joint session of Congress and made the following proposal:

I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. Let it be clear—and this is a judgment which the Members of the Congress must finally make—let it be clear that I am asking the Congress and the country to ...