John F. Kennedy: “They are beginning to realize that the longing for independence is the same the world over, whether it is the…”

For you and I are privileged to serve the great Republic in what could be the most decisive decade in its long history.

Our aim is not simply to be first on the moon, any more than Charles Lindbergh's real aim was to be the first to Paris.

If, on the other hand, we hang back in deference to local economic pressures, we will find ourselves cut off from our major allies.

But if these programs were ever to be ended, our failures in a dozen countries would be sudden and certain.