Political Quotes

“Mr. President, 50 years ago, the world was transfixed by a grainy, black-and-white image of Neil Armstrong descending a ladder, preparing to take humankind's first steps on the Moon. I was one of more than half a billion people--the largest television audience in history--glued to the TV screen on that day. I was actually in high school, and, like so many Texans at the time, I was totally engrossed in what was going on. Staring at the television, it was hard to imagine that hundreds of thousands of miles away, two brave Americans were sitting on the surface of the Moon while their comrade remained in lunar orbit up above. I didn't quite understand what this development would mean for the future; I just remember thinking at that moment how proud I was to be an American. I looked up to these three men, and I still do, and I marvel at their courage, their intelligence, and their patriotism, as well as that of the tens of thousands of Americans involved in getting them to the Moon in the first place. We now know that this lunar trio had quite a sense of humor. Michael Collins was once asked in an interview what he was thinking about in the moments leading up to the liftoff on July 16, 1969, and he joked, ``I was thinking of per diem, you know, how many dollars per mile we'd be paid for this voyage.'' Upon the astronauts' return, we learned that when Buzz Aldrin stepped off the ladder, he told Armstrong he was being careful not to lock the door behind him.…”