John Fitzgerald Kennedy



John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President
of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.

Kennedy was eager for the United States to lead the way in the space race. Sergei Khrushchev says Kennedy approached his father, Nikita,
twice about a "joint venture" in space exploration—in June 1961 and autumn 1963. On the first occasion, the Soviet Union was far ahead
 of America in terms of space technology. Kennedy first announced the goal for landing a man on the Moon in speaking to a Joint Session
of Congress on May 25, 1961, saying:

"First, 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 back 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."

Kennedy later made a speech at Rice University on September 12, 1962, in which he said:

"No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space.
We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."
On the second approach to Khrushchev, the Russian was persuaded that cost-sharing was beneficial and American space
technology was forging ahead. The U.S. had launched a geostationary satellite and Kennedy had asked Congress to approve
more than $25 billion for the Apollo Project.

Khrushchev agreed to a joint venture in late 1963, but Kennedy was assassinated before the agreement could be formalized.
On July 20, 1969, almost six years after JFK's death, Project Apollo's goal was finally realized when men landed on the Moon.