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Austin Steltz
Mr. Kyle King
CAS 137H
October 4
th
, 2013
To the Moon
On May 25
th
, 1961, John F. Kennedy delivered a Special Message to Congress on
Urgent National Needs in front of the Joint Commission of Congress. The speech was delivered
in the midst of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, and was a direct
response to achievements made by USSR , who had recently launched a number of satellites into
orbit, the most landmark of which was Sputnik I, effectively pulling ahead in the space race. In
addition, the USSR had just recently launched Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin into orbit around the
Earth, becoming the first country in history to put a man in space. Both accomplishments
received massive public attention around the world, and began to establish the Soviet Union as
the superior coalition in the Cold War.
As President of the United States, John F Kennedy needed to both re-establish public
morale among United States citizens after these recent events, as well as re-affirm the United
States power as a country. To do so, in the last and longest section of his address to Congress,
JFK challenged the USSRs recent achievements with the promise of an even greater one made
by the United States. Titles Space, this last section drew massive public response, and quickly
eclipsed other sections in the address as the topic of paramount importance. In his speech before
Congress, Kennedy utilized both his popular standing with the public and the authority of his
office to appeal to the patriotism of the United States population and its national Cold War
rivalry. In addition, JFK utilized logical arguments regarding tertiary benefits of expanding the
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space program and national security as arguments to support the necessity of the United States
pursuing a moon-landing operation.
John. F Kennedy was the president of the United States during the Cold War era. Due to
his experience in dealing with Cold War related issues throughout his term, his credibility
throughout his Urgent National Needs address, which focuses nearly entirely on restricting
communism and protecting freedom, is fairly strong. In addition, just a couple of years before
John ran for Congress, he was a naval lieutenant, commanding a patrol boat in World War II.
This direct experience in wartime conflict helped to give strength to his argument for pursuing a
moon operation, his proposed method to negate potential international conflict, near the end of
his Urgent National Needs address.
In addition to being well versed on the issues at hand, John F Kennedy was also an
extremely popular president. With an average public approval rating of 70.1 percent throughout
his term as president, he boasts the highest public presidential approval rating in history after
World War II. The vast majority of the public trusted him and listened to what he had to say. In
addition, Congress would have to take action on JFKs words, or risk backlash from their
constituents when their Congressional seats were due for re-election. President John F.
Kennedys approval rating did much to establish his credibility when delivering his speech to
Congress, and drastically increased the chances that Congress would take action on the points
specified in the speech.
Stakes were extremely high during the Cold War. A majority of Americans perceived the
USSR, which was founded on a philosophy on communism, as a huge threat to their nation and
liberties. John F. Kennedy brilliantly and effectively capitalized on these American believes by
appealing to the American form of freedom loving patriotism. Throughout his speech, President
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Kennedy idealized the United States as an exemplary model of a free nation, and portrayed the
USSR as a coalition of tyranny. Near the beginning of his Space address, JFK stated if we are to
win the battle that is now going on around the world between freedom and tyranny (para. 1).
This statement portrayed the USSR as a tyrannical and corrupt entity to the audience, while
idealizing the United States as the leader of the free world. Later on in his speech, JFK stated,
We go into space because whatever mankind must undertake, free men must fully share. (para.
3). In addition to patriotism, this statement invoked the audiences pride as free citizens, as well
as their fear of what will happen if the USSR begins to capitalize on their current space
advantage. Furthermore, JFK used negative terms, such as exploit and head-start, to describe
the Soviet Union and its actions, further damaging the character of the projected enemy in his
speech. By painting the Soviet Union as a threat to the paramount example of free nations
known as the United States, John F Kennedy appealed to both his audiences patriotic freedom
loving pride, as well as their fear of the soviets. Both appeals drastically increased the chance
that both Congress and the citizens of the United States would support efforts to strengthen the
image of the United State, such as pursuing a lunar landing.
JFK also gathered support by portraying a sense of urgency. Near the beginning of his
Space section, JFK stated the dramatic achievements in space which occurred in recent weeks
have made clear to us, as did Sputnik in 1957, the impact of this adventure on the minds of men
everywhere (para. 1). This statement clearly demonstrated the immense progress Russia has
made in the space race, and made it appear that the United States was falling behind. This
urgency made the audience more likely to support action to diminish this gap.
JFK also utilized logical arguments to convince both the public and Congress to support a
lunar landing. President Kennedy justified the expense on the research in developing new
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technologies required to reach the moon by pointing out the secondary benefits such
technologies would allow the United States to have. In the last section of his speech, he cited
possible secondary benefits as a satellite system for world-wide weather observation, (para. 7)
as well as new methods of space travel that could potentially take us beyond the moon, perhaps
to the very end of the solar system itself (para. 6). He supported this assertion with his statement
all of you have lived through the last four years and seen the significance of space and the
adventures of space (para. 11). By referring to the benefits previous space voyages, such as
Voyager 1 and Juno 1 , brought their respective countries, JFK was able to justify that future
research in space travel would do the same.
Finally, JFK appealed to his audience by demonstrating immense confidence in the
ability of his nation. The most obvious example of this appeal is demonstrated in the statement;
I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of
landing a man on the moon, and returning him safely to Earth, (Para. 5). The United States had
not even put a man in orbit, yet JFK nevertheless expressed massive confidence, later saying I
believe we possess all the resources and talents necessary, (Para 2) to do so. This statement
alone, coming from such a highly loved president of the United States, resulted in a massive
increase in public confidence in the United States strength as a nation. The statement helped to
erase the USAs failing to the Soviet Union in the past, and allowed the country to focus on the
future.

In final analysis, John F Kennedys Special Message to the Congress on Urgent
National Needs, primarily Section IX, which focused on space, delivered a strong and
compelling argument for supporting a manned Lunar Landing. By addressing recent Soviet
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accomplishments, a subject that was on the mind of the entire nation, the speech instantly
captured the audiences attention. In addition, as one of the most popular presidents of the United
States, as well as a veteran president well-versed in Cold War issues, JFKs arguments and
declarations made in his address carried substantial weight. Moreover, by justifying the
expenditure on research and equipment by stating that they will bring many advances in
technologies that will benefit America in the future, JFK utilized logical arguments of future
space technology windfalls to convince his audience. Furthermore, by appealing to the patriotism
of the United States and portraying the space race as a battle between a nation of tyrannical
philosophy (Russia) and a nation with virtuous intent (United States), in addition to
demonstrating immense confidence in the United States ability to put a man on the moon and
return him safely to Earth, JFK inspired American citizens to pursue a lunar landing to protect
their nations liberties and freedoms. The Apollo 11 lunar landing was later achieved within the
decade, serving a final testament to the success of President Kennedys address in strengthening
both the moral of the American people and the United States as a whole.