Reply #9: Nixon was in office just 6 months [View All]

[demwing]

And in the decade leading up to the moon landing, Kennedy had held office for less than three years.

Johnson was in office for more than 6 years just prior to the moon landing.

Kennedy may have inspired the vision, but the moon landidng was all about money - $20 billion worth, which we were able to shell out on top of Johnsons Great Society expenditures plus the Vietnam war.

Johnson pushed the space race as a tribute to Kennedy, and it was under Johnson that the NASA space mission were reordered into the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions.

Hell, the space center in Houston is named after LBJ!

I think Johnson deserves the lions share of the credit for the US being first on the moon.