May 25

On the 25th in 1961, President Kennedy convened a joint session of Congress. By itself, this would hardly be a remarkable event because for the most part, what Presidents have to say is generally neither terribly helpful nor interesting. His reason for holding the session however assured JFK’s place in the pantheon of truly great visionary presidents. During the session, he revealed his belief “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 the Earth.” In documents from his administration that have only recently been de-classified, it is revealed that the man Kennedy had in mind was none other than Lyndon Baines Johnson.