Memo from President Kennedy to Vice President Johnson

Embarrassed by another high-profile success in space by the Soviet Union, President Kennedy asked Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, chairman of the Space Council, to investigate if the United States could overtake the Soviet Union in the arena of space.

In the final paragraph of the memo, President Kennedy makes reference to Jim [James E.] Webb, administrator of NASA, Dr. [Jerome] Wiesner, chairman of the President’s Science Advisory Committee, and [Robert] McNamara, secretary of defense.