Kennedy's original Man on the Moon speech

[PeterB]

In Kennedy's speech to Congress in May 1961, when he makes the original commitment to the Moon, who's the man sitting beside Johnson in the seats behind Kennedy? And what was the VP's official duty in this case? President of the Senate, isn't it?

It was interesting to read the whole speech - the section dealing with space was only one part of a nine or 10 part speech. What sort of reaction was there to the speech? Did the media note the Moon commitment to the exception of everything else in the speech, or did it take time before people realised what Kennedy had committed NASA to?

[Bob B.]

Aug 17, 2011 22:51:47 GMT -4 PeterB said:

In Kennedy's speech to Congress in May 1961, when he makes the original commitment to the Moon, who's the man sitting beside Johnson in the seats behind Kennedy? And what was the VP's official duty in this case? President of the Senate, isn't it?

The person next to Johnson should be the Speaker of the House. The VP and Speaker sit behind the President when he addresses a joint session of Congress. The VP and Speaker are the presiding officers over the Senate and House of Representatives. The Speaker in 1961 was Sam Rayburn.

The main duty of the VP in the Senate is to cast a vote when necessary to break a tie.

[ka9q]

Aug 18, 2011 0:35:17 GMT -4 Bob B. said:

The main duty of the VP in the Senate is to cast a vote when necessary to break a tie.

Because each State gets two Senators, the total is always even and therefore ties are always possible. Hence the need for a tiebreaker.

Although the Vice President is nominally President of the Senate, by tradition he actually plays that role only on formal occasions and when needed to break ties. On a daily basis the Senate is chaired by a Senator appointed by the President pro tempore, who is the most senior member of the majority party.

The House of Representatives has 435 voting members, but because not all are present for every vote it is possible to have ties there too. I don't know how they're handled.

[echnaton]

For a bit more detail, the most powerful position in the US Senate it the Majority Leader, who is the leader selected by the Senators of the majority party. Currently Democrat Harry Reid. He has the power to make Committee assignment and set the calendar for discussions on bills. The President pro tempore, currently Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, is a largely honorary position and the officer does not regularly chair the Senate. That job is passed around since much of the debate actually takes place while most members are in committee meetings. Being a senior Senator, the President pro tempore also chairs a number of committees.

Among the true powers of the The President pro tempore is the ability to rule on points of order and being third in line for succession to the Presidency following the Vice President and the Speaker of the House.

[ka9q]

Sounds right. How are ties in the House handled?

[coelacanth]

Aug 18, 2011 4:31:02 GMT -4 ka9q said:

Sounds right. How are ties in the House handled?

I believe that in the case of a tie, the measure is not passed. I am less than 100% confident of that though.

[echnaton]

By custom the presiding officer of the House does not speak or vote on behalf of legislation. On important matters this is the Speaker but on a daily basis frequently is another member. So a tie on items of usual business will be broken (or not) by a vote (or abstention) of the presiding officer. The House also operates as a "committee of the whole," where committee rules rather than full assembly rules apply. When operating in this mode, the non voting Representative from Puerto Rico gets to vote.

When acting on the most politically sensitive issues the votes are counted in advance and party pressures are put on members. It the event of a close call, voting strategies are then used depending on the head count. That is the job of the party whips. I am not enough of a political junkie to have ever looked into that.

[PeterB]

Aug 18, 2011 0:35:17 GMT -4 Bob B. said:

Aug 17, 2011 22:51:47 GMT -4 PeterB said:

In Kennedy's speech to Congress in May 1961, when he makes the original commitment to the Moon, who's the man sitting beside Johnson in the seats behind Kennedy? And what was the VP's official duty in this case? President of the Senate, isn't it?

The person next to Johnson should be the Speaker of the House. The VP and Speaker sit behind the President when he addresses a joint session of Congress. The VP and Speaker are the presiding officers over the Senate and House of Representatives. The Speaker in 1961 was Sam Rayburn.

The main duty of the VP in the Senate is to cast a vote when necessary to break a tie.

Thanks Bob. So this arrangement is the standard one when the President addresses a joint sitting of Congress?

The reason I ask is that I'm writing a short article on Kennedy's speech, and I want to try to recreate some of the atmosphere of the event in the article. That's why I'm curious to know if anyone knows how the speech was received by the media the next day.

[LunarOrbit]

Have you checked Google News for archived news reports about Kennedy's speech?

bit.ly/q7zACF

[PeterB]

Aug 19, 2011 22:34:45 GMT -4 LunarOrbit said:

Have you checked Google News for archived news reports about Kennedy's speech?

bit.ly/q7zACF

Thanks for that. It hadn't occurred to me.

Cheers

[ka9q]

I don't think there was universal acclaim, that's for sure. Nor was there universal support throughout the Apollo program, especially after the Apollo 1 fire. In fact, it came damn close to being cancelled. The usual arguments were that it cost too much when there were "needs closer to home" and that it was being rushed at considerable risk for no good reason.

[Bob B.]

Aug 19, 2011 22:10:59 GMT -4 PeterB said:

Thanks Bob. So this arrangement is the standard one when the President addresses a joint sitting of Congress?

That's correct. For instance, if you Google photos of Obama addressing a joint Congress, you'll see seated behind him Joe Biden and either Nancy Pelosi (prior to 2011) or John Boehner (current). As VP, Biden is president of the Senate. Pelosi was Speaker of the House for Obama's first two terms when the Democrats held a majority in the House. After the 2010 elections, the Republicans took over the majority in the House, thus Boehner, who had previously been the minority leader, became Speaker in January 2011.