Looking back with the eyes of an adult through the lens of history, I can see how extraordinary this achievement really was. Kennedy announced this initiative on May 25, 1961. Less than ten years later, it was accomplished. The project brought the nation together in a way that seems impossible today. Perhaps the assassination of the president in 1963 gave Americans the will to make the moon landing possible. Certainly there were huge obstacles to overcome. And overcome them we did.
I wonder if we will ever find a similar goal, one untainted by political fighting, one on which we can truly work together. I have some suggestions for similar goals, but I doubt that we have the unity to pull it off. If any event would bring us together, one would think that the 9/11 bombings would have done so. In the short run we did come together. But now, nearly 8 years later, we are fighting petty political wars at home, rather than identifying the real enemy.
A unified people is a powerful force.
