Jun 17 1972
From The Space Library
Prospects of U.S. astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts "chummily tooling around" in orbit had "hardly raised a ripple when it was announced at the Moscow Meetings," author Robert Sherrod commented in New York Times article. But attempts of President John F. Kennedy to "cooperate with the Soviets in space nine years ago" had failed. Failure showed "differing methods of Kennedy the idealist and Nixon the pragmatist." President Nixon had "smoothed the way" with seven meetings between U.S. and Soviet engineers, beginning with April 24, 1970, meeting between then NASA Administrator, Dr. Thomas O. Paine, and Soviet Academician Anatoly A. Blagonravov. President Kennedy's attitude toward space program had been "ambivalent" until Sept. 20, 1963, when he proposed "joint expedition to the moon" in speech before United Nations. Proposal had come as surprise and had "staggered" anti- Soviet space supporters in Congress, who proceeded to pare NASA budget. House had voted 125 to 110 against using NASA funds for joint lunar landing with Communist country. Kennedy had "forgotten that politics is the art of the possible, forgotten that a leader should never surprise his own close support," Sherrod said. "In the sunnier climate of 1972, Richard Nixon duly observed the axiom and the rule." (NYT, 6/17/72)
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