Back in the day, I had the honor to speak with all 12 men who walked on the Moon — heroes, all.

While each was unique in their own way, they were all in agreement with regard to one critically important subject: that a president of the United States could make or break NASA.

All agreed that back on Sept. 12, 1962, during his now iconic speech at Rice University on the need for the U.S. to become the “preeminent spacefaring nation,” President John F. Kennedy made NASA.

“We mean to be a part of it — we mean to lead it,” said the young president. “For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the Moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. … For space science, like nuclear science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of preeminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war.”

More than six decades later, many people in and out of........

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