WEBVTT 00:00:04.700 --> 00:00:05.880 position:50% align:middle - [John] Thank you very much. 00:00:05.880 --> 00:00:10.713 position:50% align:middle I'm honored by the invitation and very glad to be able to share some ideas with you about a very 00:00:10.713 --> 00:00:17.320 position:50% align:middle unusual policy issue that took place back in the 1960s. Unusual because for a little reason, 00:00:17.320 --> 00:00:23.100 position:50% align:middle known as no human had ever done it before, which was to get to the moon and come back. 00:00:23.100 --> 00:00:23.880 position:50% align:middle How did that happen? 00:00:23.880 --> 00:00:29.744 position:50% align:middle How did President Kennedy set the stage so that the public and those of influence would understand 00:00:29.744 --> 00:00:31.830 position:50% align:middle the importance of this goal and how to reach it? 00:00:31.830 --> 00:00:36.670 position:50% align:middle So, I'd like to talk with you a little bit about that and some lessons we may be able to extrapolate 00:00:36.670 --> 00:00:39.400 position:50% align:middle from what President Kennedy was able to do. 00:00:39.400 --> 00:00:41.620 position:50% align:middle But let's start with the object in question. 00:00:41.620 --> 00:00:44.300 position:50% align:middle It seems a little bit silly, doesn't it? 00:00:44.300 --> 00:00:50.970 position:50% align:middle It's just a rock out in space, yet it fascinates us, and it's fascinated us 00:00:50.970 --> 00:00:53.250 position:50% align:middle throughout our entire human history. 00:00:53.250 --> 00:00:54.680 position:50% align:middle We dream about it. 00:00:54.680 --> 00:00:59.360 position:50% align:middle We've turned the moon into a God, and we've always wondered when we gazed up at it, 00:00:59.360 --> 00:01:04.297 position:50% align:middle what is up there, and how can we get there to find out? 00:01:04.297 --> 00:01:09.226 position:50% align:middle It occupies our imagination to the extent that any time that we've been given an opportunity to 00:01:09.226 --> 00:01:11.667 position:50% align:middle imagine going to the moon, we've taken it. 00:01:11.667 --> 00:01:15.617 position:50% align:middle It has occupied some of the earliest films that we have. 00:01:15.617 --> 00:01:19.187 position:50% align:middle It's a vision that we wanted to see come true. 00:01:19.187 --> 00:01:23.839 position:50% align:middle This movie in particular was based upon the work of Jules Verne in his book "From the Earth to the 00:01:23.839 --> 00:01:28.836 position:50% align:middle Moon," where he imagined that what would take place is we would put people into a cannon shell 00:01:28.836 --> 00:01:31.957 position:50% align:middle and then fire them at the moon. 00:01:31.957 --> 00:01:34.897 position:50% align:middle He wasn't entirely wrong about some of the technology aspects. 00:01:34.897 --> 00:01:37.677 position:50% align:middle Fire is involved and it takes a great deal of force. 00:01:37.677 --> 00:01:44.197 position:50% align:middle But the idea that humans should go to that rock out in space, our closest visitor, our nearest neighbor, 00:01:44.197 --> 00:01:48.517 position:50% align:middle is something that we have always wanted to do, yet, of course, found difficulty in actually 00:01:48.517 --> 00:01:50.217 position:50% align:middle making it happen. 00:01:50.217 --> 00:01:51.307 position:50% align:middle It's the age-old dilemma. 00:01:51.307 --> 00:01:56.557 position:50% align:middle If only imagination was sufficient to accomplish things, think of what we would be able to do, 00:01:56.557 --> 00:01:58.947 position:50% align:middle think of what we would already have done. 00:01:58.947 --> 00:02:02.147 position:50% align:middle But imagination is a wonderful start, but it's not enough. 00:02:02.147 --> 00:02:03.127 position:50% align:middle People understand that. 00:02:03.127 --> 00:02:07.967 position:50% align:middle Kennedy understood that in particular. And he understood that turning imagination into reality 00:02:07.967 --> 00:02:14.407 position:50% align:middle is a long, difficult road, and it requires a leader to continue to set an agenda, 00:02:14.407 --> 00:02:20.686 position:50% align:middle cast the vision, and propel the audiences forward if anything is actually going to be accomplished. 00:02:20.686 --> 00:02:26.650 position:50% align:middle So, 1961, President Kennedy took that very first step towards getting humans to the moon. 00:02:26.650 --> 00:02:32.803 position:50% align:middle The final step, as we all know, would be completed by Neil Armstrong in 1969. 00:02:32.803 --> 00:02:38.398 position:50% align:middle But Kennedy's first step is the one that set everything in motion that made it possible for 00:02:38.398 --> 00:02:41.857 position:50% align:middle Armstrong to complete that journey some years later. 00:02:41.857 --> 00:02:46.437 position:50% align:middle So, we should look at what Kennedy was able to do, how he was able to do it, 00:02:46.437 --> 00:02:48.657 position:50% align:middle and why it seemed to resonate with people. 00:02:48.657 --> 00:02:52.575 position:50% align:middle And that comes down to his leadership and his ability to muster the resources of language that he 00:02:52.575 --> 00:03:00.949 position:50% align:middle had available to him in order to captivate a nation and propel us to what became our destiny. 00:03:00.949 --> 00:03:03.589 position:50% align:middle But he didn't just ask Americans to follow him. 00:03:03.589 --> 00:03:07.679 position:50% align:middle His leadership style wasn't about just telling people what needed to happen. 00:03:07.679 --> 00:03:14.934 position:50% align:middle He invited people, everyone in the nation, to understand and participate in this vision of what 00:03:14.934 --> 00:03:17.089 position:50% align:middle he wanted us to accomplish. 00:03:17.089 --> 00:03:22.979 position:50% align:middle And in there, I think is the lesson that can be best learned. When you involve the people in the policy, 00:03:22.979 --> 00:03:29.839 position:50% align:middle they're more willing to support it than if they feel they're subject to the policy in place. 00:03:29.839 --> 00:03:33.019 position:50% align:middle Now, Kennedy, in our mind, of course, is a mythic figure. 00:03:33.019 --> 00:03:37.429 position:50% align:middle Camelot, we remember, of course, the greatness, the number of movies, and so on and so forth. 00:03:37.429 --> 00:03:42.709 position:50% align:middle But at the time that he was preparing to create this message about going to the moon, 00:03:42.709 --> 00:03:45.249 position:50% align:middle his presidency was in shambles. 00:03:45.249 --> 00:03:50.639 position:50% align:middle He wasn't exactly the most likely candidate to put forward such an idea. 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:52.049 position:50% align:middle He was known for his boldness. 00:03:52.049 --> 00:03:57.160 position:50% align:middle His brashness would be probably a less polite but more accurate way of describing his persona 00:03:57.160 --> 00:03:58.008 position:50% align:middle at this time. 00:03:58.008 --> 00:04:03.125 position:50% align:middle But he wasn't necessarily thought of as a leader, but spent very little time as a congressperson 00:04:03.125 --> 00:04:07.840 position:50% align:middle and as a senator before being escalated up to the highest office in the land. 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:12.350 position:50% align:middle In fact, he was quite a controversial and divisive figure, particularly just after his election. 00:04:12.350 --> 00:04:17.000 position:50% align:middle We should keep in mind that he just barely won against Vice President Richard Nixon. 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:20.340 position:50% align:middle It was around a hundred thousand votes that separated the two. 00:04:20.340 --> 00:04:21.890 position:50% align:middle So, it wasn't as if it was a landslide. 00:04:21.890 --> 00:04:24.150 position:50% align:middle It wasn't as if everyone was already believing in Kennedy. 00:04:24.150 --> 00:04:28.340 position:50% align:middle He had a lot to prove, and he had a lot to try and make up for in terms 00:04:28.340 --> 00:04:29.720 position:50% align:middle of people's perception. 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:34.760 position:50% align:middle In fact, his presidency came on the coattails of one of the more popular presidents to have 00:04:34.760 --> 00:04:37.250 position:50% align:middle served, General Eisenhower. 00:04:37.250 --> 00:04:42.570 position:50% align:middle And General Eisenhower, I say general, obviously, he was president, but he had spoken out against a 00:04:42.570 --> 00:04:43.540 position:50% align:middle manned moon mission. 00:04:43.540 --> 00:04:44.670 position:50% align:middle Said it was foolish. 00:04:44.670 --> 00:04:45.410 position:50% align:middle What a waste of time. 00:04:45.410 --> 00:04:46.090 position:50% align:middle What a waste of money. 00:04:46.090 --> 00:04:48.400 position:50% align:middle We have other priorities within the nation. 00:04:48.400 --> 00:04:53.020 position:50% align:middle As a candidate for president, Kennedy had gotten a lot of benefit from calling 00:04:53.020 --> 00:04:57.348 position:50% align:middle out the Eisenhower administration as being slow to the moon, slow to space, we're lagging 00:04:57.348 --> 00:04:58.642 position:50% align:middle behind the Soviets. 00:04:58.642 --> 00:05:02.470 position:50% align:middle Well, that's fine to say when you don't have the job, when you're just a candidate. 00:05:02.470 --> 00:05:07.722 position:50% align:middle But suddenly, now we have President Kennedy and what he had made criticisms of Eisenhower's 00:05:07.722 --> 00:05:11.070 position:50% align:middle administration were now his problems to solve. 00:05:11.070 --> 00:05:15.210 position:50% align:middle And he had to figure out how to do that in a rather quick amount of time. 00:05:15.210 --> 00:05:18.720 position:50% align:middle So, he wasn't exactly arguing from a position of strength. 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:23.880 position:50% align:middle Kennedy's leadership, when it came to the moon policy, was arguing from a deficit. 00:05:23.880 --> 00:05:26.160 position:50% align:middle He was lacking in some credibility. 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:30.420 position:50% align:middle It seemed to be an impossible idea, and he didn't have a whole lot to show for it, 00:05:30.420 --> 00:05:33.910 position:50% align:middle and yet he still pursued it very much so. 00:05:33.910 --> 00:05:38.030 position:50% align:middle His leadership would've to come through creativity and inspiration. 00:05:38.030 --> 00:05:43.440 position:50% align:middle Those were the things that he had available to him and what he employed to the best of his abilities. 00:05:43.440 --> 00:05:51.731 position:50% align:middle And he did this at the start, on May the 25th of 1961, when he stood before Congress and he announced 00:05:51.731 --> 00:05:57.300 position:50% align:middle one of the most audacious, expensive, and fantastical policy proposals in human history. 00:05:57.300 --> 00:06:00.643 position:50% align:middle Let's send some people up and bring them back. 00:06:00.643 --> 00:06:02.313 position:50% align:middle Let's go to the moon. 00:06:02.313 --> 00:06:04.053 position:50% align:middle That's what he wanted. 00:06:04.053 --> 00:06:08.693 position:50% align:middle So, he stood before Congress and he announced, with clarity, his vision. 00:06:08.693 --> 00:06:13.737 position:50% align:middle "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of 00:06:13.737 --> 00:06:19.013 position:50% align:middle landing a man on the moon," and the crucial bit, "and returning him safely to the earth." 00:06:19.013 --> 00:06:21.239 position:50% align:middle The last bit really matters. Okay. 00:06:21.239 --> 00:06:24.773 position:50% align:middle First bit slightly easier to do, last bit difficult. 00:06:24.773 --> 00:06:29.123 position:50% align:middle Now, what's interesting about this is the press accounts at the time are wildly different in how 00:06:29.123 --> 00:06:30.953 position:50% align:middle Congress reacted to this. 00:06:30.953 --> 00:06:36.133 position:50% align:middle Some articles report that applause broke out within the chamber, and there was cheering, and there 00:06:36.133 --> 00:06:36.903 position:50% align:middle was support in the motion. 00:06:36.903 --> 00:06:42.913 position:50% align:middle Others say that there was consternation, disbelief that people weren't responding 00:06:42.913 --> 00:06:43.863 position:50% align:middle in that particular way. 00:06:43.863 --> 00:06:47.823 position:50% align:middle It's weird that there's a difference of opinion on that point because there's video, audio, 00:06:47.823 --> 00:06:49.173 position:50% align:middle and video related to this. 00:06:49.173 --> 00:06:52.713 position:50% align:middle And what it was actually met with is dead silence. 00:06:52.713 --> 00:06:56.533 position:50% align:middle No one applauded, cheered, even nodded. 00:06:56.533 --> 00:06:58.793 position:50% align:middle What you see are stunned faces. 00:06:58.793 --> 00:07:02.921 position:50% align:middle This is our president of the United States, and he just said, we're going to send people 00:07:02.921 --> 00:07:04.411 position:50% align:middle to the moon. 00:07:04.411 --> 00:07:08.111 position:50% align:middle They were stunned by this, and Kennedy knew this and anticipated this. 00:07:08.111 --> 00:07:12.141 position:50% align:middle And that's where we see the other shoe drop in this announcement because right after he says, 00:07:12.141 --> 00:07:17.901 position:50% align:middle "Let's send some people to the moon," he puts on the table exactly what the benefit and obstacles are 00:07:17.901 --> 00:07:18.861 position:50% align:middle going to be. 00:07:18.861 --> 00:07:23.501 position:50% align:middle "No single project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the 00:07:23.501 --> 00:07:31.451 position:50% align:middle long-range exploration of space, and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish." 00:07:31.451 --> 00:07:33.721 position:50% align:middle And that was the criticism that he would face. 00:07:33.721 --> 00:07:36.131 position:50% align:middle Is the difficulty worth the expense? 00:07:36.131 --> 00:07:39.421 position:50% align:middle Is the risk going to be worth the reward? 00:07:39.421 --> 00:07:40.771 position:50% align:middle No one had done it before. 00:07:40.771 --> 00:07:45.501 position:50% align:middle He had to argue that it was, he had nothing to offer as proof or evidence. 00:07:45.501 --> 00:07:50.791 position:50% align:middle All he could do was inspire and basically promise. 00:07:50.791 --> 00:07:55.811 position:50% align:middle Now, that would be fine in a certain sense if he wasn't again operating from that deficit. 00:07:55.811 --> 00:08:01.023 position:50% align:middle As I mentioned, the moonshot came early in his presidency, and it wasn't off to a great start. 00:08:01.023 --> 00:08:05.115 position:50% align:middle Kennedy was just four months into his presidency when he announced that we would be going 00:08:05.115 --> 00:08:05.982 position:50% align:middle to the moon. 00:08:05.982 --> 00:08:11.983 position:50% align:middle And the four months that had led up to that announcement were incredibly bumpy. 00:08:11.983 --> 00:08:17.853 position:50% align:middle Just the month prior to this was the Bay of Pigs disaster, which humiliated the nation and Kennedy 00:08:17.853 --> 00:08:24.187 position:50% align:middle in particular, said we can't even accomplish trying to do an invasion of Cuba just off the shores of 00:08:24.187 --> 00:08:27.693 position:50% align:middle Florida without it going completely sour. 00:08:27.693 --> 00:08:31.393 position:50% align:middle Now, Kennedy was trying to blame some of that on a previous administration's plan and so on. 00:08:31.393 --> 00:08:33.773 position:50% align:middle But when you're in the leadership position, no one wants to hear that. 00:08:33.773 --> 00:08:39.083 position:50% align:middle They just look at you and say, "This was a wreck and you shouldn't have done this." 00:08:39.083 --> 00:08:44.253 position:50% align:middle While that disaster was taking place, the Soviets were further reminding the United States 00:08:44.253 --> 00:08:48.623 position:50% align:middle of their superiority in many of these global positioning situations. 00:08:48.623 --> 00:08:52.233 position:50% align:middle As that was happening, Yuri Gagarin was orbiting around the earth having a 00:08:52.233 --> 00:08:58.753 position:50% align:middle fine old time in his Soviet space capsule, looking down on the rest of us, okay? 00:08:58.753 --> 00:09:04.783 position:50% align:middle The Soviets had put the first object into space with Sputnik, the first animal into space, 00:09:04.783 --> 00:09:06.883 position:50% align:middle the first human into space. 00:09:06.883 --> 00:09:11.586 position:50% align:middle At the time, Kennedy promised that we would go to the moon, the United States 00:09:11.586 --> 00:09:19.383 position:50% align:middle had accumulated all of 15 minutes of time in outer space, not enough for an orbit. 00:09:19.383 --> 00:09:23.133 position:50% align:middle We sent Alan Shepard up, he waved, and then came right back down. 00:09:23.133 --> 00:09:23.593 position:50% align:middle That was it. 00:09:23.593 --> 00:09:26.713 position:50% align:middle And Kennedy is making this promise. 00:09:26.713 --> 00:09:29.503 position:50% align:middle Lot of gusto. But the world understood the situation. 00:09:29.503 --> 00:09:33.363 position:50% align:middle Kennedy was leading the nation, but the nation was not leading the world. 00:09:33.363 --> 00:09:36.073 position:50% align:middle It was lagging behind the Soviet Union at this time. 00:09:36.073 --> 00:09:41.390 position:50% align:middle And here's our leader making these audacious claims, promising that we would do something 00:09:41.390 --> 00:09:42.213 position:50% align:middle no one else had done. 00:09:42.213 --> 00:09:46.193 position:50% align:middle And, again, people would look at him and say, "How are you going to do this? 00:09:46.193 --> 00:09:47.533 position:50% align:middle What's your proof? 00:09:47.533 --> 00:09:50.323 position:50% align:middle There's nothing that says this should be possible." 00:09:50.323 --> 00:09:53.923 position:50% align:middle And so Kennedy said, "Ah, well, we'll see." 00:09:53.923 --> 00:09:56.817 position:50% align:middle Now, I'd like to put this in a little bit of perspective for us, and a good reminder 00:09:56.817 --> 00:10:00.540 position:50% align:middle of where we are in history versus were the people that Kennedy needed to persuade were 00:10:00.540 --> 00:10:01.718 position:50% align:middle in their history. 00:10:01.718 --> 00:10:08.254 position:50% align:middle Time perhaps has muted Kennedy's inventiveness, after all, for us, we know how this story turns out. 00:10:08.254 --> 00:10:15.974 position:50% align:middle Apollo is an amazing, objectively, truly incredible moment in history. 00:10:15.974 --> 00:10:16.854 position:50% align:middle It worked. 00:10:16.854 --> 00:10:18.034 position:50% align:middle We did it. 00:10:18.034 --> 00:10:19.334 position:50% align:middle We brought him back. 00:10:19.334 --> 00:10:20.514 position:50% align:middle That is fantastic. 00:10:20.514 --> 00:10:26.224 position:50% align:middle The Apollo moon landing will be recorded in the annals of human history for all time. 00:10:26.224 --> 00:10:30.434 position:50% align:middle But we should look backwards and say, "Okay, we know how the story works out. 00:10:30.434 --> 00:10:33.554 position:50% align:middle So, maybe it doesn't appear as dramatic to us now." 00:10:33.554 --> 00:10:37.704 position:50% align:middle But the thing is, when you're in the position of leadership before the event has happened, 00:10:37.704 --> 00:10:41.564 position:50% align:middle you do not know how the story is going to turn out. 00:10:41.564 --> 00:10:43.094 position:50% align:middle It's going to be a mystery to you. 00:10:43.094 --> 00:10:47.725 position:50% align:middle So, we need to put ourselves in the position of Kennedy and the people that he was speaking to 00:10:47.725 --> 00:10:52.537 position:50% align:middle at that time in order to truly appreciate and understand what he did in terms of using the 00:10:52.537 --> 00:10:55.524 position:50% align:middle inventive resources he had available to him. 00:10:55.524 --> 00:11:00.164 position:50% align:middle When you're in a leadership position, you only know how you want the story to turn out. 00:11:00.164 --> 00:11:03.974 position:50% align:middle But the drama is going to come from figuring out how to get there, figuring out, 00:11:03.974 --> 00:11:09.704 position:50% align:middle how do I solve that question mark, what is it that I can do to make this sensible. 00:11:09.704 --> 00:11:13.064 position:50% align:middle And so Kennedy had to have a little bit of think about it. 00:11:13.064 --> 00:11:17.643 position:50% align:middle His idea starts with understanding what his role in this leadership position could be. 00:11:17.643 --> 00:11:21.170 position:50% align:middle As it does with any leadership position, you start by trying to understand your role, 00:11:21.170 --> 00:11:26.921 position:50% align:middle which, in part, begins by trying to understand things such as your strengths, your weaknesses, 00:11:26.921 --> 00:11:29.044 position:50% align:middle and the resources that you have available to you. 00:11:29.044 --> 00:11:34.624 position:50% align:middle Because in essence, that's all any of us ever have to work with, particularly when we're trying 00:11:34.624 --> 00:11:37.974 position:50% align:middle to accomplish something in terms of leading a group. 00:11:37.974 --> 00:11:41.714 position:50% align:middle Now, Kennedy was not a scientifically minded person. 00:11:41.714 --> 00:11:45.444 position:50% align:middle His degree was in government studies. 00:11:45.444 --> 00:11:49.414 position:50% align:middle Good for him, I guess, but he wasn't a scientist, or an engineer, 00:11:49.414 --> 00:11:50.334 position:50% align:middle or an astronaut. 00:11:50.334 --> 00:11:52.284 position:50% align:middle He was trying to absorb information. 00:11:52.284 --> 00:11:57.614 position:50% align:middle He listened to the people at NASA when they lectured him and his administration on what was 00:11:57.614 --> 00:12:00.432 position:50% align:middle taking place, but he didn't understand it. 00:12:00.432 --> 00:12:04.110 position:50% align:middle I like this photo in particular because if you can see, left of center, Vice President 00:12:04.110 --> 00:12:08.706 position:50% align:middle Lyndon Johnson looking like he'd rather be anywhere in the world than listening to a bunch 00:12:08.706 --> 00:12:14.136 position:50% align:middle of NASA eggheads explain to him what jet propulsion is, and he was an education president, 00:12:14.136 --> 00:12:18.062 position:50% align:middle and he just didn't have a lot of tolerance for being lectured to so... 00:12:18.062 --> 00:12:23.232 position:50% align:middle I just like that McNamara is probably doing the math in his head, just he's off to the side of there. 00:12:23.232 --> 00:12:24.312 position:50% align:middle Anyway. 00:12:24.312 --> 00:12:25.552 position:50% align:middle What could Kennedy do then? 00:12:25.552 --> 00:12:26.492 position:50% align:middle So, he's not an engineer. 00:12:26.492 --> 00:12:29.182 position:50% align:middle He can't help with the actual science of the endeavor. 00:12:29.182 --> 00:12:31.472 position:50% align:middle He has to lead from a different direction. 00:12:31.472 --> 00:12:34.272 position:50% align:middle Now, the familiar part of this, of course, is that as president, 00:12:34.272 --> 00:12:37.402 position:50% align:middle he could ask for money to fund his plan. 00:12:37.402 --> 00:12:39.662 position:50% align:middle But who doesn't ask for money? 00:12:39.662 --> 00:12:41.192 position:50% align:middle Everyone asks for money. 00:12:41.192 --> 00:12:43.182 position:50% align:middle Asking for money isn't the thing. 00:12:43.182 --> 00:12:47.612 position:50% align:middle How is he going to create the impetus for people to want to fund that project, 00:12:47.612 --> 00:12:53.082 position:50% align:middle want to fund what his vision is, and want to make this a reality? 00:12:53.082 --> 00:12:55.402 position:50% align:middle So, he needed to do more than ask. 00:12:55.402 --> 00:12:59.612 position:50% align:middle He needed to convince, he needed to convince the policymakers in order to make 00:12:59.612 --> 00:13:01.391 position:50% align:middle this plan happen. 00:13:01.391 --> 00:13:03.359 position:50% align:middle As such, he needed to be an advocate. 00:13:06.421 --> 00:13:10.991 position:50% align:middle So, this was going to be a more proactive role, not just asking, but getting out there, 00:13:10.991 --> 00:13:14.091 position:50% align:middle putting his message forward, letting people think on it, 00:13:14.091 --> 00:13:19.771 position:50% align:middle letting people understand what exactly it would mean for everyone in order for America 00:13:19.771 --> 00:13:21.111 position:50% align:middle to accomplish this goal. 00:13:21.111 --> 00:13:24.525 position:50% align:middle That also meant that he was going to advocate for the people doing the labor. 00:13:24.525 --> 00:13:28.751 position:50% align:middle He didn't want NASA to have to make these arguments themselves. 00:13:28.751 --> 00:13:32.491 position:50% align:middle He wanted them working on the science, doing their job. 00:13:32.491 --> 00:13:37.081 position:50% align:middle His job, because he couldn't do the science, was to make sure that they had what they needed and 00:13:37.081 --> 00:13:41.273 position:50% align:middle to make sure that he would take the brunt of whatever criticism was available, answer the 00:13:41.273 --> 00:13:46.305 position:50% align:middle questions that would be asked, but also provide the inspiration and vision so that people could 00:13:46.305 --> 00:13:50.435 position:50% align:middle understand what those NASA technicians were doing and why it was so important. 00:13:53.201 --> 00:13:58.871 position:50% align:middle As such, he used his language. One of his amazing skills, the resource that he had, 00:13:58.871 --> 00:14:05.753 position:50% align:middle ideas, words, and we shouldn't discount them or their importance because they're what matter. 00:14:05.753 --> 00:14:07.563 position:50% align:middle Evidence doesn't speak for itself. 00:14:07.563 --> 00:14:10.253 position:50% align:middle Charts and graphs can't persuade on their own. 00:14:10.253 --> 00:14:13.773 position:50% align:middle The narrative that's created, the idea, the story, the meaning, the vision, 00:14:13.773 --> 00:14:16.443 position:50% align:middle all these synonyms that I've been using, that's what matters. 00:14:16.443 --> 00:14:21.198 position:50% align:middle And Kennedy understood that he could craft a message, and that message would be the 00:14:21.198 --> 00:14:26.788 position:50% align:middle advocacy that the scientists, and engineers, and astronauts, and everyone else needed. 00:14:29.213 --> 00:14:32.073 position:50% align:middle What this brings us to is a notion of rhetoric. 00:14:32.073 --> 00:14:34.843 position:50% align:middle Rhetoric can be a sort of contentious word. 00:14:34.843 --> 00:14:36.633 position:50% align:middle You hear it often in a disparaging word. 00:14:36.633 --> 00:14:37.713 position:50% align:middle Well, that's just some rhetoric. 00:14:37.713 --> 00:14:38.963 position:50% align:middle We need to tone down the rhetoric. 00:14:38.963 --> 00:14:41.543 position:50% align:middle This is just rhetoric from a campaign, so on and so forth. 00:14:41.543 --> 00:14:47.573 position:50% align:middle I tend to believe that people disparage and belittle words that they don't understand the meaning of, 00:14:47.573 --> 00:14:49.573 position:50% align:middle and that's sort of a general concept. 00:14:49.573 --> 00:14:53.093 position:50% align:middle So, I'm biased because rhetoric is what I study for a living. 00:14:53.093 --> 00:14:55.033 position:50% align:middle So, of course, I'm going to stand up for it. 00:14:55.033 --> 00:14:59.313 position:50% align:middle But if you'll allow me this moment to say that rhetoric can actually be useful and good, 00:14:59.313 --> 00:15:05.248 position:50% align:middle I think I can help you with that perspective by also demonstrating Kennedy's excellent use of it. 00:15:05.248 --> 00:15:08.488 position:50% align:middle So, I want to talk for just a minute here about Kennedy's rhetoric. 00:15:08.488 --> 00:15:15.598 position:50% align:middle Rhetoric is the art of strategic language, of figuring out how words can have an advantageous meaning 00:15:15.598 --> 00:15:18.558 position:50% align:middle beyond just their basic description. 00:15:18.558 --> 00:15:21.214 position:50% align:middle That language really does matter to people. 00:15:21.214 --> 00:15:23.058 position:50% align:middle We are a poetic species. 00:15:23.058 --> 00:15:26.574 position:50% align:middle Words affect us, matter to us. 00:15:26.574 --> 00:15:27.869 position:50% align:middle It's why we like songs. 00:15:27.869 --> 00:15:29.388 position:50% align:middle It's like we read books. 00:15:29.388 --> 00:15:33.957 position:50% align:middle We wanted to see language express things that otherwise could not be expressed 00:15:33.957 --> 00:15:35.771 position:50% align:middle through other thoughts. 00:15:35.771 --> 00:15:38.068 position:50% align:middle Rhetoric is very useful for doing this. 00:15:38.068 --> 00:15:43.084 position:50% align:middle It's also useful strategically because rhetoric can be a means for solving problems 00:15:43.084 --> 00:15:44.633 position:50% align:middle and building alliances. 00:15:44.633 --> 00:15:52.168 position:50% align:middle It can forge new connections, it can motivate people, inspire them, draw them into a vision 00:15:52.168 --> 00:15:57.818 position:50% align:middle that they want to participate in, and not something that just is told that they need to do. 00:15:57.818 --> 00:16:04.089 position:50% align:middle And the difference there is crucial, and I would argue it makes all the difference in the world. 00:16:04.089 --> 00:16:08.439 position:50% align:middle Rhetoric helps to create graspable, meaningful ideas. 00:16:08.439 --> 00:16:10.229 position:50% align:middle What does it mean to go to space? 00:16:10.229 --> 00:16:13.469 position:50% align:middle What does it mean that this is going to cost billions of dollars? 00:16:13.469 --> 00:16:17.969 position:50% align:middle Ungraspable notions, things we've never done before, money we've never spent before. 00:16:17.969 --> 00:16:25.819 position:50% align:middle And yet Kennedy has to make that seem as though it's not just necessary, but right and useful. 00:16:25.819 --> 00:16:28.649 position:50% align:middle And what does he have to make that argument? 00:16:28.649 --> 00:16:29.489 position:50% align:middle Words and ideas. 00:16:29.489 --> 00:16:32.889 position:50% align:middle And his really good friend Ted Sorensen, who was like his chief speechwriter, 00:16:32.889 --> 00:16:39.179 position:50% align:middle who's also really good, but Kennedy, let's focus on Kennedy just for a minute here. 00:16:39.179 --> 00:16:42.809 position:50% align:middle He works towards an understanding rather than assuming it. 00:16:42.809 --> 00:16:47.440 position:50% align:middle He knows that he has to fashion and shape the language and not just pretend that because he's 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:52.823 position:50% align:middle president, a president who's had a disastrous first four months in office, that everyone is 00:16:52.823 --> 00:16:53.937 position:50% align:middle going to follow him. 00:16:53.937 --> 00:16:59.109 position:50% align:middle He's a little bit sharper than that, and he's a little bit more willing to put himself 00:16:59.109 --> 00:17:01.521 position:50% align:middle out there and stand behind his words. 00:17:01.521 --> 00:17:06.571 position:50% align:middle And doing this, he encapsulates and personifies one of my favorite definitions 00:17:06.571 --> 00:17:09.641 position:50% align:middle of rhetoric, it comes from someone named Donald Bryant. 00:17:09.641 --> 00:17:16.321 position:50% align:middle Donald Bryant's definition of rhetoric was to say that it's the function of adjusting ideas to people and if 00:17:16.321 --> 00:17:20.441 position:50% align:middle people to ideas, and I really love that because it has that notion of simpatico, 00:17:20.441 --> 00:17:27.153 position:50% align:middle this idea that things can be brought together, that you can shape ideas, and 00:17:27.153 --> 00:17:28.853 position:50% align:middle meaning, and understanding. 00:17:28.853 --> 00:17:31.031 position:50% align:middle It's kind of a negotiation. 00:17:31.031 --> 00:17:36.011 position:50% align:middle And true, sometimes it can be a little bit of a one-sided negotiation in that, you know, 00:17:36.011 --> 00:17:38.121 position:50% align:middle it wasn't Q&A time with President Kennedy. 00:17:38.121 --> 00:17:43.201 position:50% align:middle He was out there delivering his message. But his idea is he needed to find a way to make space 00:17:43.201 --> 00:17:49.221 position:50% align:middle and space travel enticing and interesting to the audience in such a way that would motivate them. 00:17:49.221 --> 00:17:54.584 position:50% align:middle And, again, they would need to want to believe in this vision if it was ever going to have any 00:17:54.584 --> 00:17:56.591 position:50% align:middle possibility of taking place. 00:17:56.591 --> 00:17:59.011 position:50% align:middle And I like Bryan's definition because I think it gets us there. 00:17:59.011 --> 00:18:03.689 position:50% align:middle It gets us to that idea that language is something that involves a give and take 00:18:03.689 --> 00:18:06.479 position:50% align:middle when used well and smartly. 00:18:06.479 --> 00:18:10.295 position:50% align:middle But for Kennedy, the language was important. 00:18:10.295 --> 00:18:16.185 position:50% align:middle How he talked about the moonshot was going to make or break how Americans felt 00:18:16.185 --> 00:18:17.797 position:50% align:middle about the moonshot. 00:18:17.797 --> 00:18:22.415 position:50% align:middle And if they felt inspired, he could work with that. 00:18:22.415 --> 00:18:28.555 position:50% align:middle If they felt they understood the value of this program, he could motivate policymakers to support it or say, 00:18:28.555 --> 00:18:31.775 position:50% align:middle "How dare you go against the will of the people?" 00:18:31.775 --> 00:18:35.635 position:50% align:middle And that would be part of his greatest leverage that he would employ. 00:18:35.635 --> 00:18:41.215 position:50% align:middle So, in his strategic approach to how to talk about space travel, the moonshot, with people 00:18:41.215 --> 00:18:46.485 position:50% align:middle and with policymakers, we can identify a few key things that he was able to do. 00:18:46.485 --> 00:18:52.295 position:50% align:middle And one of the first was that he insisted that he stay positive. 00:18:52.295 --> 00:18:54.695 position:50% align:middle Now, yes, we were in a space race with the Soviet Union. 00:18:54.695 --> 00:18:57.195 position:50% align:middle We were in a cold war with the Soviet Union. 00:18:57.195 --> 00:19:03.298 position:50% align:middle There was a lot going on the 1960s, as I'm sure you know, was an absolutely insane decade. 00:19:03.298 --> 00:19:06.488 position:50% align:middle And he was just at the start of it. 00:19:06.488 --> 00:19:08.308 position:50% align:middle That's how that thing kicked off. 00:19:08.308 --> 00:19:09.538 position:50% align:middle But he wanted to stay positive. 00:19:09.538 --> 00:19:13.718 position:50% align:middle He doesn't talk about the fear of the Soviets getting to the moon first. 00:19:13.718 --> 00:19:19.308 position:50% align:middle He talks about the glory of America getting there, the righteousness of America going there. 00:19:19.308 --> 00:19:22.088 position:50% align:middle He wanted positivity in his message. 00:19:22.088 --> 00:19:28.248 position:50% align:middle He wanted the policy to be based in the positivity of aspiration and adventure. 00:19:28.248 --> 00:19:29.888 position:50% align:middle He also wanted to decomplexify. 00:19:29.888 --> 00:19:33.958 position:50% align:middle I could have said simplify, but I'm not sure you can make space travel simple. 00:19:33.958 --> 00:19:38.238 position:50% align:middle So, I want to decomplexify, hope you forgive me for a second, okay? 00:19:38.238 --> 00:19:41.948 position:50% align:middle You can use simple language in decomplexifing things, and that's what he does. 00:19:41.948 --> 00:19:43.528 position:50% align:middle He wanted common speak. 00:19:43.528 --> 00:19:45.708 position:50% align:middle He didn't want just a bunch of technical jargon. 00:19:45.708 --> 00:19:49.298 position:50% align:middle He didn't want to just talk about propulsion, so on and so forth. 00:19:49.298 --> 00:19:52.878 position:50% align:middle He wanted to make space travel, seem like it was the next frontier 00:19:52.878 --> 00:19:55.238 position:50% align:middle for Americans to cross. 00:19:55.238 --> 00:19:57.398 position:50% align:middle And that became part of the inspiration behind this. 00:19:57.398 --> 00:20:04.140 position:50% align:middle So, to stay positive decomplexify as well as to transform, to reshape the language and the 00:20:04.140 --> 00:20:11.254 position:50% align:middle meaning that was being used to discuss his policy, turn expense into an expanse. 00:20:11.254 --> 00:20:13.204 position:50% align:middle It's not how much we're going to spend. 00:20:13.204 --> 00:20:15.234 position:50% align:middle It's where we're going to go. 00:20:15.234 --> 00:20:17.114 position:50% align:middle Price becomes pride. 00:20:17.114 --> 00:20:23.914 position:50% align:middle Not the question of can we afford this, but the question of can we afford not to do this? 00:20:23.914 --> 00:20:29.854 position:50% align:middle What would it cost our pride as a nation, our legacy as a people, our dreams as humans, 00:20:29.854 --> 00:20:31.894 position:50% align:middle if we do not pursue this? 00:20:31.894 --> 00:20:33.754 position:50% align:middle And that was part of his goal. 00:20:33.754 --> 00:20:35.624 position:50% align:middle And he was also in a little bit of a hurry. 00:20:35.624 --> 00:20:39.694 position:50% align:middle So, he wanted to use rhetoric that would hasten the moment along. 00:20:39.694 --> 00:20:45.194 position:50% align:middle He puts a sense of urgency into his message, not a fear of coming in last, 00:20:45.194 --> 00:20:48.344 position:50% align:middle but an idea that we are on the precipice of something good. 00:20:48.344 --> 00:20:49.724 position:50% align:middle Why would we hesitate? 00:20:49.724 --> 00:20:51.724 position:50% align:middle Why wouldn't we want to do this? 00:20:51.724 --> 00:20:57.114 position:50% align:middle Why wouldn't we want to test ourselves against the greatest challenge that humanity had ever 00:20:57.114 --> 00:20:59.454 position:50% align:middle set before itself? 00:20:59.454 --> 00:21:03.391 position:50% align:middle He also wanted it to be relatable, to relate to the audience at all points, at all times, 00:21:03.391 --> 00:21:07.681 position:50% align:middle to relate to the common American, not just the scientist American, 00:21:07.681 --> 00:21:13.161 position:50% align:middle not just the astronaut American, but the everyday American, the taxpaying American, 00:21:13.161 --> 00:21:18.041 position:50% align:middle who would need to understand what the justification was for this. 00:21:18.041 --> 00:21:23.391 position:50% align:middle And he allowed in his rhetoric, regular people to feel involved, 00:21:23.391 --> 00:21:28.021 position:50% align:middle to feel that they mattered, to feel that what they were doing was helping the 00:21:28.021 --> 00:21:29.531 position:50% align:middle nation get to the moon. 00:21:29.531 --> 00:21:35.641 position:50% align:middle And that is an incredible insight that we can garner from his text, is to not forget about the people. 00:21:35.641 --> 00:21:40.761 position:50% align:middle It can be easy to do so sometimes in policy speak, but to not forget them is an important 00:21:40.761 --> 00:21:42.501 position:50% align:middle and crucial element. 00:21:42.501 --> 00:21:47.648 position:50% align:middle So, I would argue here that Kennedy's rhetorical strategy was to increase the popularity of his 00:21:47.648 --> 00:21:50.741 position:50% align:middle moonshot plan with everyday Americans. 00:21:50.741 --> 00:21:53.751 position:50% align:middle Yes, he would talk to policymakers, and he did that constantly. 00:21:53.751 --> 00:21:59.224 position:50% align:middle But he knew that if he could win over the American people, his leverage with the policymakers would 00:21:59.224 --> 00:22:02.131 position:50% align:middle be all the more to his advantage. 00:22:02.131 --> 00:22:08.445 position:50% align:middle And that would allow him then to pressure policymakers to get behind, and support, and 00:22:08.445 --> 00:22:11.991 position:50% align:middle ultimately enact this vision. 00:22:11.991 --> 00:22:20.357 position:50% align:middle The most concentrated effort that he gave towards this endeavor took place in 1962 in the football 00:22:20.357 --> 00:22:24.061 position:50% align:middle stadium at Rice University in Houston, Texas. 00:22:24.061 --> 00:22:29.691 position:50% align:middle Among the remarkable things about this particular episode, the speech that he gave, this 00:22:29.691 --> 00:22:36.061 position:50% align:middle advertisement if you will, of this proposal was that in September of 1962, in the city of Houston, 00:22:36.061 --> 00:22:40.931 position:50% align:middle Kennedy was the only person in that stadium not sweating, I don't know how he did it, 00:22:40.931 --> 00:22:45.121 position:50% align:middle but he just stood there and he looked like Kennedy. If you watch the video, 00:22:45.121 --> 00:22:48.401 position:50% align:middle Lyndon Johnson is constantly ...and Johnson was a Texan. 00:22:48.401 --> 00:22:50.221 position:50% align:middle He just seems like he's never been there before. 00:22:50.221 --> 00:22:54.661 position:50% align:middle But Kennedy, he had that Kennedy thing that he did. 00:22:54.661 --> 00:22:58.791 position:50% align:middle And with your indulgence, I'd like to walk us through a couple passages from this 00:22:58.791 --> 00:23:04.617 position:50% align:middle speech and point out some of the interesting things that Kennedy did, some of the innovative language 00:23:04.617 --> 00:23:10.763 position:50% align:middle that he used, and some of the purpose behind it so we too can learn from this. 00:23:10.763 --> 00:23:14.553 position:50% align:middle So, he starts off by trying to gather the audience together. 00:23:14.553 --> 00:23:17.103 position:50% align:middle He begins by using a line of "we" language. 00:23:17.103 --> 00:23:19.863 position:50% align:middle We, we, we. Pronouns are important of course. 00:23:19.863 --> 00:23:23.514 position:50% align:middle "We meet at a college known for knowledge, in a city noted for progress, and a State 00:23:23.514 --> 00:23:24.660 position:50% align:middle noted for strength. 00:23:24.660 --> 00:23:29.213 position:50% align:middle And we stand in need of all three, for we meet in an hour," so on and so forth, right? 00:23:29.213 --> 00:23:32.123 position:50% align:middle There's wes, ours, it's in there. 00:23:32.123 --> 00:23:35.133 position:50% align:middle Now, I don't want to, you know, insult your intelligence. 00:23:35.133 --> 00:23:38.633 position:50% align:middle You know very well that just using "we" doesn't mean that, that means suddenly everyone 00:23:38.633 --> 00:23:40.013 position:50% align:middle in the audience agrees. 00:23:40.013 --> 00:23:43.943 position:50% align:middle It's not just a question of pronouns, but it's a start. 00:23:43.943 --> 00:23:45.523 position:50% align:middle And this is the start of his speech. 00:23:45.523 --> 00:23:48.183 position:50% align:middle This is the gathering moment. 00:23:48.183 --> 00:23:54.192 position:50% align:middle And Kennedy cleverly transitions from this gathering moment into a choice that he puts 00:23:54.192 --> 00:23:55.290 position:50% align:middle before the audience. 00:23:55.290 --> 00:24:01.279 position:50% align:middle So, if "we" are doing this, if "we" are gathered this, if there is an "us," there must be a "them." 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:05.339 position:50% align:middle But in this situation, the them is not the Soviet Union, he doesn't want to use scare tactics. 00:24:05.339 --> 00:24:10.175 position:50% align:middle He wants to stay positive so the "them" in this instance are not the Soviets, but those 00:24:10.175 --> 00:24:11.777 position:50% align:middle who would delay. 00:24:11.777 --> 00:24:17.869 position:50% align:middle And so, he says some would have a stay to rest, to wait. 00:24:17.869 --> 00:24:22.999 position:50% align:middle Then he says, "The United States," let alone Texas, "was not built by those who waited and 00:24:22.999 --> 00:24:29.379 position:50% align:middle rested and wished to look behind them," not the people that are glancing backwards and worried 00:24:29.379 --> 00:24:31.369 position:50% align:middle about the past. 00:24:31.369 --> 00:24:36.359 position:50% align:middle He wants the Americans that are willing to look forward, who want to see the future and 00:24:36.359 --> 00:24:37.346 position:50% align:middle bring it about. 00:24:37.346 --> 00:24:40.409 position:50% align:middle And he presents the audience with a simple choice. 00:24:40.409 --> 00:24:41.849 position:50% align:middle Whose side are you on? 00:24:41.849 --> 00:24:45.389 position:50% align:middle Are you one of those who wish to rest and to wait and to look behind? 00:24:45.389 --> 00:24:48.249 position:50% align:middle Or are you one of those who wants to build? 00:24:48.249 --> 00:24:52.299 position:50% align:middle Because he says this country was conquered by those who move forward and so will space. 00:24:52.299 --> 00:24:58.309 position:50% align:middle Probably nowadays, we would advise him, don't say conquered, but in the frontier spirit, 00:24:58.309 --> 00:25:01.966 position:50% align:middle it would seem to be something appropriate to his vision. 00:25:01.966 --> 00:25:05.326 position:50% align:middle So, he presents that audience with a choice, that audience that's listening to him there 00:25:05.326 --> 00:25:06.136 position:50% align:middle on that day. 00:25:06.136 --> 00:25:06.856 position:50% align:middle Whose side are you on? 00:25:06.856 --> 00:25:07.836 position:50% align:middle Which do you want to be? 00:25:07.836 --> 00:25:09.456 position:50% align:middle And, of course, it's a false choice. 00:25:09.456 --> 00:25:10.796 position:50% align:middle The answer's entirely clear. 00:25:10.796 --> 00:25:12.756 position:50% align:middle No one's going to choose, "I'd like to rest. 00:25:12.756 --> 00:25:14.646 position:50% align:middle I'm sorry, I don't like going forward." 00:25:14.646 --> 00:25:17.806 position:50% align:middle No one's going to say that, of course. 00:25:17.806 --> 00:25:18.916 position:50% align:middle But he gathers them together. 00:25:18.916 --> 00:25:20.316 position:50% align:middle He gives them a part to play. 00:25:20.316 --> 00:25:23.476 position:50% align:middle He asks them to make the choice, which means now the audience is involved. 00:25:23.476 --> 00:25:26.386 position:50% align:middle He doesn't tell them what kind of Americans they are. 00:25:26.386 --> 00:25:30.876 position:50% align:middle He invites them to be the kind of Americans that he's talking about. 00:25:30.876 --> 00:25:36.916 position:50% align:middle Now, once he has them, in terms of gathering to this position, he's going to propel them forward. 00:25:36.916 --> 00:25:43.056 position:50% align:middle So, he moves on, gathers them with the "we" language, separates them from those who hesitate. 00:25:43.056 --> 00:25:44.726 position:50% align:middle He says, "But now 'we' have another choice to make. 00:25:44.726 --> 00:25:47.546 position:50% align:middle 'We' have a choice related to our character. 00:25:47.546 --> 00:25:52.256 position:50% align:middle Now that 'we' know who 'we' are together, who are 'we' going to be as a people?" 00:25:52.256 --> 00:26:01.440 position:50% align:middle And he presents them with what became arguably the most famous, memorable passage in this text. 00:26:01.440 --> 00:26:06.390 position:50% align:middle Arguably one of the more famous passages of 20th century, the thing that gets remembered 00:26:06.390 --> 00:26:09.300 position:50% align:middle from this very distinctly. 00:26:09.300 --> 00:26:14.100 position:50% align:middle But what I'd like to draw your attention to is, again, the language that he's using here. 00:26:14.100 --> 00:26:20.040 position:50% align:middle Not just the objective of reaching the moon, but the way he repeats at the start. 00:26:20.040 --> 00:26:25.073 position:50% align:middle The people that are gathered with him, the second choice that we choose to go to the 00:26:25.073 --> 00:26:30.220 position:50% align:middle moon, not we should go to the moon, we're going to the moon. 00:26:30.220 --> 00:26:31.620 position:50% align:middle I'm taking us to the moon. 00:26:31.620 --> 00:26:39.530 position:50% align:middle We choose, and the responsibility of the choice, he always positions with the audience so that they can 00:26:39.530 --> 00:26:42.450 position:50% align:middle feel that they are going to be part of this too. 00:26:42.450 --> 00:26:45.850 position:50% align:middle They can participate in this identity that he's fashioning. 00:26:45.850 --> 00:26:49.130 position:50% align:middle So, we choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade, 00:26:49.130 --> 00:26:49.950 position:50% align:middle so on and so forth. 00:26:49.950 --> 00:26:54.360 position:50% align:middle And then at the end of the passage, it's really just two sentences, 00:26:54.360 --> 00:26:57.500 position:50% align:middle two of the most remarkable sentences in his presidency, however. 00:26:57.500 --> 00:27:03.277 position:50% align:middle Two sentences, our energies and skills "we" are willing to accept, "we" are unwilling to postpone, 00:27:03.277 --> 00:27:05.731 position:50% align:middle and "we" intend to win, and so on. 00:27:05.731 --> 00:27:11.650 position:50% align:middle So it's, we, we, we, but also, of course, doing everything that speaks to this remarkable 00:27:11.650 --> 00:27:13.381 position:50% align:middle coexistence of them. 00:27:13.381 --> 00:27:19.307 position:50% align:middle But I wish to point out one further thing within this paragraph, because to just say we choose and we 00:27:19.307 --> 00:27:21.826 position:50% align:middle are the ones who are willing to do this, unwilling to wait and so on and so forth, 00:27:21.826 --> 00:27:25.348 position:50% align:middle it doesn't have consequence until he presents it with consequence. 00:27:25.348 --> 00:27:30.647 position:50% align:middle And Kennedy again presented that right in front of his audience. 00:27:30.647 --> 00:27:32.112 position:50% align:middle Why do we choose to do this? 00:27:32.112 --> 00:27:33.497 position:50% align:middle Why is it that we're so unwilling? 00:27:33.497 --> 00:27:40.400 position:50% align:middle Because, and he hits them with four becauses, four reasons for here's why we are going to do this. 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:46.468 position:50% align:middle And the first one's negative, we're going to do this, not because it's easy, but because it's hard. 00:27:46.468 --> 00:27:50.240 position:50% align:middle We choose to do tasks that are difficult. 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:51.929 position:50% align:middle And why do we do that? 00:27:51.929 --> 00:27:55.531 position:50% align:middle Because only this goal will serve to organize and measure our energies. 00:27:55.531 --> 00:28:00.938 position:50% align:middle Only this goal, only this challenge is worthy of us and worthy of what we can accomplish. 00:28:00.938 --> 00:28:08.028 position:50% align:middle This is a remarkable passage, quite well-balanced, very simple in its language, 00:28:08.028 --> 00:28:12.998 position:50% align:middle very direct in its understanding, and impossible to ignore. 00:28:16.328 --> 00:28:21.928 position:50% align:middle He does, of course, like all good people arguing for policy, have to address the elephant in the room, 00:28:21.928 --> 00:28:24.978 position:50% align:middle the negativity, the criticism. 00:28:24.978 --> 00:28:31.328 position:50% align:middle So, of course, people may not still yet be completely inspired. Yes, we want to do this because it's hard, 00:28:31.328 --> 00:28:32.728 position:50% align:middle weird thing to say anyway. 00:28:32.728 --> 00:28:34.468 position:50% align:middle But we do like a challenge. 00:28:34.468 --> 00:28:38.608 position:50% align:middle So, he addresses it, the cost thing, the cost, the money that has to come up. 00:28:38.608 --> 00:28:46.928 position:50% align:middle And so he does hit upon that for a minute, and he says, and he gives the tell "to be sure" all of this, 00:28:46.928 --> 00:28:51.968 position:50% align:middle you love the sort of antithesis phrasing that's coming up here, the sort of anti part, right? 00:28:51.968 --> 00:28:56.528 position:50% align:middle Whenever someone says, "Well, of course," or "to be sure," or, and the thing is, 00:28:56.528 --> 00:29:00.068 position:50% align:middle you always know that they're about to talk about something that they don't want to talk 00:29:00.068 --> 00:29:02.664 position:50% align:middle about, to acknowledge something and then dismiss it. 00:29:02.664 --> 00:29:08.454 position:50% align:middle And that's what he does. To be sure, this is going to be expensive. 00:29:08.454 --> 00:29:13.524 position:50% align:middle But he couches that by saying, "To be sure, all this costs us all." 00:29:13.524 --> 00:29:17.314 position:50% align:middle But again, never lets the audience be separate from him. 00:29:17.314 --> 00:29:21.884 position:50% align:middle Once they've made their choice, once they've chosen to be part of this leadership that 00:29:21.884 --> 00:29:24.724 position:50% align:middle he is presenting to them, he says, now we all share this burden. 00:29:24.724 --> 00:29:29.524 position:50% align:middle Yes, this is going to be expensive for us all, not just for some, but for all. 00:29:29.524 --> 00:29:33.844 position:50% align:middle Then he goes through and he gives this really sort of obfuscated notion of how much it cost. 00:29:33.844 --> 00:29:36.684 position:50% align:middle They had the word billion in the 1960s. 00:29:36.684 --> 00:29:40.354 position:50% align:middle He chooses, of course, not to use it, 5,400 million. 00:29:40.354 --> 00:29:44.204 position:50% align:middle No one talks about numbers that way, but he doesn't want to say the B word. 00:29:44.204 --> 00:29:46.525 position:50% align:middle So, he just moves past it. 00:29:46.525 --> 00:29:48.034 position:50% align:middle Okay? 00:29:48.034 --> 00:29:51.584 position:50% align:middle And then, of course, he buries it. Says, yeah, that's a lot of money, 00:29:51.584 --> 00:29:56.254 position:50% align:middle but we're already spending more than that on our cigarette habit. 00:29:56.254 --> 00:30:05.093 position:50% align:middle We're literally burning that money that we could be using to accomplish humanity's greatest goal. 00:30:05.093 --> 00:30:07.173 position:50% align:middle And so he makes it seem almost silly. 00:30:07.173 --> 00:30:09.633 position:50% align:middle We already have the money, we're already wasting the money. 00:30:09.633 --> 00:30:12.693 position:50% align:middle Let's use it for something that matters, something that's permanent, 00:30:12.693 --> 00:30:14.773 position:50% align:middle not something that's over in 30 seconds. 00:30:16.673 --> 00:30:19.063 position:50% align:middle And so, he bounces it again, yeah, they talk about the money, 00:30:19.063 --> 00:30:22.023 position:50% align:middle but let's talk about the real use of the money. 00:30:22.023 --> 00:30:25.463 position:50% align:middle Let's talk about what we actually have and what we want to accomplish. 00:30:25.463 --> 00:30:29.456 position:50% align:middle And this was part of Kennedy's strategy to help people feel involved and maybe feel 00:30:29.456 --> 00:30:30.574 position:50% align:middle a little bit guilty. 00:30:30.574 --> 00:30:34.503 position:50% align:middle Next time they light up a cigarette, they're like, "Ooh, that could be an astronaut." 00:30:34.503 --> 00:30:39.913 position:50% align:middle So, I'm not sure it worked out entirely that way, but we can see what he is trying to go for. 00:30:39.913 --> 00:30:45.213 position:50% align:middle And so, again, part of his strategy as well is to try and decomplexify to make things relatable. 00:30:45.213 --> 00:30:48.123 position:50% align:middle And as he gets more comfortable in this speech, after he is given this information, 00:30:48.123 --> 00:30:53.423 position:50% align:middle after he is talked about why we choose to do things and how the expense of it isn't really as expensive 00:30:53.423 --> 00:30:57.253 position:50% align:middle as people are saying, he gets into kind of a casual role here. 00:30:57.253 --> 00:30:59.503 position:50% align:middle And he lays this on his audience. 00:30:59.503 --> 00:31:03.782 position:50% align:middle He just starts thinking. "I think, I think we're going to do it." 00:31:03.782 --> 00:31:06.822 position:50% align:middle And I think that we must, I don't think we ought to waste money. 00:31:06.822 --> 00:31:09.452 position:50% align:middle I think we ought to do the job. 00:31:09.452 --> 00:31:13.342 position:50% align:middle It's oddly casual to hear a president say that "Yeah, I think we should go to the moon, right? 00:31:13.342 --> 00:31:14.512 position:50% align:middle We should do this. 00:31:14.512 --> 00:31:15.712 position:50% align:middle It's enough." 00:31:15.712 --> 00:31:20.472 position:50% align:middle But he does it with the purpose of, once again, trying to draw the audience to him. 00:31:20.472 --> 00:31:25.322 position:50% align:middle So now, even though he's using "I" pronouns, now he's talking about himself and his thoughts. 00:31:25.322 --> 00:31:29.918 position:50% align:middle He still is going to relate this back to the audience because he mentions to them that this should be 00:31:29.918 --> 00:31:34.072 position:50% align:middle done in the '60s while some of you are still here at Rice University. 00:31:34.072 --> 00:31:38.720 position:50% align:middle Wouldn't it be a thing to graduate from your school while we put a person on the moon and return them 00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:39.482 position:50% align:middle back to the earth? 00:31:39.482 --> 00:31:44.232 position:50% align:middle Wouldn't that be a story that you would want to tell your future generations? 00:31:44.232 --> 00:31:46.262 position:50% align:middle And he gets the subtle dig in there as well. 00:31:46.262 --> 00:31:50.636 position:50% align:middle He reminds the policymakers that this will be done during the term of office as some of the people 00:31:50.636 --> 00:31:54.302 position:50% align:middle who sit here on this platform, reminding them that they're going to be facing 00:31:54.302 --> 00:31:58.012 position:50% align:middle reelections and saying, "You want to campaign on the side of America that is 00:31:58.012 --> 00:32:00.801 position:50% align:middle sending people into space? 00:32:00.801 --> 00:32:04.321 position:50% align:middle Or do you want to lose because you were one of those people who said, 'No, 00:32:04.321 --> 00:32:08.711 position:50% align:middle we should wait and look behind." Kennedy was audacious. 00:32:08.711 --> 00:32:11.271 position:50% align:middle He had no trouble calling other people out. 00:32:11.271 --> 00:32:16.881 position:50% align:middle And he definitely had his own skeletons in his closet, but he was well aware that he didn't share, 00:32:16.881 --> 00:32:19.371 position:50% align:middle or he wasn't the only one who shared that particular issue. 00:32:19.371 --> 00:32:23.021 position:50% align:middle So, he was willing to hold people accountable, even for these proposals, 00:32:23.021 --> 00:32:27.451 position:50% align:middle to remind them that they were, in fact, all in this together. 00:32:27.451 --> 00:32:32.091 position:50% align:middle And he wants to hit them once more with something inspirational. 00:32:32.091 --> 00:32:35.631 position:50% align:middle So, he's talked about a variety of things, why we should do this, so on and so forth. 00:32:35.631 --> 00:32:40.981 position:50% align:middle But then he wants to attach this to something that is more tangible, perhaps relatable, 00:32:40.981 --> 00:32:42.648 position:50% align:middle at least in terms of a concept. 00:32:44.700 --> 00:32:49.181 position:50% align:middle So, he chooses a little thing like scaling Mount Everest. 00:32:49.181 --> 00:32:55.061 position:50% align:middle This arguably is the second most famous passage from this particular address and one that resonates 00:32:55.061 --> 00:32:56.771 position:50% align:middle throughout history as well. 00:32:56.771 --> 00:33:00.651 position:50% align:middle One of the things that Kennedy left us with was this imagery. 00:33:00.651 --> 00:33:05.491 position:50% align:middle And so he talks about George Mallory, climb Mount Everest unsuccessfully, 00:33:05.491 --> 00:33:08.711 position:50% align:middle was asked, "Why did he want to climb it?" 00:33:08.711 --> 00:33:13.711 position:50% align:middle So, he is positioning us to be in awe of this inspirational figure, Mallory. 00:33:13.711 --> 00:33:15.781 position:50% align:middle So, we're seated right behind Kennedy. 00:33:15.781 --> 00:33:19.261 position:50% align:middle Looking up at Mallory, wondering what would motivate this person to take 00:33:19.261 --> 00:33:20.111 position:50% align:middle on such a challenge. 00:33:20.111 --> 00:33:22.811 position:50% align:middle A challenge that ultimately cost Mallory his life. 00:33:22.811 --> 00:33:25.381 position:50% align:middle He never came back down from that mountain. 00:33:25.381 --> 00:33:26.891 position:50% align:middle Why do it? 00:33:26.891 --> 00:33:28.321 position:50% align:middle Why do something incomprehensible? 00:33:28.321 --> 00:33:31.861 position:50% align:middle Why try to accomplish the insane? 00:33:31.861 --> 00:33:36.921 position:50% align:middle And Kennedy says, in the simplest terms that could possibly be presented, 00:33:36.921 --> 00:33:38.081 position:50% align:middle "Because it is there." 00:33:38.081 --> 00:33:40.391 position:50% align:middle That's what Mallory says, why do it? 00:33:40.391 --> 00:33:41.541 position:50% align:middle It's there. 00:33:41.541 --> 00:33:42.411 position:50% align:middle Why shouldn't we do? 00:33:42.411 --> 00:33:45.181 position:50% align:middle It was the other way of looking at this. 00:33:45.181 --> 00:33:48.861 position:50% align:middle And so then Kennedy, again, he flips this around and he says, "Well, 00:33:48.861 --> 00:33:53.131 position:50% align:middle space is there, and we're going to climb it." 00:33:53.131 --> 00:33:54.351 position:50% align:middle And it's a nice use by Kennedy. 00:33:54.351 --> 00:33:59.271 position:50% align:middle First, he attaches this to Mallory, gives Mallory's reasoning because it's there. 00:33:59.271 --> 00:34:01.418 position:50% align:middle And then he hits that with the second bit. 00:34:01.418 --> 00:34:02.830 position:50% align:middle Well, space is there. 00:34:02.830 --> 00:34:05.390 position:50% align:middle It's kind of a question of, what else is there? 00:34:05.390 --> 00:34:08.585 position:50% align:middle By this time, of course, we'd gone up Everest. 00:34:08.585 --> 00:34:09.258 position:50% align:middle So, what else is there? 00:34:09.258 --> 00:34:10.138 position:50% align:middle What's the next challenge? 00:34:10.138 --> 00:34:11.211 position:50% align:middle "Well, space is there. 00:34:11.211 --> 00:34:16.738 position:50% align:middle Space is the next thing, and we're going to climb it," he says. 00:34:16.738 --> 00:34:19.074 position:50% align:middle Space is our next Everest. 00:34:19.074 --> 00:34:21.448 position:50% align:middle Space is our next challenge. 00:34:21.448 --> 00:34:23.766 position:50% align:middle Do we leave it with a mountain on earth? 00:34:23.766 --> 00:34:28.918 position:50% align:middle Now, it seems so small when we're now dreaming of going out into space and conquering the moon. 00:34:28.918 --> 00:34:31.128 position:50% align:middle Why wouldn't we want to do this? 00:34:31.128 --> 00:34:36.248 position:50% align:middle This strategy, if I can nerd out for just a second here, this is something called the formal name 00:34:36.248 --> 00:34:37.712 position:50% align:middle for this is antithesis. 00:34:37.712 --> 00:34:41.598 position:50% align:middle And this is where you start off a concept in one way and then sort of flip it around 00:34:41.598 --> 00:34:42.921 position:50% align:middle to emphasize the point. 00:34:42.921 --> 00:34:43.788 position:50% align:middle Kennedy loved this. 00:34:43.788 --> 00:34:45.350 position:50% align:middle It was one of his favorite strategies. 00:34:45.350 --> 00:34:50.639 position:50% align:middle "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." 00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:52.205 position:50% align:middle Love that pivot. 00:34:52.205 --> 00:34:53.731 position:50% align:middle And it always emphasizes the you. 00:34:53.731 --> 00:34:54.868 position:50% align:middle What are "you" going to do? 00:34:54.868 --> 00:34:57.001 position:50% align:middle We know what Mallory did. 00:34:57.001 --> 00:34:58.548 position:50% align:middle He wanted to climb a mountain because it's there. 00:34:58.548 --> 00:35:00.831 position:50% align:middle Now, what are "you" going to do? 00:35:00.831 --> 00:35:04.541 position:50% align:middle Space is there, you want to come with? 00:35:04.541 --> 00:35:06.601 position:50% align:middle And that's what he challenges the audience with. 00:35:06.601 --> 00:35:09.341 position:50% align:middle And he emphasizes that point as well. 00:35:09.341 --> 00:35:13.691 position:50% align:middle So, for him, policy wasn't just the technical zeros and ones, the bolts of it. 00:35:13.691 --> 00:35:15.671 position:50% align:middle It was, why are we doing this? 00:35:15.671 --> 00:35:17.121 position:50% align:middle Why bother? 00:35:17.121 --> 00:35:19.181 position:50% align:middle We're trying to accomplish things as humans. 00:35:19.181 --> 00:35:25.100 position:50% align:middle If we don't have these amazing reasons for doing it, if we don't have these humanistic reasons for doing 00:35:25.100 --> 00:35:28.681 position:50% align:middle it, what else could be the point of any of this? 00:35:28.681 --> 00:35:35.101 position:50% align:middle Why stare at the moon from the beginning of time if you don't eventually try to get there, 00:35:35.101 --> 00:35:36.321 position:50% align:middle at least in some part? 00:35:36.321 --> 00:35:40.111 position:50% align:middle And that's what he puts before the audience. 00:35:40.111 --> 00:35:43.141 position:50% align:middle As we set sail, I forgive him for mixing metaphors. 00:35:43.141 --> 00:35:45.791 position:50% align:middle He's got a sailing and a climbing metaphor in the same thing. 00:35:45.791 --> 00:35:49.891 position:50% align:middle But I think he did all right on the whole. 00:35:49.891 --> 00:35:55.001 position:50% align:middle So, we asked for the blessing of the divine, and then he recharacterizes what this actual task is 00:35:55.001 --> 00:35:55.761 position:50% align:middle going to be. 00:35:55.761 --> 00:35:58.951 position:50% align:middle The most hazardous, and dangerous, and greatest adventure. 00:35:58.951 --> 00:36:01.101 position:50% align:middle And now it sounds kind of cool. 00:36:01.101 --> 00:36:08.731 position:50% align:middle The hazard and dangerous part are exciting, not fearsome, not terrifying, worthy, worthy of us. 00:36:08.731 --> 00:36:13.581 position:50% align:middle And then the question becomes, are we worthy of the goal as well? 00:36:13.581 --> 00:36:15.911 position:50% align:middle Are we going to be able to do this? 00:36:15.911 --> 00:36:18.351 position:50% align:middle And Kennedy has fired us up for that. 00:36:18.351 --> 00:36:22.061 position:50% align:middle So, his use of language, the way he thinks about how to phrase things, 00:36:22.061 --> 00:36:27.471 position:50% align:middle the way he presents information in order to elicit an idealistic response, 00:36:27.471 --> 00:36:31.361 position:50% align:middle an excited response from his audience is something that I think we can learn from. 00:36:31.361 --> 00:36:33.631 position:50% align:middle And it's something that people seem to have admired. 00:36:33.631 --> 00:36:38.561 position:50% align:middle The general consensus is Kennedy did good here. 00:36:38.561 --> 00:36:43.921 position:50% align:middle Just one year after proposing to Congress that we should go to the moon. 00:36:43.921 --> 00:36:52.451 position:50% align:middle Just one year, Kennedy delivered that most inspirational speech and it solidified, in the public 00:36:52.451 --> 00:36:59.481 position:50% align:middle imagination, not only what we should do in terms of the moonshot, but why we should do it. 00:36:59.481 --> 00:37:06.597 position:50% align:middle He was able to craft that using the resources of ideas and language he had available to him. 00:37:06.597 --> 00:37:08.267 position:50% align:middle He had no proof. 00:37:08.267 --> 00:37:11.837 position:50% align:middle He couldn't pull out a chart that says, "Well, here's kind of how far we've gotten so far. 00:37:11.837 --> 00:37:15.368 position:50% align:middle So, if you can just pledge a few dollars every week, we might be able to get this rocket all 00:37:15.368 --> 00:37:15.877 position:50% align:middle the way to the moon. 00:37:15.877 --> 00:37:16.797 position:50% align:middle He didn't have that. 00:37:16.797 --> 00:37:24.328 position:50% align:middle He had nothing to show, nothing of substance, just the way in which he was able to lead through 00:37:24.328 --> 00:37:26.787 position:50% align:middle the use of strategic language. 00:37:26.787 --> 00:37:31.549 position:50% align:middle This is the only speech that Kennedy gave that focused exclusively on space exploration. 00:37:31.549 --> 00:37:34.767 position:50% align:middle The message to Congress was sort of a boring budget speech. 00:37:34.767 --> 00:37:37.007 position:50% align:middle The thing about going to the moon was the most exciting part. 00:37:37.007 --> 00:37:41.437 position:50% align:middle And then there were other bits and pieces asking for more money, fairly presidential. 00:37:41.437 --> 00:37:46.607 position:50% align:middle This one, though, was the one that he focused the attention of space on, 00:37:46.607 --> 00:37:49.027 position:50% align:middle and it became resonant throughout history. 00:37:49.027 --> 00:37:54.567 position:50% align:middle As a matter of fact, NASA itself celebrates this speech. 00:37:54.567 --> 00:37:57.327 position:50% align:middle Of course, NASA celebrates the Apollo mission. 00:37:57.327 --> 00:38:01.298 position:50% align:middle Of course, they celebrate the astronauts who go there, but it's interesting to me that they 00:38:01.298 --> 00:38:03.698 position:50% align:middle celebrate this speech. 00:38:03.698 --> 00:38:06.308 position:50% align:middle It was just the 60th anniversary. 00:38:06.308 --> 00:38:10.127 position:50% align:middle I understand some of you're going to NASA in a couple days, which is great if you've been there 00:38:10.127 --> 00:38:11.768 position:50% align:middle before or if it's your first time. 00:38:11.768 --> 00:38:18.138 position:50% align:middle What an amazing living museum that NASA is for all the things that it represents. 00:38:18.138 --> 00:38:19.088 position:50% align:middle But they just celebrated. 00:38:19.088 --> 00:38:23.588 position:50% align:middle They just had a celebration of the 60th anniversary this past September. 00:38:23.588 --> 00:38:29.288 position:50% align:middle I hope some of the displays, the markings and so on are there when you visit. 00:38:29.288 --> 00:38:34.308 position:50% align:middle And maybe they'll be able to show you some of the collections that they have, but for them to celebrate, 00:38:34.308 --> 00:38:37.928 position:50% align:middle not a technological accomplishment, but the words that inspired it, 00:38:37.928 --> 00:38:42.931 position:50% align:middle I think speaks to us as to how important they felt Kennedy's leadership was in helping them to 00:38:42.931 --> 00:38:48.830 position:50% align:middle accomplish their goals and set the stage for this and why I think we can learn quite a 00:38:48.830 --> 00:38:49.842 position:50% align:middle few lessons from it. 00:38:49.842 --> 00:38:56.638 position:50% align:middle Not everyone, though, seemed to have learned those lessons in the time in which they could 00:38:56.638 --> 00:38:58.118 position:50% align:middle have been learned. 00:38:58.118 --> 00:39:03.712 position:50% align:middle Our enthusiasm for space did tend to fall off a little bit following the accomplishments 00:39:03.712 --> 00:39:05.952 position:50% align:middle of the Apollo missions. 00:39:05.952 --> 00:39:12.002 position:50% align:middle And, in fact, it led to some very uninspirational rhetoric and leadership. 00:39:12.002 --> 00:39:13.782 position:50% align:middle I'll just share one example with you. 00:39:13.782 --> 00:39:19.992 position:50% align:middle Don't mean to pick on the man, but President Nixon kind of uninspired the nation. 00:39:19.992 --> 00:39:22.652 position:50% align:middle Missed an opportunity, I would argue. 00:39:22.652 --> 00:39:24.952 position:50% align:middle Americans still yearned for space adventures. 00:39:24.952 --> 00:39:28.872 position:50% align:middle Kids were still wanting to drink Tang and dress in their astronaut jammies. 00:39:28.872 --> 00:39:32.512 position:50% align:middle Science fiction got only more amazing. 00:39:32.512 --> 00:39:35.782 position:50% align:middle We added lasers to it and that became kind of fun. 00:39:35.782 --> 00:39:43.862 position:50% align:middle So, our thirst for space was still very much there, but our leaders and policymakers didn't seem to run 00:39:43.862 --> 00:39:49.602 position:50% align:middle with the advantage that Kennedy had offered to them and given them. 00:39:49.602 --> 00:39:50.582 position:50% align:middle Take one example. 00:39:50.582 --> 00:39:58.376 position:50% align:middle In 1972, President Nixon introduced the space shuttle program, which is an amazing program, 00:39:58.376 --> 00:39:58.968 position:50% align:middle to be sure. 00:39:58.968 --> 00:40:04.931 position:50% align:middle But his messaging lacked inspiration and more importantly, it lacked participation by the people. 00:40:04.931 --> 00:40:10.931 position:50% align:middle And I think that really was the start of some of his downfall, is that he took away from the people their 00:40:10.931 --> 00:40:15.923 position:50% align:middle ability to participate because this is how he described what the benefits of the shuttle 00:40:15.923 --> 00:40:18.831 position:50% align:middle program would be to humanity. 00:40:18.831 --> 00:40:23.451 position:50% align:middle He said, "This system will center on a space vehicle that can shuttle repeatedly from Earth 00:40:23.451 --> 00:40:25.021 position:50% align:middle to orbit and back. 00:40:25.021 --> 00:40:32.651 position:50% align:middle It will revolutionize transportation into near space, by routinizing it." I mean, what's more, 00:40:32.651 --> 00:40:35.971 position:50% align:middle inspiring than a routine? 00:40:35.971 --> 00:40:42.191 position:50% align:middle So, awesome to participate in the quotidian, in the everyday, in the bang, and the drum, and so on. 00:40:42.191 --> 00:40:46.851 position:50% align:middle Now, credit where credit is due, the Apollo program was unwieldy and 00:40:46.851 --> 00:40:47.901 position:50% align:middle it was unsustainable. 00:40:47.901 --> 00:40:53.621 position:50% align:middle There was no way the nation could continue to spend at those levels on what the return was. 00:40:53.621 --> 00:40:56.288 position:50% align:middle And let's be honest, the accomplishment was the 00:40:56.288 --> 00:40:58.291 position:50% align:middle big goal of the Apollo program. 00:40:58.291 --> 00:41:01.825 position:50% align:middle We didn't find space people that we could converse with. 00:41:01.825 --> 00:41:07.445 position:50% align:middle As far as we know, we didn't find anything on the moon that cures cancer or ends starvation. 00:41:07.445 --> 00:41:11.355 position:50% align:middle We didn't find anything, you know, moon gold that is better than our gold or anything 00:41:11.355 --> 00:41:13.075 position:50% align:middle along those lines. 00:41:13.075 --> 00:41:14.495 position:50% align:middle We found that we could do it. 00:41:14.495 --> 00:41:19.225 position:50% align:middle We found that we could go further than we had ever thought that we could go, 00:41:19.225 --> 00:41:22.295 position:50% align:middle but that was about it, and for the expense that the program cost. 00:41:22.295 --> 00:41:24.985 position:50% align:middle The question's about whether or not it's worth it came back. 00:41:24.985 --> 00:41:31.175 position:50% align:middle And so, I don't blame Nixon for trying to say this is the more economical way of dealing with space, 00:41:31.175 --> 00:41:35.874 position:50% align:middle but when he makes it so uninspiring and also when he makes it seem like everyday people have 00:41:35.874 --> 00:41:39.585 position:50% align:middle nothing to do with this, he turned it sort of into UPS. 00:41:39.585 --> 00:41:43.944 position:50% align:middle And that means that the job of the average American was just to sit on your doorstep and 00:41:43.944 --> 00:41:47.595 position:50% align:middle wait for the doorbell to ring, and then go get your package when it shows up. 00:41:47.595 --> 00:41:48.975 position:50% align:middle And that's it. 00:41:48.975 --> 00:41:50.225 position:50% align:middle That's what the space shuttle is. 00:41:50.225 --> 00:41:51.535 position:50% align:middle That's what satellites are for. 00:41:51.535 --> 00:41:55.965 position:50% align:middle So, that you can sit on your couch, turn on your TV, and watch things from all around the world. 00:41:55.965 --> 00:41:57.615 position:50% align:middle It's not inspiring. 00:41:57.615 --> 00:42:02.928 position:50% align:middle It is awesome, but it is not inspiring and it's not participatory. 00:42:02.928 --> 00:42:05.388 position:50% align:middle And I think that is the great failing from this. 00:42:05.388 --> 00:42:10.078 position:50% align:middle So, I hope for the rest of us, we might learn some more beneficial lessons 00:42:10.078 --> 00:42:14.243 position:50% align:middle from Kennedy's rhetoric and the way in which his leadership was able to inspire and motivate the 00:42:14.243 --> 00:42:19.928 position:50% align:middle nation, to accomplish the thing that all previous generations are only ever been able to dream of. 00:42:19.928 --> 00:42:22.128 position:50% align:middle And, for us, it's now a reality. 00:42:22.128 --> 00:42:24.008 position:50% align:middle And I think that's down to Kennedy. 00:42:24.008 --> 00:42:27.038 position:50% align:middle So, rhetorical strategies are scalable. 00:42:27.038 --> 00:42:29.088 position:50% align:middle I don't want us to distance ourself from Kennedy. 00:42:29.088 --> 00:42:32.818 position:50% align:middle You have the same 26 letters of the alphabet that all of us possess. 00:42:32.818 --> 00:42:37.078 position:50% align:middle You don't have to be the president of the United States in order to make a vision come true. 00:42:37.078 --> 00:42:38.748 position:50% align:middle Yes, there are advantages. 00:42:38.748 --> 00:42:44.178 position:50% align:middle So, it would seem, but rhetoric is a language and a strategy available to all of us. 00:42:44.178 --> 00:42:48.750 position:50% align:middle It just requires that we think through our messaging and think about how we want to 00:42:48.750 --> 00:42:54.228 position:50% align:middle involve our audiences in the vision that we are lending to them. 00:42:54.228 --> 00:42:58.958 position:50% align:middle And it also is an important strategic point because what Kennedy proves is that indirect pressure 00:42:58.958 --> 00:43:02.774 position:50% align:middle on policymakers can be effective. 00:43:02.774 --> 00:43:07.684 position:50% align:middle He was working the rooms anytime he could among the members of Congress, the senators, and so on. 00:43:07.684 --> 00:43:13.694 position:50% align:middle But he knew that if he could put the people behind this effort, it would be all the more difficult for the 00:43:13.694 --> 00:43:18.864 position:50% align:middle naysayers to argue against him. 00:43:18.864 --> 00:43:21.544 position:50% align:middle And that turned out to be quite significant. 00:43:21.544 --> 00:43:25.264 position:50% align:middle It also involves, of course, his understanding that you should tailor your message. 00:43:25.264 --> 00:43:28.184 position:50% align:middle Who do you need to persuade? 00:43:28.184 --> 00:43:32.344 position:50% align:middle That one speech he gave at Rice University was tailored for an American audience, 00:43:32.344 --> 00:43:37.954 position:50% align:middle a particularly younger people who are looking for something to believe in. 00:43:37.954 --> 00:43:39.334 position:50% align:middle He wanted to persuade them. 00:43:39.334 --> 00:43:41.524 position:50% align:middle It wasn't geared towards Congress. 00:43:41.524 --> 00:43:44.624 position:50% align:middle He already did the thing with Congress, "Give me some money for this really expensive 00:43:44.624 --> 00:43:45.764 position:50% align:middle idea I have." 00:43:45.764 --> 00:43:47.184 position:50% align:middle No one moved. 00:43:47.184 --> 00:43:55.944 position:50% align:middle So, he goes to the people that he wants to motivate, play up to people's desire to be a part of something. 00:43:55.944 --> 00:43:58.234 position:50% align:middle People want to be involved. 00:43:58.234 --> 00:44:01.977 position:50% align:middle People like to hear that their contribution would be meaningful. 00:44:01.977 --> 00:44:06.767 position:50% align:middle People are less interested in hearing that they just need to stand by the side and applaud as the great 00:44:06.767 --> 00:44:09.097 position:50% align:middle people go by. 00:44:09.097 --> 00:44:14.587 position:50% align:middle Kennedy wanted to involve that audience and to give them a reason to also think that they could do 00:44:14.587 --> 00:44:22.007 position:50% align:middle something, that their contribution mattered, that this was going to benefit all of us. 00:44:22.007 --> 00:44:25.167 position:50% align:middle In that language, we also see him avoiding talking down to people. 00:44:25.167 --> 00:44:27.997 position:50% align:middle It's not a condescending rhetoric that he uses. 00:44:27.997 --> 00:44:32.417 position:50% align:middle He's trying to bolster people to raise them up in a time of uncertainty. 00:44:32.417 --> 00:44:35.757 position:50% align:middle In a time where people don't know what the future is going to be. 00:44:35.757 --> 00:44:40.817 position:50% align:middle In a time where we're not sure that our efforts are going to reward all that we've put into them. 00:44:40.817 --> 00:44:46.037 position:50% align:middle People need to be brought up, not talked down to, not told just what to do. 00:44:46.037 --> 00:44:49.197 position:50% align:middle Not told that you don't understand the significance of this. 00:44:49.197 --> 00:44:55.692 position:50% align:middle Rise up with them. Because Kennedy, in his optimism, believed that people wanted to be 00:44:55.692 --> 00:45:00.387 position:50% align:middle inspired and to do good things. 00:45:00.387 --> 00:45:04.108 position:50% align:middle Give them a chance and they'll prove you right. 00:45:04.108 --> 00:45:09.021 position:50% align:middle But you have to give them that chance, and you have to be able to create an understanding within 00:45:09.021 --> 00:45:13.288 position:50% align:middle their mind that they recognize the opportunity. 00:45:13.288 --> 00:45:17.306 position:50% align:middle Every parent knows that you tell a child that they have an opportunity in front of them, and they'll just 00:45:17.306 --> 00:45:19.868 position:50% align:middle shrug, "Yeah, I could do that." 00:45:19.868 --> 00:45:24.888 position:50% align:middle But if you help them feel inspired, if you help them feel that contributions matter, 00:45:24.888 --> 00:45:26.778 position:50% align:middle that will be more influential to them. 00:45:26.778 --> 00:45:31.718 position:50% align:middle A Kennedy style of leadership, centered around creating a kind of vision in which they 00:45:31.718 --> 00:45:36.158 position:50% align:middle could believe and see themselves in. 00:45:36.158 --> 00:45:41.868 position:50% align:middle Find a place for themselves in his message of inspiration. 00:45:41.868 --> 00:45:49.328 position:50% align:middle And I would argue and hope that you might find it an argument that you yourselves believe in slightly that 00:45:49.328 --> 00:45:52.048 position:50% align:middle words really do matter. 00:45:52.048 --> 00:45:58.858 position:50% align:middle Kennedy was a wordsmith, along with Sorensen, but he liked words and he understood their power, 00:45:58.858 --> 00:46:04.731 position:50% align:middle and he liked the ability of being able to communicate to people through those words, 00:46:04.731 --> 00:46:06.721 position:50% align:middle through that vision that he could describe. 00:46:06.721 --> 00:46:11.036 position:50% align:middle So, if we think about the language, not just, okay, what do I need these people to do 00:46:11.036 --> 00:46:12.008 position:50% align:middle in terms of policy? 00:46:12.008 --> 00:46:12.850 position:50% align:middle What's my end goal? 00:46:12.850 --> 00:46:13.451 position:50% align:middle The objective? 00:46:13.451 --> 00:46:16.861 position:50% align:middle Yes, all those, of course, are very important, but how are you going to get there? 00:46:16.861 --> 00:46:24.744 position:50% align:middle What is the actual material communication that you are going to use in order to persuade another 00:46:24.744 --> 00:46:27.441 position:50% align:middle person as to the idea in your head? 00:46:27.441 --> 00:46:32.911 position:50% align:middle And the thing, its words and their significance, and how you arrange them, and how you 00:46:32.911 --> 00:46:34.034 position:50% align:middle make them meaningful. 00:46:34.034 --> 00:46:39.451 position:50% align:middle And it's vital to think about that, that we don't adopt a casual relationship to language, 00:46:39.451 --> 00:46:42.171 position:50% align:middle but rather that we think strategically. 00:46:42.171 --> 00:46:44.711 position:50% align:middle And I think Kennedy is an inspiration for this. 00:46:44.711 --> 00:46:48.021 position:50% align:middle I would urge you to study that speech. 00:46:48.021 --> 00:46:50.821 position:50% align:middle It's there on the internet, like every other thing in the world is. 00:46:50.900 --> 00:46:57.421 position:50% align:middle You can go and you can look at it, and it's not intimidating, and it's not beyond any of us. 00:46:57.421 --> 00:47:00.324 position:50% align:middle Yes, he's quite clever, but I don't think that he's cleverer than the rest of us. 00:47:00.324 --> 00:47:06.683 position:50% align:middle He's just a bit more thoughtful in terms of how he is using his language and how he wanted to 00:47:06.683 --> 00:47:11.004 position:50% align:middle understand how people understand language and what could be drawn from that. 00:47:11.004 --> 00:47:16.534 position:50% align:middle And so I find a great deal of inspiration in Kennedy as not just a leader, not just a historical figure, 00:47:16.534 --> 00:47:22.384 position:50% align:middle but as someone who put ideas into language and lets us consider them. 00:47:22.384 --> 00:47:26.754 position:50% align:middle Thank you so much for your time and attention, and I'd be happy to discuss this at further 00:47:26.754 --> 00:47:27.794 position:50% align:middle length with anyone. 00:47:27.794 --> 00:47:30.824 position:50% align:middle This is stuff I nerd out on, so here for it. 00:47:30.824 --> 00:47:31.627 position:50% align:middle Thank you so much. 00:47:37.302 --> 00:47:40.224 position:50% align:middle If there's questions, certainly. 00:47:40.224 --> 00:47:41.484 position:50% align:middle - [Female 1] Thank you. 00:47:41.484 --> 00:47:42.504 position:50% align:middle That was really interesting. 00:47:42.504 --> 00:47:42.964 position:50% align:middle - Thank you. 00:47:42.964 --> 00:47:47.654 position:50% align:middle - My question is, do you think, had the assassination not taken place, 00:47:47.654 --> 00:47:54.871 position:50% align:middle do you think that Kennedy's inspirational rhetoric would have been strong enough to have a man 00:47:54.871 --> 00:47:56.987 position:50% align:middle walk on the moon in 1969? 00:47:56.987 --> 00:47:59.814 position:50% align:middle - That's very good morbid question. 00:47:59.814 --> 00:48:01.013 position:50% align:middle - Sorry. 00:48:01.013 --> 00:48:03.153 position:50% align:middle - But a practical... - Post-Halloween. 00:48:03.153 --> 00:48:05.553 position:50% align:middle - Exactly, a very practical one. 00:48:05.553 --> 00:48:09.453 position:50% align:middle The answer is yes, but it would not have been quite so easy. 00:48:09.453 --> 00:48:12.623 position:50% align:middle So, both Presidents, Johnson and Nixon, continue to support the 00:48:12.623 --> 00:48:16.223 position:50% align:middle Apollo program, but it became a legacy. 00:48:16.223 --> 00:48:21.383 position:50% align:middle We need to do this in part to honor the memory of the person who set us on this course. 00:48:21.383 --> 00:48:26.043 position:50% align:middle You know, it's always speculative, you know, what would've happened if history hadn't happened 00:48:26.043 --> 00:48:26.613 position:50% align:middle type of thing. 00:48:26.613 --> 00:48:32.813 position:50% align:middle But I think the costs that were going on and so on would've made it difficult even if Kennedy had been 00:48:32.813 --> 00:48:37.206 position:50% align:middle elected to a second term and had the responsibility, it still would've been a 00:48:37.206 --> 00:48:38.561 position:50% align:middle tough road to go. 00:48:38.561 --> 00:48:42.222 position:50% align:middle And even if he had lived and been reelected, we still wouldn't have gotten 00:48:42.222 --> 00:48:43.943 position:50% align:middle there during his presidency. 00:48:43.943 --> 00:48:46.513 position:50% align:middle He would've been out of office because of the two-term limit. 00:48:46.513 --> 00:48:51.404 position:50% align:middle And it still would've been either Johnson or Nixon, ultimately was Nixon who was in office when we 00:48:51.404 --> 00:48:52.693 position:50% align:middle landed on the moon. 00:48:52.693 --> 00:48:57.083 position:50% align:middle So, regardless, some other president would've been able to take the, you know, 00:48:57.083 --> 00:49:00.639 position:50% align:middle to been able to crow about it and make the call to the astronauts. 00:49:00.639 --> 00:49:04.425 position:50% align:middle So, maybe it's my optimism that says, "Yes, this would continue because when I look at how 00:49:04.425 --> 00:49:10.454 position:50% align:middle Johnson and Nixon talked about space with the Apollo program they drew from Kennedy," so they 00:49:10.454 --> 00:49:11.689 position:50% align:middle kept that ball rolling. 00:49:11.689 --> 00:49:17.959 position:50% align:middle It was just once we landed on the moon, things faded and no one was able to rekindle it 00:49:17.959 --> 00:49:20.519 position:50% align:middle until we get to Reagan and his inspirational message. 00:49:20.519 --> 00:49:22.169 position:50% align:middle But that's out of tragedy. 00:49:22.169 --> 00:49:26.509 position:50% align:middle And the, you know, with the Challenger disaster, the context is entirely different, 00:49:26.509 --> 00:49:31.529 position:50% align:middle even though he does find and rekindle the idea that space is inspirational, that it's an adventure, 00:49:31.529 --> 00:49:33.589 position:50% align:middle and so on. 00:49:33.589 --> 00:49:33.989 position:50% align:middle Thank you. 00:49:33.989 --> 00:49:35.477 position:50% align:middle I hope that provides some insight. 00:49:37.599 --> 00:49:38.139 position:50% align:middle Hello. 00:49:38.139 --> 00:49:40.549 position:50% align:middle - [David] Hi, I, David Benton. 00:49:40.549 --> 00:49:49.395 position:50% align:middle I'd like to ask you to think about if Kennedy had been born today, how might he apply this thinking 00:49:49.395 --> 00:49:55.769 position:50% align:middle in a world where we are limited by the number of characters that we can transmit at any one time? 00:49:55.769 --> 00:49:56.569 position:50% align:middle What's the lesson? 00:49:56.569 --> 00:50:00.604 position:50% align:middle How does it translate into the social media universe? 00:50:00.604 --> 00:50:02.474 position:50% align:middle - It's a very good question. 00:50:02.474 --> 00:50:11.484 position:50% align:middle And what Kennedy would be like on Instagram or Twitter, it's a great rabbit hole to go down and 00:50:11.484 --> 00:50:12.404 position:50% align:middle to think about. 00:50:12.404 --> 00:50:18.584 position:50% align:middle I think it would have to be more imagistic maybe use fewer words and more images. 00:50:18.584 --> 00:50:25.517 position:50% align:middle That seems to be the way in which we're going is sort of towards rhetoric as art imagery. 00:50:25.517 --> 00:50:29.056 position:50% align:middle He'd probably, like, have some sort of clip or whatever that he would try to do. 00:50:29.056 --> 00:50:30.822 position:50% align:middle I'm not sure how he would do with memes. 00:50:30.822 --> 00:50:36.664 position:50% align:middle He seemed a little bit straightforward for that, but he also proved to be quite adaptable 00:50:36.664 --> 00:50:38.446 position:50% align:middle to message formats. 00:50:38.446 --> 00:50:43.378 position:50% align:middle I mean, his presidency and his candidacy really, were at the birth of what we might consider to be 00:50:43.378 --> 00:50:49.494 position:50% align:middle the political age of television. And his ability to muster the resources that he had in terms of 00:50:49.494 --> 00:50:54.478 position:50% align:middle whether it was a speech in front of Congress or whether it was going to be something that went 00:50:54.478 --> 00:50:55.752 position:50% align:middle out over the airwaves. 00:50:55.752 --> 00:50:59.834 position:50% align:middle He was quite media savvy as far as that goes. 00:50:59.834 --> 00:51:03.430 position:50% align:middle And Sorensen also was quite the wordsmith. 00:51:03.430 --> 00:51:09.990 position:50% align:middle So, I think he likely wouldn't have done as many overall speeches. 00:51:09.990 --> 00:51:12.600 position:50% align:middle Of course, no one speaks as much as the president of the United States. 00:51:12.600 --> 00:51:18.350 position:50% align:middle Even our presidents that are not fond of giving speeches are still required to do so. 00:51:18.350 --> 00:51:22.793 position:50% align:middle But I think he still would've been able to find a way to get that message out because what mattered to 00:51:22.793 --> 00:51:24.540 position:50% align:middle him most was connecting with the people. 00:51:24.540 --> 00:51:27.958 position:50% align:middle And if the people were connected through social media, I think Kennedy would want to connect 00:51:27.958 --> 00:51:28.980 position:50% align:middle with them there too. 00:51:28.980 --> 00:51:31.513 position:50% align:middle And I think he'd make that a priority. 00:51:39.800 --> 00:51:41.020 position:50% align:middle I apologize for sweating so much. 00:51:41.020 --> 00:51:46.312 position:50% align:middle Florida humidity is not something I'm 100% great with. 00:51:52.840 --> 00:51:53.370 position:50% align:middle Nothing else? 00:51:53.370 --> 00:51:53.850 position:50% align:middle Then, please... 00:51:53.850 --> 00:51:55.260 position:50% align:middle Oh, sorry, one more question. 00:51:55.260 --> 00:51:57.890 position:50% align:middle - [Female 2] Hello. 00:51:57.890 --> 00:51:58.560 position:50% align:middle Thank you. 00:51:58.560 --> 00:52:00.410 position:50% align:middle That was great. 00:52:00.410 --> 00:52:06.545 position:50% align:middle It makes me pause about what I say and what I've put out there in my life after this. 00:52:06.545 --> 00:52:08.696 position:50% align:middle Like, "Oh my gosh, my words." 00:52:08.696 --> 00:52:14.316 position:50% align:middle So, my question is, I hear so much about speechwriters now. 00:52:14.316 --> 00:52:20.166 position:50% align:middle And so do you think back then, or did he have more help? 00:52:20.166 --> 00:52:26.186 position:50% align:middle Did he start it and they polished it, or, I mean, it's a different time now, 00:52:26.186 --> 00:52:27.942 position:50% align:middle and I just wondered about that. 00:52:27.942 --> 00:52:29.936 position:50% align:middle - It's a very good question. 00:52:29.936 --> 00:52:36.936 position:50% align:middle Really, we can sort of start the modern age of presidents relying on speechwriters with FDR. 00:52:36.936 --> 00:52:42.496 position:50% align:middle And he had a group of people that he trusted and also pit against one another in order 00:52:42.496 --> 00:52:43.916 position:50% align:middle to help craft messages. 00:52:43.916 --> 00:52:49.936 position:50% align:middle Typically, what we see is a president will have one person in particular, a chief speechwriter, that they 00:52:49.936 --> 00:52:51.160 position:50% align:middle will rely on quite a bit. 00:52:51.160 --> 00:52:58.026 position:50% align:middle The relationship between John Kennedy and Ted Sorensen was almost as if they shared a mind. 00:52:58.026 --> 00:53:02.560 position:50% align:middle It also helped that Sorensen was willing to be dominated by Kennedy. 00:53:02.560 --> 00:53:07.780 position:50% align:middle He was willing to be in that role of writing up these words and whatnot. 00:53:07.780 --> 00:53:10.970 position:50% align:middle But Kennedy would interact with Sorensen. 00:53:10.970 --> 00:53:15.250 position:50% align:middle He didn't just wait for Sorensen to deliver copy onto his desk, and then he went out and read it. 00:53:15.250 --> 00:53:19.390 position:50% align:middle They would converse, they would debate, they would banter with each other continually 00:53:19.390 --> 00:53:22.550 position:50% align:middle and had a very simpatico relationship. 00:53:22.550 --> 00:53:26.730 position:50% align:middle I think when we look at this now, we say that relationship for a president is 00:53:26.730 --> 00:53:28.190 position:50% align:middle still quite essential. 00:53:28.190 --> 00:53:31.180 position:50% align:middle And sometimes we'll see presidents go through numerous speechwriters. 00:53:31.180 --> 00:53:33.210 position:50% align:middle It's a very difficult job. 00:53:33.210 --> 00:53:38.411 position:50% align:middle Reagan relied greatly, particularly for the Challenger message, on Peggy Noonan. 00:53:38.411 --> 00:53:44.410 position:50% align:middle And she's written books about her time in the White House, what she was thinking on that 00:53:44.410 --> 00:53:48.030 position:50% align:middle particular day, the conversations that she had with Reagan. 00:53:48.030 --> 00:53:53.930 position:50% align:middle And they're quite revealing as to how close the president and their speechwriter, in some cases 00:53:53.930 --> 00:53:55.310 position:50% align:middle speechwriters, must be. 00:53:55.310 --> 00:53:57.630 position:50% align:middle It's not at all a casual relationship. 00:53:57.630 --> 00:54:02.302 position:50% align:middle Sometimes the president won't see some of their cabinet officers for months, 00:54:02.302 --> 00:54:05.762 position:50% align:middle whether because they don't like them or just because they're traveling the world. 00:54:05.762 --> 00:54:08.852 position:50% align:middle But those conversations, those near daily conversations, 00:54:08.852 --> 00:54:12.072 position:50% align:middle sometimes hourly conversations, particularly in moments of crisis, 00:54:12.072 --> 00:54:18.162 position:50% align:middle are crucial for that because, again, presidents, whether they're willing or not, 00:54:18.162 --> 00:54:21.182 position:50% align:middle have to understand that their words matter a great deal. 00:54:21.182 --> 00:54:26.652 position:50% align:middle If a president says something, when, you know, if a president says, "Well, the COVID crisis is over," 00:54:26.652 --> 00:54:30.532 position:50% align:middle it moves the needle across the entire universe, right? 00:54:30.532 --> 00:54:33.872 position:50% align:middle If a president says, "I'm not happy that other leader did the other thing 00:54:33.872 --> 00:54:36.742 position:50% align:middle to the other country," it's picked up on the world news. 00:54:36.742 --> 00:54:41.689 position:50% align:middle And so when you began your comment, I appreciate that saying that you're thinking 00:54:41.689 --> 00:54:43.202 position:50% align:middle more about your words and your... 00:54:43.202 --> 00:54:44.272 position:50% align:middle I think we all should. 00:54:44.272 --> 00:54:49.342 position:50% align:middle We treat sometimes conversations so casually, it's so easy to do. 00:54:49.342 --> 00:54:54.532 position:50% align:middle We're used to talking. We don't want our words to get in the way of our message and whatnot. 00:54:54.532 --> 00:54:59.917 position:50% align:middle But then if we say, but what is the message but for our words? You can't impart a thought into 00:54:59.917 --> 00:55:02.715 position:50% align:middle someone else's mind through telekinesis. 00:55:02.715 --> 00:55:04.445 position:50% align:middle Not yet, maybe they're working on that. 00:55:04.445 --> 00:55:08.025 position:50% align:middle But for right now, our medium is language. 00:55:08.025 --> 00:55:14.040 position:50% align:middle And so I think a president has to be quite thoughtful and they pick the, I think the ones that have been 00:55:14.040 --> 00:55:19.269 position:50% align:middle most successful have worked to develop a good relationship with the people who help them 00:55:19.269 --> 00:55:20.420 position:50% align:middle with their messaging. 00:55:20.420 --> 00:55:23.935 position:50% align:middle And it can be quite fascinating and quite useful. 00:55:23.935 --> 00:55:30.045 position:50% align:middle There's a great anecdote about President Clinton, one of his first addresses before Congress, 00:55:30.045 --> 00:55:35.125 position:50% align:middle the teleprompter quit, right when he was about to speak, and he just kept going. 00:55:35.125 --> 00:55:38.005 position:50% align:middle He knew that speech backward and forwards, they'd been working on it, 00:55:38.005 --> 00:55:39.455 position:50% align:middle even on the limousine ride over there. 00:55:39.455 --> 00:55:47.245 position:50% align:middle President Obama was known to do this, to hand mark speech drafts to work on the language. 00:55:47.245 --> 00:55:51.474 position:50% align:middle I think presidents more and more understand, there are exceptions, of course, but I think 00:55:51.474 --> 00:55:55.955 position:50% align:middle presidents more and more understand that they're going to be held accountable for the words that 00:55:55.955 --> 00:55:56.925 position:50% align:middle come out of their mouth. 00:55:56.925 --> 00:56:01.321 position:50% align:middle Even if they didn't write every single one of those words, the buck stops with them, 00:56:01.321 --> 00:56:02.871 position:50% align:middle to mix presidential metaphors. 00:56:02.871 --> 00:56:09.101 position:50% align:middle And so they take an active investment, an interest in the words that they're going to say. 00:56:09.101 --> 00:56:12.321 position:50% align:middle I think the ones that do it best do that anyway. 00:56:12.321 --> 00:56:17.323 position:50% align:middle And I think the ones that have had some noticeable fumbles, part of those fumbles is because they 00:56:17.323 --> 00:56:23.713 position:50% align:middle failed to take as active an interest in their language as perhaps they should have so... 00:56:31.211 --> 00:56:34.401 position:50% align:middle Please, let me thank you again, and it was a pleasure to be here, and I hope you enjoy 00:56:34.401 --> 00:56:35.571 position:50% align:middle the rest of your conference. 00:56:35.571 --> 00:56:36.701 position:50% align:middle Oh, no, there is one more question. 00:56:36.701 --> 00:56:38.501 position:50% align:middle Sorry. My fault. 00:56:38.501 --> 00:56:39.631 position:50% align:middle - [Susan] Sure, if we're done. 00:56:39.631 --> 00:56:40.441 position:50% align:middle Oh, sorry. 00:56:40.441 --> 00:56:44.371 position:50% align:middle Anyway, I was just reflecting, I'm Susan VanBeuge and from Nevada, 00:56:44.371 --> 00:56:48.401 position:50% align:middle I'm a board member, and I was thinking about this, you know, my first degree is in communication, 00:56:48.401 --> 00:56:51.741 position:50% align:middle so that was, you know, a lot of years ago. 00:56:51.741 --> 00:56:53.071 position:50% align:middle A lot of trips around the sun. 00:56:53.071 --> 00:56:57.771 position:50% align:middle But I'm thinking about as regulators when we are, you know, kind of taking in this message and 00:56:57.771 --> 00:56:59.391 position:50% align:middle thinking about, you know, the words matter. 00:56:59.391 --> 00:57:03.637 position:50% align:middle I remember hearing our, being at a board meeting when the attorney said, 00:57:03.637 --> 00:57:08.017 position:50% align:middle "Words matter, every word matters in the statute and what we do." 00:57:08.017 --> 00:57:14.387 position:50% align:middle And I think about the messages that we have to convey as regulators, as policymakers, 00:57:14.387 --> 00:57:16.467 position:50% align:middle and how that moves forward. 00:57:16.467 --> 00:57:22.477 position:50% align:middle So, I think that what you're telling us here today and really sharing with us is really reflective of the 00:57:22.477 --> 00:57:27.930 position:50% align:middle roles that we play, not only in the regulatory process, maybe with our people coming before 00:57:27.930 --> 00:57:33.967 position:50% align:middle us, as you know, for administrative hearings or things like that, but also in the policy that we 00:57:33.967 --> 00:57:38.247 position:50% align:middle craft not only locally, but nationally. 00:57:38.247 --> 00:57:42.604 position:50% align:middle And so when we're working on things like the Nurse Licensure Compact, and the APRN Compact, and 00:57:42.604 --> 00:57:47.857 position:50% align:middle all those things, it's really about connecting with people, and then having words that people can 00:57:47.857 --> 00:57:52.641 position:50% align:middle also frame and understand as well because we have our own language, just like all of us in 00:57:52.641 --> 00:57:59.068 position:50% align:middle healthcare, but then crafting that to go forward to other people, to connect, like real people makes 00:57:59.068 --> 00:58:00.347 position:50% align:middle such a huge difference. 00:58:00.347 --> 00:58:05.347 position:50% align:middle - It so does. It's such a good point that you're making because I think I call it sort of the 00:58:05.347 --> 00:58:12.518 position:50% align:middle productive schizophrenia that we have to work with in language, which is first to say, 00:58:12.518 --> 00:58:15.718 position:50% align:middle does this make sense to me when I'm crafting something? 00:58:15.718 --> 00:58:19.878 position:50% align:middle But then instantly, you have to put yourself in the position of someone who you are not, and to say, 00:58:19.878 --> 00:58:21.688 position:50% align:middle "Would this make sense to someone else? 00:58:21.688 --> 00:58:23.608 position:50% align:middle What if I was reading this for the first time? 00:58:23.608 --> 00:58:28.598 position:50% align:middle What if I hadn't been spending months working on this language and this was the very first time that 00:58:28.598 --> 00:58:29.088 position:50% align:middle I'm seeing it? 00:58:29.088 --> 00:58:29.848 position:50% align:middle Would it make sense?" 00:58:29.848 --> 00:58:34.512 position:50% align:middle And I think those are the things we have to go through to say, "Okay, you sort of get too far into 00:58:34.512 --> 00:58:37.678 position:50% align:middle your own mind when you're working on something for a long time. 00:58:37.678 --> 00:58:41.198 position:50% align:middle And your mind makes all these shortcuts, particular with language, 00:58:41.198 --> 00:58:43.638 position:50% align:middle because you know what you mean, you know what you're referring to, you know 00:58:43.638 --> 00:58:47.818 position:50% align:middle what document that links up with, but someone else may have no idea, 00:58:47.818 --> 00:58:50.808 position:50% align:middle let alone what their interpretation is going to be. 00:58:50.808 --> 00:58:53.698 position:50% align:middle So, in terms of thinking the plurality and possibilities of language, 00:58:53.698 --> 00:58:58.428 position:50% align:middle I think that's time well spent to say, "Okay, how else might someone interpret this? 00:58:58.428 --> 00:59:00.141 position:50% align:middle What maybe should I guard against?" 00:59:00.141 --> 00:59:02.432 position:50% align:middle And to, you know, think about that, to test each other. 00:59:02.432 --> 00:59:04.727 position:50% align:middle You know, I see this in classrooms all the time. 00:59:04.727 --> 00:59:06.081 position:50% align:middle We ask them, what did you think of that... 00:59:06.081 --> 00:59:06.645 position:50% align:middle It was great. 00:59:06.645 --> 00:59:07.769 position:50% align:middle It's like, "Okay, come on." 00:59:07.769 --> 00:59:10.637 position:50% align:middle Like, they just want to compliment each other to say, "Dig into it." 00:59:10.637 --> 00:59:11.107 position:50% align:middle Right? 00:59:11.107 --> 00:59:15.696 position:50% align:middle You can be a better friend sometimes by being a kind of negative advocate, 00:59:15.696 --> 00:59:19.383 position:50% align:middle picking things apart, challenging each other, right? 00:59:19.383 --> 00:59:22.987 position:50% align:middle Thinking about the worst interpretation that the language could receive. 00:59:22.987 --> 00:59:25.605 position:50% align:middle And then working back to say, "Okay, how do we guard against that? 00:59:25.605 --> 00:59:27.189 position:50% align:middle Or how can we clarify this? 00:59:27.189 --> 00:59:32.135 position:50% align:middle What else could we do to help make this more impactful for the people that we are 00:59:32.135 --> 00:59:33.230 position:50% align:middle trying to demonstrate?" 00:59:33.230 --> 00:59:37.320 position:50% align:middle So, getting out of our own mind. Like first obligation is make sure that it's 00:59:37.320 --> 00:59:38.133 position:50% align:middle sensible to you. 00:59:38.133 --> 00:59:42.203 position:50% align:middle But then the second obligation is I now have to forget who I am, and I have to put myself in the 00:59:42.203 --> 00:59:42.871 position:50% align:middle shoes of someone else. 00:59:42.871 --> 00:59:48.604 position:50% align:middle And only when I've done that exercise can I feel confident my message might actually reach out to 00:59:48.604 --> 00:59:49.911 position:50% align:middle the people that it's intended for. 00:59:49.911 --> 00:59:53.670 position:50% align:middle And it, worth the effort in my, you know, what else am I going to say? 00:59:53.670 --> 00:59:55.197 position:50% align:middle That thinking about language is not important. 00:59:55.197 --> 00:59:56.230 position:50% align:middle Of course, it's important. 00:59:56.230 --> 00:59:58.028 position:50% align:middle So, but I thank you for that prompt. 00:59:58.028 --> 00:59:58.503 position:50% align:middle Thank you. Mm-hmm. 01:00:00.721 --> 01:00:01.609 position:50% align:middle Okay. 01:00:01.609 --> 01:00:02.758 position:50% align:middle Thanks again.