<em>Kennedy's speech ( the Moon Speech ) at Rice University was done to support the NASA's Apollo space program. </em>
Kennedy wanted to make sure the American people understood the importance of the space mission, especially after Gagarin became the first human who entered the space. He view winning the space race as key to keeping the United States ahead of the Soviet Union technologically and militarily. It was a way to show U.S. dominance over the Soviet Union. Kennedy stressed the the U.S. goal was to go to the moon as the first nation in the world, his speech confirmed this objective, made it a budgetary priority and installed a sense of pride in the power of America.
