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“We Choose to Go to the Moon” — JFK at Rice University

From Archive Clip: JFK at Rice University, Sept. 12, 1962 · excerpt 0:00–1:19

Summary

In this passage from his September 1962 address at Rice University, President John F. Kennedy makes the case for committing the United States to a crewed Moon landing before the decade is out. He frames outer space as a frontier still free of the rivalries that divide nations — a fleeting chance for peaceful cooperation — and argues that the country should choose the Moon precisely because it is hard. A goal that difficult, he says, will “organize and measure” the best of American energy and skill. The excerpt builds to the speech's signature line, “We choose to go to the Moon,” and closes on a pledge to accept the challenge, refuse to postpone it, and win.

Key points

• Space is a frontier still without strife, prejudice, or national conflict — a rare opening for peaceful cooperation that “may never come again.”
• Its hazards threaten everyone, so its exploration deserves the best of all humankind.
• Kennedy pre-empts the skeptic's “Why the Moon?” with analogies to other hard, self-chosen challenges: climbing the highest mountain, flying the Atlantic, Rice playing Texas.
• The decision treats difficulty as a virtue — a hard goal forces a nation to marshal and measure its best energies and skills.
• The commitment is deliberate and time-bound (“in this decade”) and framed as a challenge to accept, not postpone, and win.

Timeline

• 0:00–0:11Space as a frontier without conflict — Outer space is, “as yet,” free of strife, prejudice, and national conflict, though its hazards are hostile to all.
• 0:11–0:20A fleeting chance for cooperation — Conquering space deserves the best of all mankind, and the opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again.
• 0:20–0:35Anticipating the skeptics — Kennedy raises the question “Why the Moon?” and answers with analogies to other hard choices: the highest mountain, the Atlantic flight, Rice vs. Texas.
• 0:35–0:52The signature commitment — The repeated declaration builds to “We choose to go to the Moon… in this decade.”
• 0:52–1:05Why choose the hard path — The goal is chosen not because it is easy but because it is hard — because it will organize and measure the best of the nation's energies and skills.
• 1:05–1:19A challenge to win — The effort is one the country is willing to accept, unwilling to postpone, and intends to win — “and the others, too.”

Notable quotes

“There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet.”

“We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”

“…one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.”

Commitments

• Reach the Moon within the decade — a public, time-bound national goal.
• Accept the challenge rather than defer it, treating its very difficulty as the reason to pursue it.

Context & terms

Rice University, Sept. 12, 1962

The setting of the address; the “Rice play Texas” line is a local nod to the university's football rivalry.

“The other things”

The wider space program beyond the landing itself — launch vehicles, science, and infrastructure — that the goal would drive forward.

Peaceful cooperation

Kennedy's framing of space as a shared human endeavour rather than a purely national or military contest.