Richard Milhous Nixon

“ As the astronauts go where man has never gone; as they attempt what man has never tried, we on earth will want, as one people, to be with them in spirit; to share the glory and the wonder, and to support them with prayers that all will go well.
In order that as many as possible can have the opportunity to share as fully as possible in this surpassing occasion, I, RICHARD NIXON, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Monday, July 21, 1969, to be a National Day of Participation ”

“ In past ages, exploration was a lonely enterprise. But today, the miracles of space travel are matched by miracles of space communication; even across the vast lunar distance, television brings the moment of discovery into our homes, and makes all of us participants. ”

“ By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Apollo 11 is on its way to the moon. It carries three brave astronauts; it also carries the hopes and prayers of hundreds of millions of people here on earth, for whom that first footfall on the moon will be a moment of transcendent drama. Never before has man embarked on so epic an adventure.
In the words of the plaque the Apollo astronauts expect to leave on the moon, they go "in peace for all mankind." The adventure is not theirs alone, but everyone's ”