# Why has no other country put a man on the moon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 18, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-no-other-country-put-a-man-on-the-moon/826327 "2018-12-18T16:31:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 56
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2018, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-no-other-country-put-a-man-on-the-moon/826327/56 "2018-12-19T07:47:32Z")
This thread tends to confirm what I wrote here almost three years ago. > [@Why Is JFK So Deified?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jfk-so-deified/741541/170): > > Even today, there may be Americans who think the Apollo Program was a waste of money… At the time it struck many people [including Eisenhower] as absurd. The project to land a man on the Moon is considered one of the biggest and most expensive programs ever undertaken by the United States: among single efforts, only the Panama Canal and the Manhattan Project are comparable, and they had clear economic or military purpose. > > The budget estimated for the effort was equivalent to about 800 Billion Dollars in present-day federal spending … and there was no guarantee of success. > > Man would probably not have set foot on the Moon to this day without John F. Kennedy’s determination and charisma. Certainly such a thing is inconceivable in today’s political clime. [The political hurdles were as difficult as the technical hurdles.](http://www.prx.org/pieces/629/transcripts/629) > > Kennedy was surprised he was able to develop support for the project, was himself overwhelmed by the expense and difficulties, and actually _tried to backpedal out of the project._… --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-no-other-country-put-a-man-on-the-moon/826327)._