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Interview with Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr.
13
It was during this visit to the White House, on the 21st of
May in the evening, that I expressed this point of view in
a very informal manner.
Mr. Sohier: He seemed to have a real bond with all of you,
and I suppose not every President of the United States
would have reacted that way. What was it that rang his bell
from your point of view? He really took an enormous personal
interest in all of you, and to sort you out to go to the
White House. Tell us what it was about President Kennedy
that's different from someone else.
Commander Shepard: I never have been able to analyze com-
pletely why he reacted this way to us, why he provided the
time to be with us on these occasions and essentially on a
very informal basis--access which I suppose not too many
people had.
My wife, whom I consider to be rather an astute woman, in
discussing it with me one time, said, "Well, it appears to
me that his reaction is one of being happy to be associated
with you as a group and as individuals because of what
you've done, not because of any great abilities but I suppose
because of the one ability to recognize a challenge and to be
willing to meet the challenge."
Secondly, we were representatives of a program which in
itself was a challenge. And we have been representatives
of the Mercury program, because I think people understand
other people better than they do machines. I think, now
that I look back, I agree with this analysis of his reaction
to us as individuals and as a group. He was in favor of the
program, he was proud of what we had been able to do, proud
of what a lot of people had been able to do, but reacting to
us as representatives.
Mr. Sohier: One subject that he got involved in was the
question of the Life contract with the astronauts. You
remember at the beginning of the Kennedy Administration it
was pretty well known that the President had taken the
position that there wasn't going to be a renewal of the
Document source description
Interview with Alan Shepard for the John F. Kennedy Library Oral History Program by Walter Sohier, General Counsel, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. June 12, 1964 Houston, Texas
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Document data
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"ocrText": "Interview with Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr.\n13\nIt was during this visit to the White House, on the 21st of\nMay in the evening, that I expressed this point of view in\na very informal manner.\nMr. Sohier: He seemed to have a real bond with all of you,\nand I suppose not every President of the United States\nwould have reacted that way. What was it that rang his bell\nfrom your point of view? He really took an enormous personal\ninterest in all of you, and to sort you out to go to the\nWhite House. Tell us what it was about President Kennedy\nthat's different from someone else.\nCommander Shepard: I never have been able to analyze com-\npletely why he reacted this way to us, why he provided the\ntime to be with us on these occasions and essentially on a\nvery informal basis--access which I suppose not too many\npeople had.\nMy wife, whom I consider to be rather an astute woman, in\ndiscussing it with me one time, said, \"Well, it appears to\nme that his reaction is one of being happy to be associated\nwith you as a group and as individuals because of what\nyou've done, not because of any great abilities but I suppose\nbecause of the one ability to recognize a challenge and to be\nwilling to meet the challenge.\"\nSecondly, we were representatives of a program which in\nitself was a challenge. And we have been representatives\nof the Mercury program, because I think people understand\nother people better than they do machines. I think, now\nthat I look back, I agree with this analysis of his reaction\nto us as individuals and as a group. He was in favor of the\nprogram, he was proud of what we had been able to do, proud\nof what a lot of people had been able to do, but reacting to\nus as representatives.\nMr. Sohier: One subject that he got involved in was the\nquestion of the Life contract with the astronauts. You\nremember at the beginning of the Kennedy Administration it\nwas pretty well known that the President had taken the\nposition that there wasn't going to be a renewal of the"
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