JFK:What other thing?

[Orm]

In one of his more famous speaches JFK said: "we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other thing..." or something similar, not sure if I got all the words right.
For some time now I have been wondering; what other thing?
Is it just a way of speech, or did he mean something by it, was he referring to something he had said earlier?

 

[unmerged(469)]

With mediocre certainty i believe "the other thing" in this context is the choice that is not easy, not safe. I.e. going to the moon is the other thing.

 

[unmerged(4783)]

He actually said: "It's the Pepsi thing to do". He was referring to the Cold War dividing the world into two camps: Coke and Pepsi. Coke is red and Pepsi is blue...

 

[Orm]

Originally posted by Admiral Yi
With mediocre certainty i believe "the other thing" in this context is the choice that is not easy, not safe. I.e. going to the moon is the other thing.

That really sounds pretty strange... Doesn't the qoute continue with; "...not because they are easy but because they are hard." ? His use of 'they' (if I recall that part correctly) implies that he is talking about at least two different things.

I've always felt that JFK was lucky that the divided former capitol of Germany was Berlin and not Hamburg. Would have been hilarious to hear the president of the USA say: "Ich bin ein Hamburger."
Although I've been told that a 'berliner' is some sort of pastry, the humourous impact is not quite as big.

 

[unmerged(4783)]

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not only because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

Literal quote, taken from here. He is referring to things concomitant to the race for the moon, more generally space exploration, and an impulse to science and technology

 

[unmerged(8195)]

Originally posted by Pirate Scum


Literal quote, taken from here. He is referring to things concomitant to the race for the moon, more generally space exploration, and an impulse to science and technology

JFK was also referring to the questions posed in his previous paragraph of the speech...
"But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?"

Doesn't anyone have any idea HOW DIFFICULT it was for Rice to beat Texas back then??? My my my, how some things never change...

 

[Jayavarman]

Originally posted by Pirate Scum
He actually said: "It's the Pepsi thing to do". He was referring to the Cold War dividing the world into two camps: Coke and Pepsi. Coke is red and Pepsi is blue...

Ha ha, no. Don't spam.