GEMINI AND APOLLO 



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and successfully through the 1960's, was only a spectator and no longer 

 the man in charge when the committee and NASA jointly moved 

 toward that golden moment when Neil Armstrong first set foot on 

 the Moon on July 20, 1969. 



On September 16, 1968, Webb had announced at a White House 

 news conference that he would resign effective October 7, his 62d 

 birthday. President Johnson soon thereafter appointed Paine as Act- 

 ing Administrator, and following President Nixon's nomination, 

 Paine was confirmed by the Senate as Administrator on March 5, 1969. 



Webb's departure 9 months before the manned lunar landing 

 represented the end of an era, the close of 8 extraordinarily successful 

 years during which his relations with the Science Committee had been 

 close and generally very cordial. When Webb resigned, Teague com- 

 mented: 



Jim Webb has met the test of great responsibility and the demand of leadership. 

 His abilities as a manager and a leader will be sorely missed. But he can leave NASA 

 with a realization that he had established the greatest technological team that the 

 world has ever known — a team well capable of reaching the goals which have been 

 set forth. 



Mosher put it this way: 



It was very fortunate that a fellow with Jim Webb's genius headed NASA at 

 just the right time to communicate with a bunch of people like we are. He knew 

 government inside and out, and he was a political animal, he knew politics and how 

 to deal with politicians. He was a born salesman, just a terrific salesman. I could have 

 seen where some terrifically competent engineer or scientist might have been chosen 

 to head NASA, and he would have been a disaster in terms of talking to us. 



At one of the night hearings on the Apollo hre, a question was 

 posed to Webb on the adequacy of North American Aviation's work 

 on the Apollo contract, and Webb's response was so wide ranging and 

 expansive as to prompt Teague to observe: 



I like Mr. Webb. He has a wonderful reputation but it is not for short answers. 

 One NASA official commented: 



Trying to make conversation with Jim Webb is like trying to drink out of a fire 

 hydrant. 



Webb was a genius at organizing the vast, multibillion-dollar enter- 

 prise which relied on thousands of private contractors and subcon- 

 tractors, employing over 400,000 people throughout the Nation. The 

 Science Committee marveled at his ability to present a very complex 

 budget every year with the enthusiasm of a true believer, and the 

 detailed knowledge of a man who had done his homework thoroughly. 

 Congress respected Webb, and the members of the Science Committee 

 regretted seeing him leave. 



On the eve of the Moon landing, the Science Committee faced a 

 tough fight in Congress over the perennial issue of declining funds for 



