Answer:
He believed the race was a key to keep the U.S. technology and military ahead of the Soviet Union which would lead to a U.S. great win and success; He wanted to win the race with the Soviet Union, he started the expansion of the space program and committed to the nation to fulfill his ambitions of landing the first man on the moon by the end of the decade; In 1957 the Soviet Union launched a satellite called Sputnik, therefore, the race was on.
Step-by-step explanation:
Kennedy viewed winning the space race as key to keeping the United States ahead of the Soviet Union technologically and militarily, as his next words make clear. "Yet the vows of this nation can only be fulfilled if we in this nation are first, and, therefore, we intend to be first," he said.
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