Who is James Webb?
James Edwin Webb (1906–1992) served from 1961–1968 as the second administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA was at that time a very young organization, having been formally established on October 1, 1958. Presiding over such an important and complex agency called for the skills and rich experience Webb had gained negotiating Washington’s political and bureaucratic scene. Webb wasn’t a scientist or engineer. He was a businessman, attorney, and manager who had served as Director of the Bureau of Budget and Undersecretary of State under President Harry Truman. He was originally reluctant to take the job offered by President John Kennedy, assuming that it might be better handled by someone with a better grasp of science or technology. But Kennedy wanted someone with keen political insight and a manager’s ability to help the fledgling agency mature.
