James E. Webb

James Edwin Webb (October 7, 1906 - March 27, 1992) was the second administrator of NASA, serving from February 14, 1961 to October 7, 1968. Full Description: James E. Webb served as the second Administrator for NASA from February 14, 1961, to October 7, 1968. ... Full Description: James E. Webb served as the second Administrator for NASA from February 14, 1961, to October 7, 1968. ... October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years). ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... March 27 is the 86th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (87th in Leap years). ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... February 14 is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years). ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ...

Early career

Born in Tally Ho, North Carolina, Webb was educated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received an A.B. in education in 1928. He became a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps and served as a pilot on active duty from 1930-1932. He also studied law at The George Washington University Law School from 1934-1936 and was admitted to the Bar of the District of Columbia in 1936. In 1938, he married Patsy Aiken Douglas and they had two children: Sarah Gorham, born on February 27, 1945, and James Edwin Jr., born on March 5, 1947. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public, coeducational, research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. ... 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Second Lieutenant is the lowest commissioned rank in many armed forces. ... United States Marine Corps Emblem The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is the second smallest of the five branches of the United States armed forces, with 170,000 active and 40,000 reserve Marines as of 2002. ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... The George Washington University Law School, commonly referred to as GW Law, founded in 1825, is the oldest law school in the District of Columbia. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... March 5 is the 64th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (65th in leap years). ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ...

Webb enjoyed a long career in public service in Washington, DC, first serving as secretary to North Carolina Congressman Edward W. Pou, from 1932 until 1934. He then served as assistant in the office of O. Max Gardner, attorney and former governor of North Carolina, between 1934 and 1936. In 1936, Webb became personnel director, secretary-treasurer, and later vice president of the Sperry Gyroscope Company in Brooklyn, New York, before re-entering the U.S. Marine Corps in 1944 during World War II. Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... Official language(s) English Capital Largest city Raleigh Charlotte Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 28th 139,509 km² 805 km 240 km 9. ... The chamber of the United States House of Representatives is located in the south wing of the Capitol building, in Washington, D.C.. This photograph shows a rare glimpse of the four vote tallying boards (the blackish squares across the top), which display each members name and vote as... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Oliver Max Gardner (22 March 1882 -- 6 February 1947) was the Democratic governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1929 to 1933. ... Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the twentieth century. ... For other meanings, see Brooklyn (disambiguation). ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II...

After World War II, Webb returned to Washington and served as executive assistant to O. Max Gardner, by then Under Secretary of the Treasury, before being named as director of the Bureau of the Budget in the Executive Office of the President, a position he held until 1949. President Harry S. Truman then asked Mr. Webb to serve as Under Secretary of State in the U.S. Department of State. When the Truman administration ended early in 1953, Webb left Washington, DC for a position in the Kerr-McGee Oil Corp. in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Oliver Max Gardner (22 March 1882 -- 6 February 1947) was the Democratic governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1929 to 1933. ... The United States Department of the Treasury is a Cabinet department and the treasury of the United States government. ... The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is a body within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP) which is tasked with coordinating United States Federal agencies. ... The Executive Office of the President (EOP) consists of the immediate staff of the President of the United States, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting to the President. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) is a common year starting on Saturday. ... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... For the victim of Mt. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1953 calendar). ... The Kerr-McGee Corporation (NYSE: KMG) is an energy company involved in the exploration and production of oil and gas resources, as well as the manufacture of titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigment. ... Nickname: Capital of the New Century Official website: http://www. ...

Administration

Webb returned to Washington in 1961 when he accepted the position of administrator of NASA. Under his direction, the agency undertook the goal stated by President Kennedy of landing an American on the Moon before the end of the decade through the execution of Apollo program. For seven years after President Kennedy's May 25, 1961 lunar landing announcement through October 1968, Webb fought for support for NASA in Washington. As a longtime Washington insider, he was ultimately able to acquire continued support for and resources to accomplish the Apollo Moon landing on the schedule President Kennedy had announced. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to as John F. Kennedy, JFK or Jack Kennedy, was the 35th President of the United States. ... Description Role: Earth and Lunar Orbit Crew: 3; CDR, CM pilot, LM pilot Dimensions Height: 36. ... May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ...

During his administration NASA developed from a loose collection of research centres into a coordinated organisation. Webb had a key role in creating the Manned Space Flight Centre (MSFC)in Houston. Despite the pressures to focus on the Apollo programme Webb ensured that NASA carried out a meaningful program of planetary exploration with the Mariner and Pioneer programs.

Webb was in the leadership of NASA during the Apollo 1 accident in 1967. Webb told the media at the time, "We've always known that something like this was going to happen soon or later. ... Who would have thought that the first tragedy would be on the ground?" Webb went to President Lyndon Johnson and asked that NASA be allowed to handle the accident investigation and direct the recovery from the accident. He promised to be truthful in assessing blame and pledged to assign it to himself and NASA management as appropriate. The agency set out to discover the details of the tragedy, to correct problems, and to get back on schedule. Apollo One is the official name given retroactively to the Apollo/Saturn 204 (AS-204) spacecraft, destroyed by fire during a training exercise on January 27, 1967, at Pad 34 (Launch Complex 34 at Cape Canaveral) atop a Saturn IB rocket. ... Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908–January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, was an American politician. ...

Webb reported his investigation's findings to various Congressional committees and took a personal grilling at nearly every meeting. Whether by happenstance or design, Webb managed to deflect much of the backlash over the accident from both NASA as an agency and from the Johnson administration. As a result, NASA's image and popular support were largely undamaged. Webb was informed by CIA sources in 1968 that the USSR was developing its own heavy launcher for a manned lunar mission and instructed MSFC to prepare Apollo 8. At the time Webb's assertions over the Soviet Union's abilities were doubted but later revelations over the Soviet Moonshot have given support to Webb's foresight. Webb left NASA in October 1968, just as Apollo was nearing a successful completion. Apollo 8 was the second manned mission of the Apollo space program, in which Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders became the first humans to leave Earth orbit and to orbit around the Moon. ... This article deals only with preparations for manned flight to the Moon by the USSR. For the Moon research by Soviet automatic interplanetary stations see Luna program. ...

Later life

After retiring from NASA, Webb remained in Washington, DC, serving on several advisory boards, including as a regent of the Smithsonian Institution. He died in March 1992 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. The Smithsonian Institution Building or Castle on the National Mall serves as the Institutions headquarters. ... Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia, is an American military cemetery established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Robert E. Lees home. ...

In the 1998 miniseries From the Earth to the Moon Webb was played by Dan Lauria. NASA's planned James Webb Space Telescope was renamed in Webb's honor in 2002. From the Earth to the Moon was a twelve-part HBO television miniseries (1998) co-produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Tom Hanks, and Michael Bostick detailing the landmark Apollo expeditions to the Moon during the 1960s and early 1970s. ... Dan Lauria (born April 12, 1947 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American television and film actor. ... The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a planned orbital infrared observatory, intended (in part) to replace the aging Hubble Space Telescope. ...

References

• Portions of this article are based on public domain text from NASA.

The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Glennan | Webb | Paine | Fletcher | Frosch | Beggs | Fletcher | Truly | Goldin | O'Keefe | Griffin

Directors of the United States Office of Management and Budget
	Dawes, Lard, Roop, Douglas, D W Bell, Smith, Webb, Pace, Lawton, Dodge, Hughes, Brundage, Stans, D E Bell, Gordon, Schultze, Zwick, Mayo, Shultz, Weinberger, Ash, Lynn, Lance, McIntyre, Stockman, Wright, Miller, Wright, Darman, Panetta, Rivlin, Raines, Lew, Daniels, Bolten