In his 1962 "We Choose to Go to the Moon" speech, President John F. Kennedy said:

In his 1962 "We Choose to Go to the Moon" speech, President John F. Kennedy said:

"If this capsule history of our progress teaches us anything, it is that man, in his quest for knowledge and progress, is determined and cannot be deterred. The exploration of space will go ahead, whether we join in it or not, and it is one of the great adventures of all time, and no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in the race for space."

What is Kennedy's claim in this excerpt?

President Kennedy is making the claim that the nation of America needs to be a part of the 'space exploration party' and how this will enable it to become a leading power in the world.

Explanation:

In the speech he gave at Rice University in 1962, President John F. Kennedy emphasized on the need to be a part of the advanced nations to explore space. He talks of how new ventures, paces cannot be helped, and may even bring criticism from others. But "it dispels old, new ignorance, new problems, new dangers".

Considering the given passage about the "exploration of space", he states that the world will go on with it whether America joins or not. He then states how a "nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in the race for space", which is an indirect reference to America's need to join the race.