Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Speech Richard Nixon Never Gave (Encore)

Episode Date: April 27, 2021

The Apollo 11 mission to land humans on the moon was one of the most complex things ever undertaken by humanity. They had to prepare for any and every eventuality, including the failure of the mission. To cover that eventually, President Nixon’s speechwriter wrote a speech to cover that eventuality. Learn more about the speech which Richard Nixon never had to give, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The following is an encore presentation of everything everywhere daily. Sometimes the grind of doing a daily show can catch up to you, and today was that day. I'll be back again tomorrow with a brand new episode. The Apollo 11 mission to land humans on the moon was one of the most complex things ever undertaken by humanity. They had to prepare for any and every eventuality, including failure of the mission. To cover that eventuality, President Nixon's speechwriter wrote a speech in the event that the unthinkable should happen. Learn more about the speech which Richard Nixon never had to give on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong?

ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night. And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. This episode is brought to you by CuriosityStream. I've told you before about the great documentaries on CuriosityStream. They have over 2,500 shows on a wide variety of topics. But they also produce a lot of timely original content.

The best science stories of 2020 was just released, and they also have original programming to help explain the coronavirus. Prices start as low as $2.99 per month or $19.99 per year, one of the cheapest streaming services available online. If you love to learn and then start your subscription by visiting Everything, everywhere.com slash curiosity stream or by clicking on the link in the show notes. On July 24, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon. During their time walking on the surface, which only lasted about two and a half hours,

they received a phone call from the President of the United States, Richard Nixon. For purposes that will soon become obvious, I'd like to play the entire clip for you now. And don't worry, it's not very long. Hello, Neil and Buzz. I'm talking to you by telephone from the over room at the White House. And this certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made from the White House. I just can't tell you how proud we all are of what you have done. For every American, this has to be the proudest day of our lives.

And for people all over the world, I am sure that they too join with Americans in recognizing what an immense feat this is. Because of what you have done, the heaven. have become a part of man's world. And as you talk to us from the sea of tranquility, it inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and tranquility to earth. For one priceless moment,

in the whole history of man, all the people on this earth are truly one, one in their pride in what you have done, and one in our prayers that you will return safely to Earth. The call caused some controversy. People objected to using the moment to put the emphasis on a political leader. Democrats were upset because Nixon had only been president a few months, and most of the Apollo program had been developed under the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.

Nonetheless, the controversy was rather minor and soon forgotten. The speech, however, wasn't the only speech that was prepared. In the lead-up to Apollo 11, the Nixon administration was thinking about what they should say in their phone call to the astronauts. Nixon speechwriter William Sapphire was contacted by an astronaut and was warned about something that they should be prepared for. In a New York Times article in 1989, where Sapphire was a columnist for years, he wrote, quote,

Frank Borman, our liaison with the astronauts, brought the image making up short with us. You want to be thinking of some alternative posture for the president in the event of mishaps. The blank looks at this techno jargon, he added, Like, what to do for the widows? suddenly we were faced with the dark side of the moon planning. Death, if it came, would not come in a terrible blaze of glory. The greatest danger was that the two astronauts, once on the moon, would not be able to return to the command module. In that event, with no rescue possible, the men would have to bid the world farewell and close down communication,

preparatory to suicide or starvation. It would hardly advance the cause of space exploration to force a half a billion viewers and listeners to participate in the agony of their demise. I prepared an appropriate statement about men who came in peace and stayed to rest in peace, holding it in my desk drawer in case of tragedy." Saffire wrote the speech, but never submitted it. After Nixon left office, the speech was sent with other documents to the National Archive. Years later, Sapphire wrote about his role in the Apollo 11 landing and how he wrote the plaque which the astronauts left on the moon.

The speech he wrote in the event of a moon disaster was found and widely circulated. Fast forward to the year 2020. A team of researchers at MIT were working on artificial intelligence and the ability to create deep fakes. Deep fakes are videos that are close to indistinguishable from real videos where the subject is shown saying something they never actually said. As a demonstration of their technology, they decided to bring the life the speech which Richard Nixon never gave. The video shows Nixon sitting at a desk delivering what would be a televised speech complete with a network interruption from CBS, which would have been used. at the time. You can watch the actual deep fake video at moon disaster.org. I'm now going to play the speech, which thankfully was never given. The reason I wanted to play the actual clip of Nixon

talking to the astronauts on the moon was so that you could compare the two head to head. So without further ado, the entire deep fake of Richard Nixon announcing the deaths of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the moon. Good evening, my fellow Americans. Fates has ordained that the men, Men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace. These brave men, Neil Armstrong, and Edwin Alburn, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice. these two men are laying down their lives

in mankind's most noble book to search for truth and understanding they will be mourned by their families and friends they will be mourned by their nation they will be mourned by the people of the world they will be mourned by a mother earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown

In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one. In their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man. In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood. Others will follow and surely find their way home. Man's search will not be denied, but these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts. For every human being who looks up at the moon and the nights to come

will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind. Good night. Executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily, is James McAula. The associate producer is Thor Thompson. Remember to leave a five-star review to get your review read on the show. They can be left at Apple Podcasts, Podcasts, Podcast Republic, or wherever you listen to the show. Also, you can help support the show over at patreon.com. Patrons can get merchandise like t-shirts and hoodies, as well as having direct access to provide suggestions for future episodes.