Not only that but the entire Apollo program was about to be scrapped before the CIA fucked up the bay of pigs invasion.

Two days after the Gagarin flight on 12 April, Kennedy discussed once again the possibility of a lunar landing program with Webb, but the NASA head’s conservative estimates of a cost of more than $20 billion for the project was too steep and Kennedy delayed making a decision. A week later, at the time of the Bay of Pigs invasion, Kennedy called Johnson, who headed the National Aeronautics and Space Council, to the White House to discuss strategy for catching up with the Soviets in space. Johnson agreed to take the matter up with the Space Council and to rec- ommend a course of action. It is likely that one of the explicit programs that Kennedy asked Johnson to con- sider was a lunar landing program, for the next day, 20 April 1961, he followed up with a memorandum to Johnson raising fundamental questions about the proj- ect. In particular, Kennedy asked Do we have a chance of beating the Soviets by putting a laboratory in space, or by a trip around the moon, or by a rocket to go to the moon and back with a man? Is there any other space program that promises dramatic results in which we could win?

https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/sp-4503-apollo.pdf

They needed a win so they pivoted to the space program. Kennedy didn’t approve that program “because it is hard” and he was a great man. He approved it because he was desperate for anything to show some kind of leadership and superiority over the soviets and communism and the space program seemed to have the only thing left.

Don’t get me wrong I think JFK was a great president but people shouldn’t make him out for something he’s not.