President Nixon’s daughter Tricia Nixon Cox and her family visited with House Speaker John Boehner, and the four astronauts who pioneered space travel Wednesday.
After the meeting in the Speaker’s office, former U.S. Senator John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, and Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, the first men to travel to the Moon, received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award given by United States Congress.
At the medal ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, Speak Boehner spoke about the achievements and humility of these men who explored the new frontier.
“The world looks to America because we are free – it is our values to which people aspire,” said Speaker Boehner. “Though an often unsung virtue, humility figured prominently in the pinnacle of human achievement.”
Watch Speaker John Boehner’s remarks below:
Photo: Tricia Nixon Cox (center) with (left to right) son Christopher Nixon Cox, husband Edward F. Cox, Representative Ralph Hall, Speaker John Boehner, U.S. Senator John Glenn, the first man to orbit the Earth; and Apollo XI crew men Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin before the four astronauts received the Congressional Gold Medal in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda last Wednesday. On July 20, 1969, President Nixon made the longest long distance call to Armstrong as he made his first steps on the Moon. The phone used by the 37th President is on exhibit at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, Ca.