Read the passage.
excerpt from "rice stadium moon speech" by president john f. kennedy, september 12, 1962
. . [m]an, 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.
those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolutions, the first waves of modern invention, and the first wave of nuclear power, and this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space. we mean to be a part of it—we mean to lead it. for the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. we have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding.
yet the vows of this nation can only be fulfilled if we in this nation are first, and, therefore, we intend to be first. in short, our leadership in science and in industry, our hopes for peace and security, our obligations to ourselves as well as others, all require us to make this effort, to solve these mysteries, to solve them for the good of all men, and to become the world's leading space-faring nation.
which statement most effectively evaluates the validity of the evidence kennedy uses to support his argument?
invalid, because kennedy's statement, "this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolutions, the first waves of modern invention, and the first wave of nuclear power," is exaggerated.
valid, because history shows that becoming the first nation to land on the moon was successfully accomplished.
invalid, because although he provides stirring rhetoric, kennedy does not prove logically that the united states, rather than other nations, must be "first" in space exploration.
valid, because kennedy urges the nation to fulfill a "vow," and vows must be carried out.