THE EPIC FLIGHT of Apollo Nine will be recorded in history as ten days that thrilled the world. You have by your courage and your skill helped to shape the future of man in space. The three of you and the great team which enabled you to complete your successful mission have shown the world that the spirit of man and his technological genius are eager to begin an age of adventure, an age which will benefit all the people on this good earth. Knowing that the dining in Apollo Nine, while nourishing, lacked some of the amenities of earth-bound dining, Mrs. Nixon and I invite you and your wives to have dinner with us at the White House at 8:00 Thursday evening, the twenty-seventh of March.
RICHARD NIXON
Richard Nixon, Telegram to the Crew of Apollo 9 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/239591