So you would prefer JFK to have said: "We choose to send robots to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, because they are easy and cheaper and faster..."

It's worth reading the whole speech: https://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm

It ends with:

"Well, space is there, and we're going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God's blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked."

There will as many robots as you want in space, but man will be out there right along with them, no matter how difficult or dangerous or expensive it is.