James Webb, born October 7th, 1906, came from a background in public service and government work and became the Administrator of NASA in 1961 after being hand picked by President John F. Kennedy. He was the advocate for NASA within the government, securing connections and resources to complete the project on time. He ran the program so that it would be balanced and allow for longevity in science rather than just focusing solely on one mission.
Webb oversaw most of the Mercury and Gemini launches during the program and was responsible for heading the investigation into the tragic Apollo 1 spacecraft fire in 1967. He kept NASA from being completely smeared in the wake of the accident. He retired from NASA in 1968, just before the first manned flight in the Apollo missions. In 1969, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He also received the Langley Gold Medal in 1976 from the Smithsonian, where he served on the board. NASA's Next Generation Space Telescope was renamed the James Webb Space Telescope as a tribute to Webb in 2002.