The trip to the moon was JUST short enough that it could be done conventionally, meaning a brute force rocket launch from Earth and heading out using good ole chemical fuels. This meant that it was JUST possible/thinkable to circle up the wagons, get the 1960s-style stuff together, and engage in a space race that could capture the imagination of the voters and therefore the fundage necessary to pull it off. Even so, Apollo required the unusual stratagem of lunar-orbit rendezvous (i.e. LEM and CM) to make it work and squeek in there during the proscribed time period.

You just CAN'T cover planetary distances/times using the brute force/expedient methods. This was why Von Braun and other scientists initially favored NO moon mission at all. They figured it was more important to build a permanent Earth orbit space station -- which would later allow the orbital construction of a large planetary voyager by launching up parts shipments piecemeal.

In fact, one could argue it would have been even more efficient to build that space station in LUNAR orbit -- seeing as how the energy requirements for orbital escape there are less. This is in fact how the current NASA plan expects to reach Mars.

The Orion space vehicle now in testing will indeed be used to reach Mars, but only by attaching it to a large "habitat" module which can sustain the crew for the long journey. Orion does look a bit like Apollo -- because that vehicle is designed to fulfill the same objectives as the Apollo CM, which is to make the initial launch from Earth's surface and later to re-enter. Only the deep-space habitat module (which will be final assembled in lunar orbit) makes the overall mission work.

Now, we could have listened to Von Braun and others, took the technically efficient route, built up our "space power" in stages/steps, and reached Mars by now. And we'd have maybe a lunar orbital base AND an Earth orbital base to show for it as well. But there would have been no space race with the Russians -- we would have lost it!

There's no way the public and politicians would have tolerated that. NASA wouldn't have gotten a dime if they would have advocated this patient/intelligent/long-term approach.