JOHN
GLENN USMC WW2 KOREAN WAR FIGHTER PILOT MARINE ASTRONAUT SENATOR STS-95
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Additional Information from
Internet Encyclopedia
John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July
18, 1921 December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, engineer,
astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space, and
the first American to orbit the Earth, circling it three times in 1962.
Following his retirement from NASA, he served from 1974 to 1999 as a U.S.
Senator from Ohio; in 1998, he flew into space again at the age of 77.
Before joining NASA, Glenn was a
distinguished fighter pilot in World War II, the Chinese Civil War and the
Korean War. He shot down three MiG-15s, and was awarded six Distinguished
Flying Crosses and eighteen Air Medals. In 1957, he made the first supersonic
transcontinental flight across the United States. His on-board camera took the
first continuous, panoramic photograph of the United States.
He was one of the Mercury Seven,
military test pilots selected in 1959 by NASA as the nation's first astronauts.
On February 20, 1962, Glenn flew the Friendship 7 mission, becoming the first
American to orbit the Earth, the third American and fifth person in history to
be in space. He received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 1962, the
Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978, was inducted into the U.S.
Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1990, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom
in 2012.
Glenn resigned from NASA in
January 1964. A member of the Democratic Party, Glenn was first elected to the
Senate in 1974 and served for 24 years, until January 1999. In 1998, at age 77,
Glenn flew on Space Shuttle Discovery's STS-95 mission, making him the oldest
person to enter Earth orbit, the only person to fly in both the Mercury and the
Space Shuttle programs, and the first Member of Congress to visit space since
Congressman Bill Nelson (D-FL) in 1986. Glenn, both the oldest and the last
surviving member of the Mercury Seven, died at the age of 95 on December 8,
2016.
Early life and education
John Herschel Glenn Jr. was born
on July 18, 1921 in Cambridge, Ohio, the son of John Herschel Glenn Sr.
(18951966), who worked for a plumbing firm, and Clara Teresa Glenn (née
Sproat; 18971971), a teacher.[8][9][10] His parents had married shortly before
John Sr., a member of the American Expeditionary Force, left for the Western
Front during World War I. The family moved to New Concord, Ohio soon after his
birth, and his father started his own business, the Glenn Plumbing Company.
Glenn Jr. was only a toddler when he met Anna Margaret (Annie) Castor, whom he
would later marry. The two would not be able to recall a time when they did not
know each other. He first flew in an
airplane with his father when he was eight years old. He became fascinated by
flight, and built model airplanes from balsa wood kits. Along with his adopted
sister Jean, he attended New Concord Elementary School. He washed cars and sold
rhubarb to earn money to buy a bicycle, after which he took a job delivering
The Columbus Dispatch newspaper. He was a member of the Ohio Rangers, an
organization similar to the Cub Scouts. His boyhood home in New Concord has
been restored as a historic house museum and education center.
Glenn attended New Concord High
School, where he played on the varsity football team as a center and
linebacker. He also made the varsity basketball and tennis teams, and was
involved with Hi-Y, a junior branch of the YMCA. After graduating in 1939,
Glenn entered Muskingum College (now Muskingum University), where he studied
chemistry, joined the Stag Club fraternity, and played on the football team. Annie
majored in music with minors in secretarial studies and physical education and
competed on the swimming and volleyball teams, graduating in 1942. Glenn earned
a private pilot license and a physics course credit for free through the
Civilian Pilot Training Program in 1941. He did not complete his senior year in
residence or take a proficiency exam, both required by the school for its
Bachelor of Science degree.
Military career
World War II
When the United States entered
World War II, Glenn quit college to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He was
not called to duty by the Army, and enlisted as a U.S. Navy aviation cadet in
March 1942. Glenn attended the University of Iowa in Iowa City for pre-flight
training and made his first solo flight in a military aircraft at Naval Air
Station Olathe in Kansas, where he went for primary training. During advanced
training at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas, he accepted an offer to
transfer to the U.S. Marine Corps. Having completed his flight training in
March 1943, Glenn was commissioned as a second lieutenant. Glenn married Annie
in a Presbyterian ceremony at College Drive Church in New Concord, Ohio, on
April 6, 1943. After advanced training at Camp Kearny, California, he was
assigned to Marine Squadron VMJ-353, which flew R4D transport planes from
there.
The fighter squadron VMO-155 was
also at Camp Kearny flying the Grumman F4F Wildcat. Glenn approached the
squadron's commander, Major J. P. Haines, who suggested that he could put in
for a transfer. This was approved, and Glenn was posted to VMO-155 on July 2,
1943, two days before the squadron moved to Marine Corps Air Station El Centro
in California. The Wildcat was obsolete by this time, and VMO-155 re-equipped
with the F4U Corsair in September 1943. He was promoted to first lieutenant in
October 1943, and shipped out to Hawaii in January 1944. VMO-155 became part of
the garrison on Midway Atoll on February 21,[31] then moved to the Marshall
Islands in June 1944 and flew 57 combat missions in the area.[28][32] He
received two Distinguished Flying Crosses and ten Air Medals.
At the end of his one-year tour
of duty in February 1945, Glenn was assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry
Point in North Carolina, then to Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.
He was promoted to captain in July 1945 and ordered back to Cherry Point.
There, he joined VMF-913, another Corsair squadron, and learned that he had
qualified for a regular commission. In March 1946, he was assigned to Marine
Corps Air Station El Toro in southern California. He volunteered for service
with the occupation in North China, believing it would be a short tour. He
joined VMF-218 (another Corsair squadron), which was based at Nanyuan Field
near Beijing, in December 1946, and flew patrol missions until VMF-218 was
transferred to Guam in March 1947.
In December 1948, Glenn was
re-posted to NAS Corpus Christi as a student at the Naval School of All-Weather
Flight before becoming a flight instructor.[28] In July 1951, he traveled to
the Amphibious Warfare School at Marine Corps Base Quantico in northern
Virginia for a six-month course.[38] He then joined the staff of the commandant
of the Marine Corps Schools. He maintained his proficiency (and flight pay) by
flying on weekends and was only allowed four hours of flying time per
month.[39] He was promoted to major in July 1952. Glenn received the World War
II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with
one star), Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp), and the China
Service Medal for his efforts.
Korean War
Glenn moved his family back to
New Concord during a short period of leave, and after two and a half months of
jet training at Cherry Point, was ordered to South Korea in October 1952, late
in the Korean War.[42] Before he set out for Korea in February 1953, he applied
to fly the F-86 Sabre jet fighter-interceptor through an inter-service exchange
position with the U.S. Air Force (USAF). In preparation, he arranged with
Colonel Leon W. Gray to check out the F-86 at Otis Air Force Base in
Massachusetts.[43] Glenn reported to K-3, an airbase in South Korea, on
February 3, 1953, and was assigned to be the operations officer for VMF-311,
one of two Marine fighter squadrons there while he waited for the exchange
assignment to go through.[44] VMF-311 was equipped with the F9F Panther jet
fighter-bomber. Glenn's first mission was a reconnaissance flight on February
26. He flew 63 combat missions in Korea with VMF-311,[46] and was nicknamed
"Magnet Ass" because of the number of flak hits he took on low-level
close air support missions; twice, he returned to base with over 250 holes in
his plane. He flew for a time with Marine reservist Ted Williams (a future Hall
of Fame baseball player with the Boston Red Sox) as his wingman. Williams later
said about Glenn "Absolutely fearless. The best I ever saw. It was an
honor to fly with him." Glenn also flew with future major general Ralph H.
Spanjer.
In June 1953, Glenn reported for
duty with the USAF's 25th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, and flew 27 combat
missions in the F-86, a much faster aircraft than the F9F Panther, patrolling
MiG Alley. Combat with a MiG-15, which was faster and better armed still, was
regarded as a rite of passage for a fighter pilot. On the Air Force buses that
ferried the pilots out to the airfields before dawn, pilots who had engaged a
MiG could sit while those who had not had to stand.[54] Glenn later wrote,
"Since the days of the Lafayette Escadrille during World War I, pilots
have viewed air-to-air combat as the ultimate test not only of their machines
but of their own personal determination and flying skills. I was no
exception."[55] He hoped to become the second Marine jet flying ace after
John F. Bolt. Glenn's USAF squadron mates painted "MiG Mad Marine" on
his aircraft when he complained about there not being any MIGs to shoot at.[56]
He shot down his first MiG in a dogfight on July 12, 1953, downed a second one
on July 19, and a third on July 22 when four Sabres shot down three MiGs. These
were the final air victories of the war, which ended with an armistice five
days later. For his service in Korea, Glenn received two more Distinguished
Flying Crosses and eight more Air Medals. Glenn also received the Korean
Service Medal (with two campaign stars), United Nations Korea Medal, Marine
Corps Expeditionary Medal, National Defense Service Medal (with one star), and
the Korean War Service Medal.
Test pilot
With combat experience as a
fighter pilot, Glenn applied for training as a test pilot while still in Korea.
He reported to the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at NAS Patuxent River in
Maryland in January 1954, and graduated in July. At Patuxent River, future
Medal of Honor recipient James Stockdale tutored him in physics and math.
Glenn's first flight test assignment, testing the FJ-3 Fury, nearly killed him
when its cockpit depressurized and its oxygen system failed.[64] He also tested
the armament of aircraft such as the Vought F7U Cutlass and F8U Crusader.[65]
From November 1956 to April 1959, he was assigned to the Fighter Design Branch
of the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics in Washington, D.C., and attended the
University of Maryland.
On July 16, 1957, he made the
first supersonic transcontinental flight. Disliking his Bureau of Aeronautics
desk job, he devised the flight as both a way to keep flying and publicly
demonstrate the F8U Crusader. At that time, the transcontinental speed record,
held by an Air Force Republic F-84 Thunderjet, was 3 hours 45 minutes and Glenn
calculated that the F8U Crusader could do it faster. Because its
586-mile-per-hour (943 km/h) air speed was faster than that of a .45 caliber
bullet, Glenn called the flight Project Bullet.[69] He flew an F8U Crusader
2,445 miles (3,935 km) from Los Alamitos, California to Floyd Bennett Field in
New York City in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8.3 seconds,[66] averaging supersonic
speed despite three in-flight refuelings when speeds dropped below 300 miles
per hour (480 km/h). His on-board camera took the first continuous,
transcontinental panoramic photograph of the United States.[70][71] He received
his fifth Distinguished Flying Cross for this mission,[72] and was promoted to
lieutenant colonel on April 1, 1959.[73] The cross-country flight made Glenn a
minor celebrity. A profile appeared in The New York Times and he appeared on
the television show Name That Tune.[70] Glenn now had nearly 9,000 hours of
flying time, including about 3,000 hours in jets, but knew that at the age of
36, he was now likely too old to continue to fly.
NASA career
On October 4, 1957, the Soviet
Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite. This damaged American
confidence in its technological superiority, creating a wave of anxiety known
as the Sputnik crisis. In response, President Dwight D. Eisenhower launched the
Space Race. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was
established on October 1, 1958, as a civilian agency to develop space
technology. One of its first initiatives was announced on December 17, 1958.
This was Project Mercury, which aimed to launch a man into Earth orbit, return
him safely to the Earth, and evaluate his capabilities in space.
His Bureau of Aeronautics job
gave Glenn access to new spaceflight news, such as the X-15 rocket plane.[68]
While on duty at Patuxent and in Washington, Glenn read everything he could
find about space. His office was asked to send a test pilot to Langley Air
Force Base in Virginia to make runs on a spaceflight simulator, as part of
research by the newly formed NASA into re-entry vehicle shapes. The pilot would
also be sent to the Naval Air Development Center in Johnsville, Pennsylvania,
and would be subjected to high G-forces in a centrifuge for comparison with
data collected in the simulator. His request for the position was granted, and
he spent several days at Langley and a week in Johnsville for the testing. As
one of the very few pilots to have done such testing, Glenn had become an
expert on the subject. NASA asked military-service members to participate in
planning the mockup of a spacecraft. Having participated in the research at
Langley and Johnsville, he was sent to the McDonnell plant in St. Louis as a
service adviser to NASA's spacecraft mockup board. Envisioning himself in the
vehicle, Glenn stated that the passenger would have to be able to control the
spacecraft. McDonnell engineers told him of the importance of lightening the
vehicle as much as possible, so Glenn began exercising to lose the 30 pounds he
estimated that he was overweight.
Eisenhower directed NASA to
recruit its first astronauts from military test pilots. Of 508 graduates of
test pilot schools, 110 matched the minimum standards. Marine Corps pilots were
mistakenly omitted at first; two were quickly found, including Glenn.[68] The
candidates had to be younger than 40, possess a bachelor's degree or
equivalent, and be 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) or less. Only the height
requirement was strictly enforced, owing to the size of the Project Mercury
spacecraft.[78] This was fortunate for Glenn, who barely met the requirements,
as he was near the age cutoff and lacked a science-based degree,[66] but had
taken more classes since leaving college than needed for graduation. Glenn was
otherwise so outstanding a candidate that Colonel Jake Dill, his commanding
officer at test pilot school, visited NASA headquarters to insist that Glenn
would be the perfect astronaut.
The astronauts pose in
alphabetical order in front of a delta-winged white jet aircraft. They are
holding their flight helmets under their arms. The three Navy aviators wear
orange flight suits; the Air Force and Marine ones wear green.
For an interview with Charles
Donlan, associate director of Project Mercury, Glenn brought the results from
the centrifuge to show that he had done well on a test that perhaps no other
candidate had taken. Donlan also noticed that Glenn stayed late at night to
study schematics of the Mercury spacecraft.[68] He was among the 32 of the
first 69 candidates that passed the first step of the evaluation and were
interested in continuing, sufficient for the astronaut corps NASA wanted.[79]
On February 27 a grueling series of physical and psychological tests began at
the Lovelace Clinic and the Wright Aerospace Medical Laboratory.
Because of his Bureau of
Aeronautics job, Glenn was already participating in Project Mercury; while
other candidates were at Wright, on March 17 he and most of those who would
choose the astronauts visited the McDonnell plant building the spacecraft to inspect
its progress and make changes. While Glenn had not scored the highest on all
the tests, a member of the selection committee recalled how he had impressed
everyone with "strength of personality and his dedication". On April
6 Donlan called Glenn to offer him a position at Project Mercury,[68][76] one
of seven candidates chosen as astronauts. Glenn was pleased while Annie was
supportive, but wary of the danger; during his three years at Patuxent, 12 test
pilots had died.
The identities of the seven were
announced at a press conference at Dolley Madison House in Washington, D.C., on
April 9, 1959: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally
Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton. In The Right Stuff, Tom Wolfe wrote
that Glenn "came out of it as tops among seven very fair-haired boys. He
had the hottest record as a pilot, he was the most quotable, the most
photogenic, and the lone Marine."[84] The magnitude of the challenge ahead
of them was made clear a few weeks later, on the night of May 18, 1959, when
the seven astronauts gathered at Cape Canaveral to watch their first rocket
launch, of an SM-65D Atlas, which was similar to the one that was to carry them
into orbit. A few minutes after liftoff, it exploded spectacularly, lighting up
the night sky. The astronauts were stunned. Shepard turned to Glenn and said:
"Well, I'm glad they got that out of the way."
Glenn remained an officer in the
Marine Corps after his selection, and was assigned to the NASA Space Task Group
at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The task force moved to
Houston, Texas, in 1962, and became part of the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center.
A portion of the astronauts' training was in the classroom, where they learned
space science. The group also received hands-on training, which included scuba
diving and work in simulators.[76] Astronauts secured an additional role in the
spaceflight program: to provide pilot input in design. The astronauts divided
the various tasks between them. Glenn's specialization was cockpit layout
design and control functioning for the Mercury and early Apollo programs. He
pressed the other astronauts to set a moral example, living up to the
squeaky-clean image of them that had been portrayed by Life magazine, a
position that was not popular with the other astronauts.
Friendship 7 flight
Glenn was the backup pilot for
Shepard and Grissom on the first two crewed Project Mercury flights, the
sub-orbital missions Mercury-Redstone 3 and Mercury-Redstone 4.[66] Glenn was
selected for Mercury-Atlas 6, NASA's first crewed orbital flight, with Carpenter
as his backup. Putting a man in orbit would achieve one of Project Mercury's
most important goals. Shepard and Grissom had named their spacecraft Freedom 7
and Liberty Bell 7. The numeral 7 had originally been the production number of
Shepard's spacecraft, but had come to represent the Mercury 7. Glenn named his
spacecraft, number 13, Friendship 7, and had the name hand-painted on the side
like the one on his F-86 had been.[89] Glenn and Carpenter completed their
training for the mission in January 1962, but postponement of the launch
allowed them to continue rehearsing. Glenn spent 25 hours and 25 minutes in the
spacecraft performing hangar and altitude tests, and 59 hours and 45 minutes in
the simulator. He flew 70 simulated missions and reacted to 189 simulated
system failures.
After a long series of delays,
Friendship 7 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on February 20,
1962. During the countdown, there were eleven delays due to equipment
malfunctions and improvements and the weather. During Glenn's first orbit, a
failure of the automatic-control system was detected. This forced Glenn to
operate in manual mode for the second and third orbits, and for re-entry. Later
in the flight, telemetry indicated that the heat shield had loosened. If this
reading had been accurate, Glenn and his spacecraft would have burned up on
re-entry. After a lengthy discussion on how to deal with this problem, ground
controllers decided that leaving the retrorocket pack in place might help keep
the loose heat shield in place. They relayed these instructions to Glenn, but
did not tell him the heat shield was possibly loose; although confused at this
order, he complied. The retrorocket pack broke up into large chunks of flaming
debris that flew past the window of his capsule during re-entry; Glenn thought
this might have been the heat shield. He told an interviewer, "Fortunately
it was the rocket packor I wouldn't be answering these questions."[92]
After the flight, it was determined that the heat shield was not loose; the
sensor was faulty.
Friendship 7 safely splashed
down 800 miles (1,290 km) southeast of Cape Canaveral after Glenn's 4-hour,
55-minute flight. He carried a note on the flight which read, "I am a
stranger. I come in peace. Take me to your leader and there will be a massive
reward for you in eternity" in several languages, in case he landed near
southern Pacific Ocean islands.[94] The original procedure called for Glenn to
exit through the top hatch, but he was uncomfortably warm and decided that
egress through the side hatch would be faster.[76][94] During the flight, he
endured up to 7.8 g of acceleration and traveled 75,679 miles (121,794 km) at
about 17,500 miles per hour (28,200 km/h).[76] The flight took Glenn to a
maximum altitude (apogee) of about 162 miles (261 km) and a minimum altitude of
100 miles (160 km) (perigee). Unlike the crewed missions of Soviet Union's
Vostok programme, Glenn remained within the spacecraft during landing.[95][96]
The flight made Glenn the first American to orbit the Earth,[97] the third
American in space, and the fifth human in space.[98][c] The mission, which
Glenn called the "best day of his life", renewed U.S.
confidence.[104] His flight occurred while the U.S. and the Soviet Union were
embroiled in the Cold War and competing in the Space Race.
As the first American in orbit,
Glenn became a national hero, met President John F. Kennedy, and received a
ticker-tape parade in New York reminiscent of those honoring Charles Lindbergh
and other heroes. He became "so valuable to the nation as an iconic
figure", according to NASA administrator Charles Bolden, that Kennedy
would not "risk putting him back in space again."[106] Glenn's fame
and political potential were noted by the Kennedys, and he became a friend of
the Kennedy family. On February 23, 1962, President Kennedy gave him the NASA
Distinguished Service Medal for his Friendship 7 flight.[93][107] Upon
receiving the award, Glenn said, "I would like to consider I was a
figurehead for this whole big, tremendous effort, and I am very proud of the
medal I have on my lapel."[108] Glenn also received his sixth
Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts.[109] He was among the first group
of astronauts to be awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. The award
was presented to him by President Jimmy Carter in 1978. After his 1962
spaceflight, NASA proposed giving Glenn the Medal of Honor, but Glenn did not
think that would be appropriate. His military and space awards were stolen from
his home in 1978, and he remarked that he would keep this medal in a safe.
Comments about women in space
In 1962, NASA contemplated
recruiting women to the astronaut corps via the Mercury 13, but Glenn gave a
speech before the House Space Committee detailing his opposition to sending
women into space, in which he said:
I think this gets back to the
way our social order is organized, really. It is just a fact. The men go off
and fight the wars and fly the airplanes and come back and help design and
build and test them. The fact that women are not in this field is a fact of our
social order.
In May 1965, after he left NASA,
Glenn was quoted in the Miami Herald as saying NASA "offer a serious
chance for space women" as scientist astronauts.
NASA had no official policy
prohibiting women, but the requirement that astronauts had to be test pilots
effectively excluded them. NASA dropped this requirement in 1965, but did not
select any women as astronauts until 1978, when six women were selected, none
as pilots. In June 1963, the Soviet Union launched a female cosmonaut,
Valentina Tereshkova, into orbit. After Tereshkova, no women of any nationality
flew in space again until August 1982, when the Soviet Union launched
pilot-cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya.[116] During the late 1970s, Glenn
reportedly supported Space Shuttle Mission Specialist Judith Resnik in her
career.
Political campaigning
1964 Senate campaign
At 42, Glenn was the oldest
member of the astronaut corps and would likely be close to 50 by the time the
lunar landings took place. During Glenn's training, NASA psychologists
determined that he was the astronaut best suited for public life. Attorney
General Robert F. Kennedy suggested to Glenn and his wife in December 1962 that
he run for the 1964 United States Senate election in Ohio, challenging aging
incumbent Stephen M. Young (18891984) in the Democratic primary election. As
it seemed unlikely that he would be selected for Project Apollo missions,[76]
he resigned from NASA on January 16, 1964, and announced his Democratic Party
candidacy for the U.S. Senate from his home state of Ohio the following day,
becoming the first astronaut-politician.[120] Glenn was still a Marine, and had
plenty of unused leave time. He elected to use it while he waited for his
retirement papers to go through.
To avoid partisanship, NASA
quickly closed Glenn's agency office. The New York Times reported that while
many Ohioans were skeptical of Glenn's qualifications for the Senate, he could
defeat Young in the Democratic primary; whether he could defeat Representative
Robert Taft Jr., the likely Republican candidate, in the general election was
much less clear. In late February he was hospitalized for a concussion
sustained in a fall against a bathtub while attempting to fix a mirror in a
hotel room;[3] an inner-ear injury from the accident left him unable to
campaign. Both his wife and Scott Carpenter campaigned on his behalf during
February and March, but doctors gave Glenn a recovery time of one year. Glenn
did not want to win solely because of his astronaut fame, so he dropped out of
the race on March 30.
In 1973, he and a friend bought
a Holiday Inn near Disney World. The success of Disney World expanded to their
business, and the pair built three more hotels. One of Glenn's business
partners was Henri Landwirth, a Holocaust survivor who became his best friend.
He remembered learning about Landwirth's background: "Henri doesn't talk
about it much. It was years before he spoke about it with me and then only
because of an accident. We were down in Florida during the space program.
Everyone was wearing short-sleeved Ban-Lon shirtseveryone but Henri. Then one
day I saw Henri at the pool and noticed the number on his arm. I told Henri
that if it were me I'd wear that number like a medal with a spotlight on
it."
1970 Senate campaign
Glenn remained close to the
Kennedy family and campaigned for Robert F. Kennedy during his 1968
presidential campaign. In 1968, Glenn was in Kennedy's hotel suite when Kennedy
heard he had won California. Glenn was supposed to go with him to celebrate,
but decided not to as there would be many people there. Kennedy went downstairs
to make his victory speech and was assassinated. Glenn and Annie went with
Kennedy to the hospital, and the next morning took Kennedy's children home to
Virginia. Glenn was later a pallbearer at the funeral in New York.
Metzenbaum lost the general
election to Robert Taft Jr.Glenn remained active in the political scene
following his defeat. Governor John J. Gilligan appointed Glenn to be the
chairman of the Citizens Task Force on Environmental Protection in 1970. The
task force was created to survey environmental problems in the state and
released a report in 1971 detailing the issues. The meetings and the final
report of the task force were major contributors to the formation of Ohio's
Environmental Protection Agency.
1974 Senate campaign
In 1973, President Nixon ordered
Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Watergate special prosecutor
Archibald Cox. Richardson refused and resigned in protest, triggering the
Saturday Night massacre. Ohio Senator William Saxbe, elected in 1968, was appointed
attorney general. Both Glenn and Metzenbaum sought the vacated seat, which was
to be filled by Governor John Gilligan. Gilligan was planning on a presidential
or vice-presidential run in the near future, and offered Glenn the lieutenant
governor position, with the thought that Glenn would ascend to governor when
Gilligan was elected to a higher position. The Ohio Democratic party backed
this solution to avoid what was expected to be a divisive primary battle
between Metzenbaum and Glenn. He declined, denouncing their attempts as
"bossism" and "blackmail".[3] Glenn's counteroffer
suggested that Gilligan fill the position with someone other than Metzenbaum or
Glenn so neither would have an advantage going into the 1974 election. Metzenbaum's
campaign agreed to back Gilligan in his governor re-election campaign, and
Metzenbaum was subsequently appointed in January 1974 to the vacated seat.[3]
At the end of Saxbe's term, Glenn challenged Metzenbaum in the primary for the
Ohio Senate seat.
Glenn's campaign changed their
strategy after the 1970 election. In 1970, Glenn won most of the counties in
Ohio, but lost in those with larger populations. The campaign changed its
focus, and worked primarily in the large counties. In the primary, Metzenbaum
contrasted his strong business background with Glenn's military and astronaut
credentials and said that his opponent had "never held a payroll".
Glenn's reply became known as the "Gold Star Mothers" speech. He told
Metzenbaum to go to a veterans' hospital and "look those men with mangled
bodies in the eyes and tell them they didn't hold a job. You go with me to any
Gold Star mother and you look her in the eye and tell her that her son did not
hold a job". He defeated Metzenbaum 54 to 46 percent before defeating
Ralph Perk (the Republican mayor of Cleveland) in the general election,
beginning a Senate career which would continue until 1999.
1980 Senate campaign
In his first reelection
campaign, Glenn ran opposed in the primary for the 1980 Senate election. His
opponents, engineer Francis Hunstiger and ex-teacher Frances Waterman, were not
well-known and poorly funded. His opponents spent only a few thousand dollars
on the campaign, while Glenn spent $700,000. Reporters noted that for a race he
was likely to win, Glenn was spending a lot of time and money on the campaign.
His chief strategist responded to the remarks saying, "It's the way he
does things. He takes nothing for granted." Glenn won the primary by a
landslide, with 934,230 of the 1.09 million votes.
Jim Betts, who ran unopposed in
the Republican primary, challenged Glenn for his seat. Betts publicly stated
that Glenn's policies were part of the reason for inflation increases and a
lower standard of living.[152] Betts' campaign also attacked Glenn's voting
record, saying that he often voted for spending increases. Glenn's campaign's
response was that he has been a part of over 3,000 roll calls and "any one
of them could be taken out of context". Glenn was projected to win the
race easily, and won by the largest margin ever for an Ohio Senator, defeating
Betts by over 40 percent.
1984 presidential campaign
Glenn announced his candidacy
for president on April 21, 1983, in the John Glenn High School gymnasium. He
started out the campaign out-raising the front-runner, Mondale. He also polled
the highest of any Democrat against Reagan. During the fall of 1983, The Right
Stuff, a film about the Mercury Seven astronauts, was released. Reviewers saw
Ed Harris' portrayal of Glenn as heroic and his staff began to publicize the
film to the press. One reviewer said that "Harris' depiction helped
transform Glenn from a history-book figure into a likable, thoroughly
adoration-worthy Hollywood hero," turning him into a big-screen icon.
Others considered the movie to be damaging to Glenn's campaign, serving as only
a reminder that Glenn's most significant achievement had occurred decades
earlier. Glenn's autobiography said the film "had a chilling effect on the
campaign."
Glenn's campaign decided to
forgo the traditional campaigning in early caucuses and primaries, and focus on
building campaign offices across the country. He opened offices in 43 states by
January 1984. Glenn's campaign spent a significant amount of money on
television advertising in Iowa, and Glenn chose not to attend an Iowan debate
on farm issues. He finished fifth in the Iowa caucus, and went on to lose New
Hampshire. Glenn's campaign continued into Super Tuesday, and he lost there as
well. He announced his withdrawal from the race on March 16, 1984.[164] After
Mondale defeated him for the nomination, Glenn carried $3 million in campaign
debt for over 20 years before receiving a reprieve from the Federal Election
Commission.
1986 Senate campaign
Glenn's Senate seat was
challenged by Thomas Kindness. Kindness was unopposed in his primary, while
Glenn faced Lyndon LaRouche supporter Don Scott. LaRouche supporters had been
recently elected in Illinois, but the Ohio Democratic Party chairman did not
think it was likely they would see the same success in Ohio. LaRouche was known
for his fringe theories, such as the queen of England being a drug dealer.
Kindness spoke to his supporters and warned them against LaRouche candidates.
He issued a statement telling voters to reject LaRouche candidates in both
Republican and Democratic primaries. Glenn won the primary contest with 88% of
the vote.
1992 Senate campaign
In 1992, Republican Mike DeWine
won the Republican primary and challenged Glenn in the Senate election. Glenn
ran unopposed in the primary.[174] DeWine's campaign focused on the need for
change and for term limits for senators. This would be Glenn's fourth term as
senator. DeWine also criticized Glenn's
campaign debts, using a bunny dressed as an astronaut beating a drum, with an
announcer saying, "He just keeps owing and owing and owing", a play
on the Energizer Bunny.[176] During a debate, Glenn asked DeWine to stop his
negative campaign ads, saying "This has been the most negative
campaign". DeWine responded that he would if Glenn would disclose how he
spent the money he received from Charles Keating, fallout from Glenn being
named one of the Keating Five.[177] Glenn won the Senate seat, with 2.4 million
votes to DeWine's 2 million votes.[173][178] It was DeWine's first-ever
campaign loss. DeWine later worked on the intelligence committee with Glenn and
watched his second launch into space.
Senate career
Glenn requested to be assigned
to two committees during his first year as senator: the Government Operations
Committee (later known as the Committee on Governmental Affairs), and the
Foreign Relations Committee. He was immediately assigned to the Government
Operations Committee, and waited for a seat on the Foreign Relations
Committee.[180] In 1977, Glenn wanted to chair the Energy, Nuclear
Proliferation, and Federal Services Subcommittee of the Governmental Affairs
Committee. Abraham Ribicoff, chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee, said
he could chair the subcommittee if he also chaired the less popular Federal
Services Subcommittee, which was in charge of the U.S. Postal Service. Previous
chairs of the Federal Services Subcommittee had lost elections in part because
negative campaigns associated the poorly regarded mail service to the chairmen,
but Glenn accepted the offer and became the chair of both subcommittees.[181]
One of his goals as a new senator was developing environmental policies.[182]
Glenn introduced bills on energy policy to try to counter the energy crisis in
the 70s. Glenn also introduced legislation promoting nuclear non-proliferation,
and was the chief author of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978,[183] the
first of six major pieces of legislation that he produced on the subject.
Glenn chaired the Committee on
Governmental Affairs from 1987 to 1995. It was in this role that he discovered
safety and environmental problems with the nation's nuclear weapons facilities.
Glenn was made aware of the problem at the Fernald Feed Materials Production
Center near Cincinnati, and soon found that it affected sites across the
nation. Glenn requested investigations from the General Accounting Office of
Congress and held several hearings on the issue. He also released a report on
the potential costs of hazardous waste cleanup at former nuclear weapons
manufacturing facilities, known as the Glenn Report. He spent the remainder of
his Senate career acquiring funding to clean up the nuclear waste left at the
facilities.
Glenn also focused on reducing
government waste. He created legislation to mandate CFOs for large governmental
agencies. Glenn wrote a bill to add the office of the inspector general to
federal agencies, to help find waste and fraud. He also created legislation
intended to prevent the federal government from imposing regulations on local
governments without funding. Glenn founded the Great Lakes Task Force, which
helped protect the environment of the Great Lakes.
In 1995 Glenn became the ranking
minority member of the Committee on Governmental Affairs. Glenn disputed the
focus on illegal Chinese donations to the Democrats, and asserted that
Republicans also had egregious fundraising issues. The committee chair, Fred
Thompson of Tennessee, disagreed and continued the investigation.[190][191]
Thompson and Glenn continued to work together poorly for the duration of the
investigation. Thompson would give Glenn only information he was legally
required to. Glenn would not authorize a larger budget and tried to expand the
scope of the investigation to include members of the GOP.[192][193] The
investigation concluded with a Republican-written report, which Thompson
described as, "... a lot of things strung together that paint a real ugly
picture." The Democrats, led by Glenn, said the report "... does not
support the conclusion that the China plan was aimed at, or affected, the 1996
presidential election."
Glenn was the vice chairman of
the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, a subcommittee of the Committee
on Governmental Affairs. When the Republican Party regained control of the
Senate in 1996, Glenn became the ranking minority member on the Permanent
Subcommittee on Investigations until he was succeeded by Carl Levin. During
this time, the committee investigated issue such as fraud on the Internet,
mortgage fraud, and day trading of securities.
Glenn in the U.S. Senate
Glenn's father spent his
retirement money battling cancer, and would have lost his house if Glenn had
not intervened. His father-in-law also had expensive treatments for Parkinson's
disease. These health and financial issues motivated him to request a seat on
the Special Committee on Aging.
Glenn was considered an expert
in matters of science and technology. He was a supporter of continuing the B-1
bomber program, which he considered successful. This conflicted with President
Carter's desire to fund the B-2 bomber program. Glenn did not fully support
development of the B-2 because he had doubts about the feasibility of the
stealth technology. He drafted a proposal to slow down the development of the
B-2, which could have potentially saved money, but the measure was rejected.
Glenn joined the Foreign
Relations Committee in 1978. He became the chairman of the East Asian and
Pacific Affairs Subcommittee, for which he traveled to Japan, Korea, the
Republic of China, and the People's Republic of China. Glenn helped to pass the
Taiwan Enabling Act of 1979. The same year, Glenn's stance on the SALT II
treaty caused another dispute with President Carter. Given the loss of radar
listening posts in Iran, Glenn did not believe that the U.S. had the capability
to monitor the Soviet Union accurately enough to verify compliance with the
treaty.[200] During the launching ceremony for the USS Ohio, he spoke about his
doubts about verifying treaty compliance. First Lady Rosalynn Carter also spoke
at the event, during which she criticized Glenn for speaking publicly about the
issue. The Senate never ratified the treaty, in part because of the Soviet
invasion of Afghanistan. Glenn served on the committee until 1985, when he
traded it for the Armed Services Committee.
Retirement
On February 20, 1997, which was
the 35th anniversary of his Friendship 7 flight, Glenn announced that his
retirement from the Senate would occur at the end of his term in January 1999.
Glenn retired because of his age, saying "... There is still no cure for
the common birthday".
Return to space
After the Space Shuttle
Challenger disaster in 1986, Glenn criticized putting a "lay person in
space for the purpose of gaining public support . . . while the shuttle is
still in its embryonic stage". He supported flying research scientists.[213]
In 1995, Glenn read Space Physiology and Medicine, a book written by NASA
doctors. He realized that many changes that occur to physical attributes during
space flight, such as loss of bone and muscle mass and blood plasma,[214] are
the same as changes that result from aging. Glenn thought NASA should send an
older person on a shuttle mission, and that it should be him. Starting in 1995,
he began lobbying NASA director Dan Goldin for the mission.Goldin said he would
consider it if there was a scientific reason, and if Glenn could pass the same
physical examination the younger astronauts took. Glenn performed research on
the subject, and passed the physical examination. On January 16, 1998, NASA Administrator
Dan Goldin announced that Glenn would be part of the STS-95 crew;this made him,
at age 77, the oldest person to fly in space at that time.
NASA and the National Institute
of Aging (NIA) planned to use Glenn as a test subject for research, with
biometrics taken before, during and after his flight. Some experiments (in
circadian rhythms, for example) compared him with the younger crew members. In
addition to these tests, he was in charge of the flight's photography and
videography. Glenn returned to space on the Space Shuttle on October 29, 1998,
as a payload specialist on Space Shuttle Discovery.[218] Shortly before the
flight, researchers disqualified Glenn from one of the flight's two major human
experiments (on the effect of melatonin) for undisclosed medical reasons; he
participated in experiments on sleep monitoring and protein use.[214][219] On
November 6, President Bill Clinton sent a congratulatory email to Glenn aboard
the Discovery. This is often cited as the first email sent by a sitting U.S.
president, but records exist of emails being sent by President Clinton several
years earlier.
His participation in the
nine-day mission was criticized by some members of the space community as a
favor granted by Clinton; John Pike, director of the Federation of American
Scientists' space-policy project, said: "If he was a normal person, he would
acknowledge he's a great American hero and that he should get to fly on the
shuttle for free ... He's too modest for that, and so he's got to have this
medical research reason. It's got nothing to do with medicine".
In a 2012 interview, Glenn said
he regretted that NASA did not continue its research on aging by sending
additional elderly people into space. After STS-95 returned safely, its crew
received a ticker-tape parade. On October 15, 1998, NASA Road 1 (the main route
to the Johnson Space Center) was temporarily renamed John Glenn Parkway for
several months.[222] Glenn was awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal in 1998 for
flying on STS-95.[109] In 2001, Glenn opposed sending Dennis Tito, the world's
first space tourist, to the International Space Station because Tito's trip had
no scientific purpose.
Personal life
A Freemason, Glenn was a member
of Concord Lodge No. 688 in New Concord, Ohio.[226][227] He received all his
degrees in full in a Mason at Sight ceremony from the Grand Master of Ohio in
1978, 14 years after petitioning his lodge. In 1999, Glenn became a 33rd-degree
Scottish Rite Mason in the Valley of Cincinnati (NMJ).[228] As an adult, he was
honored as part of the DeMolay Legion of Honor by DeMolay International, a
Masonic youth organization for boys.
Glenn was an ordained elder of
the Presbyterian Church. His religious faith began before he became an
astronaut, and was reinforced after he traveled in space. "To look out at
this kind of creation and not believe in God is to me impossible," said
Glenn after his second (and final) space voyage.[232] He saw no contradiction
between belief in God and the knowledge that evolution is "a fact"
and believed evolution should be taught in schools: "I don't see that I'm
any less religious that I can appreciate the fact that science just records
that we change with evolution and time, and that's a fact. It doesn't mean it's
less wondrous and it doesn't mean that there can't be some power greater than
any of us that has been behind and is behind whatever is going on."
On August 9, 2019, flight
records unsealed as part of Virginia Louise Giuffre's defamation suit against
convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell revealed Glenn to have flown aboard
a private plane of convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey
Epstein. On November 30, 2021, Epstein's personal pilot Larry Visoski testified
in Maxwell's 2021 sex trafficking trial that he had recalled flying Glenn on
one of Epstein's private planes. However, Visoski claimed to have never seen
sexual activity nor any indication that such activity had taken place.
Public appearances
Glenn was an honorary member of
the International Academy of Astronautics and a member of the Society of
Experimental Test Pilots, Marine Corps Aviation Association, Order of
Daedalians, National Space Club board of trustees, National Space Society board
of governors, International Association of Holiday Inns, Ohio Democratic Party,
State Democratic Executive Committee, Franklin County (Ohio) Democratic Party
and the 10th District (Ohio) Democratic Action Club. In 2001 he guest-starred
as himself on the American television sitcom Frasier.
On September 5, 2009, John and
Annie Glenn dotted the "i" in Ohio State University's Script Ohio
marching band performance during the Ohio StateNavy football-game halftime
show, which is normally reserved for veteran band members.[240] To commemorate
the 50th anniversary of the Friendship 7 flight on February 20, 2012, he had an
unexpected opportunity to speak with the orbiting crew of the International
Space Station when he was onstage with NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden at
Ohio State University.[241] On April 19, 2012, Glenn participated in the
ceremonial transfer of the retired Space Shuttle Discovery from NASA to the
Smithsonian Institution for permanent display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy
Center. He used the occasion to criticize the "unfortunate" decision
to end the Space Shuttle program, saying that grounding the shuttles delayed
research.
Illness and death
Glenn was in good health for
most of his life. He retained a private pilot's license until 2011 when he was
90.[243] In June 2014, Glenn underwent successful heart valve replacement
surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.[244] In early December 2016, he was hospitalized
at the James Cancer Hospital of Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in
Columbus.[245][246][247] According to a family source, Glenn had been in
declining health, and his condition was grave; his wife and their children and
grandchildren were at the hospital.
Glenn died on December 8, 2016,
at the OSU Wexner Medical Center; he was 95 years old.[225][249] No cause of
death was disclosed. After his death, his body lay in state at the Ohio
Statehouse. There was a memorial service at Mershon Auditorium at Ohio State
University. Another memorial service was performed at Kennedy Space Center near
the Heroes and Legends building. His body was interred at Arlington National
Cemetery on April 6, 2017. At the time of his death, Glenn was the last
surviving member of the Mercury Seven.
The Military Times reported that
William Zwicharowski, a senior mortuary official at Dover Air Force Base, had
offered to let visiting inspectors view Glenn's remains, sparking an official
investigation.[255][256] Zwicharowski has denied the remains were
disrespected.[257] At the conclusion of the investigation, officials said the
remains were not disrespected as inspectors did not accept Zwicharowski's
offer, and that Zwicharowski's actions were improper. No administrative action
was taken as he had retired.
President Barack Obama said that
Glenn, "the first American to orbit the Earth, reminded us that with
courage and a spirit of discovery there's no limit to the heights we can reach
together".[259] Tributes were also paid by Vice President (and future
President) Joe Biden, President-elect Donald Trump[260] and former Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton.
The phrase "Godspeed, John
Glenn", which fellow Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter had used to hail
Glenn's launch into space, became a social-media hashtag: #GodspeedJohnGlenn.
Former and current astronauts added tributes; so did NASA Administrator and
former shuttle astronaut Charles Bolden, who wrote: "John Glenn's legacy
is