John Glenn John Herschel Glenn , Jr . ( born July 18 , 1921 ) is a retired United States Marine Corps pilot , astronaut , and United States senator . He was a combat aviator in the Marine Corps and member of the Mercury Seven , the elite U . S . military test pilots selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ) to operate the experimental Mercury spacecraft and become the first American astronauts . On February 20 , 1962 , he flew the " Friendship 7 " mission and became the first American to orbit the Earth and the fifth person in space , after cosmonauts Yuri Gagarin and Gherman Titov and fellow Mercury Seven astrononauts Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom . In 1965 , Glenn retired from the military and resigned from NASA so he could be eligible to stand for election to public office . As a member of the Democratic Party he was elected to represent Ohio in the U . S . Senate from 1974 to 1999 . Glenn received a Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978 , and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012 . He was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1990 . On October 29 , 1998 , while still a sitting Senator , he became the oldest person to fly in space , and the only one to fly in both the Mercury and Space Shuttle programs , when at age 77 , he flew on " Discovery " ( STS - 95 ) . With the death of Scott Carpenter in October 2013 , Glenn is the last surviving member of the Mercury Seven . Early life and military career . John Glenn was born in Cambridge , Ohio , to John Glenn , Sr . and Teresa ( née Sproat ) . He was raised in New Concord , Ohio . Glenn studied Engineering at Muskingum College , and received his private pilot ' s license for physics course credit in 1941 . World War II . When the attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II , he left college to enlist in the U . S . Army Air Corps ; however , the Army did not call him up , and in March 1942 he enlisted as a United States Navy aviation cadet . He trained at Naval Air Station Olathe , Kansas , where he made his first solo flight in a military aircraft . During advanced training in 1943 at the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi , he was reassigned to the U . S . Marine Corps . After completing his training , Glenn was assigned to Marine squadron VMJ - 353 , flying R4D transport planes . He eventually managed a transfer to VMF - 155 as an F4U Corsair fighter pilot , and flew 59 combat missions in the South Pacific . He saw action over the Marshall Islands , where he attacked anti - aircraft batteries and dropped bombs on Maloelap Atoll . In 1945 he was assigned to Naval Air Station Patuxent River , Maryland , where he was promoted to Captain shortly before the war ended . Glenn flew patrol missions in North China with the VMF - 218 squadron , until it was transferred to Guam . In 1948 he became a flight instructor at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi , Texas , then attended the amphibious warfare school . Korean War . Glenn was next assigned to VMF - 311 , flying the new F9F Panther jet interceptor . He flew his Panther in 63 combat missions during the Korean War , gaining the dubious nickname " magnet ass " from his apparent ability to attract enemy flak . Twice he returned to base with over 250 flak holes in his aircraft . Glenn flew for a time with Ted Williams , a future hall of fame baseball player for the Boston Red Sox , as his wingman . He also flew with future Major General Ralph H . Spanjer . Glenn flew a second Korean combat tour on an interservice exchange program with the United States Air Force , 4th Fighter Wing . He logged 27 missions in the faster F - 86F Sabre , and shot down three MiG - 15s near the Yalu River in the final days before the ceasefire . Test Pilot . Glenn returned to NAS Patuxent River , appointed to the Test Pilot School ( class 12 ) . He served as an armament officer , flying planes to high altitude and testing their cannons and machine guns . On July 16 , 1957 , Glenn completed the first supersonic transcontinental flight in a Vought F8U - 1P Crusader . The flight from NAS Los Alamitos , California , to Floyd Bennett Field , New York , took 3 hours , 23 minutes and 8 . 3 seconds . As he passed over his hometown , a child in the neighborhood reportedly ran to the Glenn house shouting " Johnny dropped a bomb ! Johnny dropped a bomb ! Johnny dropped a bomb ! " as the sonic boom shook the town . Project Bullet , the name of the mission , included both the first transcontinental flight to average supersonic speed ( despite three in - flight refuelings during which speeds dropped below 300 mph ) , and the first continuous transcontinental panoramic photograph of the United States . For this mission Glenn received his fifth Distinguished Flying Cross . NASA . In 1958 , the newly - formed NASA began a recruiting program for astronauts . Requirements were that each had to be a military test pilot between the ages of 25 and 40 with sufficient flight hours , no more than 5 ' 11 " in height , and possess a degree in a STEM ( Science , Technology , Engineering , and Mathematics ) subject . 508 pilots were subjected to rigorous mental and physical tests , and finally the selection was narrowed down to seven astronauts ( Glenn , Alan Shepard , Gus Grissom , Scott Carpenter , Wally Schirra , Gordon Cooper , and Deke Slayton ) , who were introduced to the public at a NASA press conference in April 1959 . John Glenn just barely met the requirements as he was close to the age cutoff of 40 and also lacked the required STEM degree . During this time , he remained an officer in the United States Marine Corps . John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth , aboard " Friendship 7 " on February 20 , 1962 , on the Mercury - Atlas 6 mission , circling the globe three times during a flight lasting 4 hours , 55 minutes , and 23 seconds . This made Glenn the third American in space and the fifth human being in space . Perth , Western Australia became known worldwide as the " City of Light " when residents turned on their house , car and streetlights as Glenn passed overhead . ( The city repeated the act when Glenn rode the Space Shuttle in 1998 ) . During the first mission there was concern over a ground indication that his heat shield had come loose , which could allow it to fail during re - entry through the atmosphere , causing his capsule to burn up . Flight controllers had Glenn modify his re - entry procedure by keeping his retrorocket pack on over the shield in an attempt to keep it in place . He made his splashdown safely , and afterwards it was determined that the indicator was faulty . As the first American in orbit , Glenn became a national hero , met President Kennedy , and received a ticker - tape parade in New York City , reminiscent of that given for Charles Lindbergh and other great dignitaries . His fame and political attributes were noted by the Kennedys , and he became a personal friend of the Kennedy family . On February 23 , 1962 , President Kennedy escorted him in a parade to Hangar S at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station , where he awarded Glenn with the NASA service medal In July 1962 Glenn testified before the House Space Committee in favor of excluding women from the NASA astronaut program . Although NASA had no official policy prohibiting women , in practice the requirement that astronauts had to be military test pilots excluded them entirely . The impact of the testimony of so prestigious a hero is debatable , but no female astronaut flew on a NASA mission until Sally Ride in 1983 ( in the meantime , the Soviets had flown two women on space missions ) , and none piloted a mission until Eileen Collins in 1995 , more than 30 years after the hearings . In the late 1970s , Glenn is reported to have supported Shuttle Mission Specialist Astronaut Judith Resnik in her career . Glenn resigned from NASA six weeks after the assassination of John F . Kennedy to run for office in his home state of Ohio . In 1965 he retired as a Colonel from the Marine Corps and entered the business world as an executive for Royal Crown Cola . In 1974 , he was elected to the US Senate . Some accounts of Glenn ' s years at NASA suggest that Glenn was prevented from flying in Gemini or Apollo missions , either by President Kennedy , or by NASA management , on the grounds that the subsequent loss of a national hero of such stature would seriously harm or even end the manned space program ( for similar reason , the Soviet program grounded Yuri Gagarin from further flights ) . Yet Glenn resigned from the NASA Astronaut Corps on January 30 , 1964 , well before even the first Gemini crew was assigned . In 1990 , Glenn was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame . Glenn served as a US Senator for 24 years , making an abortive attempt to capture the Democratic Party nomination in the 1984 presidential election . Glenn lifted off for a second space flight on October 29 , 1998 , on Space Shuttle Discovery ' s STS - 95 , in order to study the effects of space flight on the elderly . At age 77 , Glenn became the oldest person to go into space . Glenn states in his memoir that he had no idea that NASA was willing to send him back into space when NASA announced the decision . Three days prior to NASA ' s announcement , various radio stations were reporting that NASA had decided to send Glenn back into space . Glenn ' s participation in the nine - day mission was criticized by some in the space community as a political favor granted to Glenn by President Clinton . Others noted that Glenn ' s flight offered valuable research on weightlessness and other aspects of space flight on the same person at two points in life 36 years apart — by far the longest interval between space flights by the same person — providing information on the effects of spaceflight and weightlessness on the elderly , with an ideal control . Upon the safe return of the STS - 95 crew , Glenn ( and his crewmates ) received another ticker - tape parade , making him the tenth , and latest , person to have received multiple ticker - tape parades in a lifetime ( as opposed to that of a sports team ) . Just prior to the flight , on October 15 , 1998 , and for several months after , the main causeway to the Johnson Space Center , NASA Road 1 , was temporarily renamed " John Glenn Parkway " . Glenn was one of several NASA astronauts who experienced both a splashdown and touchdown on dry land . Glenn vehemently opposed the sending of Dennis Tito , the world ' s first space tourist , to the International Space Station on the grounds that Tito ' s trip served no scientific purpose . Life in politics . Senate . NASA psychologists determined during Glenn ' s training 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 should run against incumbent United States Senator Stephen M . Young of Ohio in the 1964 Democratic primary election . In 1964 Glenn announced that he was resigning from the space program to run against Young , but withdrew when he hit his head on a bathtub . Glenn sustained a concussion and injured his inner ear , and recovery left him unable to campaign . Glenn remained close to the Kennedy family and was with Robert Kennedy when he was assassinated in 1968 . In 1970 , Glenn was narrowly defeated in the Democratic primary for nomination for the Senate by fellow Democrat Howard Metzenbaum , by a 51 % to 49 % margin . Metzenbaum lost the general election race to Robert Taft , Jr . In 1974 , Glenn resisted Ohio governor John J . Gilligan and the Ohio Democratic party ' s demand that he run for Lieutenant Governor . Instead , he challenged Metzenbaum again , whom Gilligan had appointed to the Senate to replace William B . Saxbe , who had resigned to become Attorney General of the United States . In the primary race , Metzenbaum contrasted his strong business background with Glenn ' s military and astronaut credentials , saying his opponent had " never worked for a living " . Glenn ' s reply came to be known as the " Gold Star Mother s " 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 . " Many felt the " Gold Star Mothers " speech won the primary for Glenn . Glenn won the primary by 54 to 46 % . After defeating Metzenbaum , Glenn defeated Ralph Perk , the Republican mayor of Cleveland , in the general election , beginning a Senate career that would continue until 1999 . In 1980 , Glenn won re - election to the seat , defeating Republican challenger Jim Betts , by over 40 percent . In 1986 , Glenn defeated challenger U . S . Representative Tom Kindness . Metzenbaum would go on to seek a rematch against Taft in 1976 , winning a close race on Jimmy Carter ' s coattails . In the late 1970s and early 1980s , Glenn and Metzenbaum had strained relations . There was a thaw in 1983 when Metzenbaum endorsed Glenn for president and again in 1988 when Metzenbaum was opposed for re - election by Cleveland mayor George Voinovich . Voinovich accused Metzenbaum of being soft on child pornography . Voinovich ' s charges were criticized by many , including Glenn who now came to Metzenbaum ' s aid , recording a statement for television refuting Voinovich ' s charges . Metzenbaum won the election by 57 to 43 % . Savings and loan scandal . Glenn was one of the five U . S . senators caught up in the Lincoln Savings and Keating Five Scandal after accepting a $ 200 , 000 contribution from Charles Keating . Glenn and Republican Senator John McCain were the only Senators exonerated . The Senate Commission found that Glenn had exercised " poor judgment " . The association of his name with the scandal gave Republicans hope that he would be vulnerable in the 1992 campaign . Instead , Glenn defeated Lieutenant Governor Mike DeWine to keep his seat , though his percentage was reduced to a career low of 51 % . DeWine used the memorable campaign slogan , " What " on earth " has John Glenn done ? " This 1992 re - election victory was the last time a Democrat won a statewide race in Ohio until 2006 ; DeWine later won Metzenbaum ' s seat upon his retirement . Vice - president run . In 1976 , Glenn was a candidate for the Democratic vice presidential nomination . However , Glenn ' s keynote address at the Democratic National Convention failed to impress the delegates and the nomination went to veteran politician Walter Mondale . Glenn also ran for the 1984 Democratic presidential nomination . A November 1983 " New York Times " / CBS News poll found him second , supported by 41 % of those polled , to Mondale ' s 49 % . Glenn and his staff worried about the 1983 release of " The Right Stuff " , a film about the original seven Mercury astronauts based on the best - selling Tom Wolfe book of the same name . The book had depicted Glenn as a " zealous moralizer " , and he did not attend the film ' s Washington premiere on October 16 , 1983 . Reviewers saw Ed Harris ' portrayal of Glenn as heroic , however , and his staff immediately began to emphasize the film to the press . Aide Greg Schneiders suggested an unusual strategy , similar to Glenn ' s personal campaign and voting style , in which he would avoid appealing to narrow special interest group s and instead seek to win support from ordinary Democratic primary voters , the " constituency of the whole " . Mondale defeated Glenn for the nomination however , and he was left with $ 3 million in campaign debt for over 20 years before he was granted a reprieve by the Federal Election Commission . He was a potential vice presidential running mate in 1984 , 1988 , and 1992 . Issues . During his time in the Senate , he was chief author of the Nuclear Non - Proliferation Act of 1978 , served as chairman of the Committee on Governmental Affairs from 1987 until 1995 , sat on the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees and the Special Committee on Aging . Once Republicans regained control of the Senate , Glenn also served as the ranking minority member on a special Senate investigative committee chaired by Tennessee senator Fred Dalton Thompson that looked into illegal foreign donations by China to U . S . political campaigns for the 1996 election . There was considerable acrimony between the two very high - profile senators during the life of this committee , which reached a level of public disagreement between the five leaders of a congressional committee seldom seen in recent years , amid allegations that Glenn suppressed these issues prior to his subsequent space shuttle flight which had to be approved by President Clinton . In 1998 , Glenn declined to run for re - election . Mary O . Boyle was the Democratic party nominee . She faced Republican nominee and sitting governor George Voinovich in the general election , which Voinovich won . Public affairs institute . Glenn helped found the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy at the Ohio State University in 1998 to encourage public service . On July 22 , 2006 , the institute merged with OSU ' s School of Public Policy and Management to become the John Glenn School of Public Affairs . Today he holds an adjunct professorship at both the Glenn School and OSU ' s Department of Political Science . Personal life . On April 6 , 1943 , Glenn married his childhood sweetheart , Anna Margaret Castor . They had met in New Concord and played together in the school band . They are the parents of two children . Both Glenn and his wife attended Muskingum College in New Concord , Ohio . He also was a member of the Stag Club Fraternity at Muskingum College . Glenn is descended from the Glenn – Macintosh clan of Scotland . In 1963 he received a letter from a young girl in Sheffield , England , named Anne Glenn . The letter , congratulating him on his orbit around the Earth , enclosed a family tree showing that Anne ' s father , George Arthur Thomas Glenn , and John Glenn were cousins . Glenn was also one of the original owners for a Holiday Inn franchise near Orlando , Florida , that is today known as the Seralago Hotel & Suites . A Freemason , Glenn is a member of Concord Lodge No . 688 New Concord , Ohio and DeMolay International , the Masonic youth organization , and is an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church . Glenn ' s boyhood home in New Concord has been restored and made into an historic house museum and education center . In 2001 , Glenn appeared as a guest star on the American television sitcom " Frasier " . On August 4 , 2006 , Glenn and his wife were injured in an automobile accident on I - 270 near Columbus , Ohio , and were hospitalized for two days . Glenn suffered a " very sore chest " and a fractured sternum . Annie Glenn was treated for minor injuries . Glenn was cited for failure to yield the right - of - way . On September 5 , 2009 , John and Annie Glenn dotted the " i " during Ohio State University ' s Script Ohio marching band performance , at the Ohio State - Navy football game halftime show . Bob Hope , Woody Hayes , Buster Douglas , E . Gordon Gee , Novice Fawcett , Robert Ries and Jack Nicklaus are the only other non - band members to have received this honor . On February 20 , 2012 , to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Friendship 7 flight , Glenn was surprised with the opportunity to speak with the of the International Space Station while Glenn was on - stage with NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden at $ 3 , where the public affairs school is named for him . 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 . Speaking at the event , Glenn criticized the " unfortunate " decision to end the Space Shuttle program , expressing his opinion that grounding the shuttles delayed research . Awards and honors . The NASA John H . Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field in Cleveland , Ohio , is named after him . Also , Senator John Glenn Highway runs along a stretch of I - 480 in Ohio across from the NASA Glenn Research Center . Colonel Glenn Highway , which runs by Wright - Patterson Air Force Base and Wright State University near Dayton , Ohio , John Glenn High School in his hometown of New Concord , Ohio , and Col . John Glenn Elementary in Seven Hills , Ohio , are named for him as well . High Schools in Westland and Bay City , Michigan ; Walkerton , Indiana ; San Angelo , Texas ; Elwood , Long Island , New York ; and Norwalk , California were also named after him . The fireboat " John H . Glenn Jr . " was named for him . This fireboat is operated by the DCFD and protects the sections of the Potomac River and the Anacostia River that run through Washington , D . C . The USNS John Glenn ( T - MLP - 2 ) , a mobile landing platform that is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2014 is named for him . In 1961 , Glenn received an honorary LL . D from Muskingum University , the college he had attended before joining the military in World War II . This was followed by earning his bachelor of science degree from Muskingum in 1962 . In 2000 , Glenn received the U . S . Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official , an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards . In 2004 , Glenn was awarded the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution . In 2009 , Glenn received an honorary LL . D from Williams College . In 2010 Glenn received an honorary Doctorate of Public Service from Ohio Northern University . Glenn has received the following awards and decorations :