John Glenn

**John Herschel Glenn Jr.** (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American astronaut and Democratic politician who served as the 39th President of the United States from 1989 until 1993. He previously served as the U.S. Senator from Ohio from 1974 until 1989. 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.

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, the first of six major pieces of legislation that he produced on the subject. 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.

An 'American hero' for his career as an astronaut, Glenn ran for President in 1988. After the incumbent Vice President Al Quie & popular U.S. Senators Joe Biden and Bob Dole bowed out, the Republican nomination was easily handed to National Security Advisor Colin Powell. Glenn was primarily challenged by Tennessee U.S. Senator Al Gore, the son of former Vice President Al Gore Sr.. Glenn defeated Gore as well as more minor challengers such as Illinois Senator Paul Simon and Reverend Jesse Jackson, and picked Gore as his running mate. Glenn campaigned lightly in the general election on his career as a military pilot and as an astronaut and won by a narrow margin despite the high popularity of outgoing Republican President Howard Baker. Unlike his predecessors as President though, despite the winning margin, Glenn did not have any major coattails.

Glenn's popularity immediately suffered when it was revealed in 1989 that Glenn was a member of the Keating Four, a group of four U.S. Senators exposed for corruption; Glenn and the other 4 accused of improperly intervening in 1987 on behalf of Charles H. Keating, Jr., chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which was the target of a regulatory investigation by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB). The FHLBB subsequently backed off taking action against Lincoln.

Lincoln collapsed in 1989, at a cost of $3.4 billion to the federal government. Around 23,000 Lincoln bondholders were defrauded, and many investors lost their life savings. The substantial political contributions Keating had made to each of the senators, totaling $1.3 million, attracted considerable public and media attention. After a lengthy investigation, the Senate Ethics Committee determined that Senators DeConcini and Riegle had substantially and improperly interfered with the FHLBB's investigation of Lincoln Savings. Glenn and Senator McCain were cleared of having acted improperly but were criticized for having exercised "poor judgment". The scandal, which lasted through Glenn's administration, caused major losses within the 1990 and 1992 elections, with the once highly popular Glenn losing re-election to Delaware U.S. Senator Joe Biden, who too, though, had little coattails in 1992. However, as further details were revealed, in 1994, the Republicans were granted a large landslide in both chambers, picking up the House in the first time in 24 years.

## Post-presidency

Gore was succeed by Jack Kemp, who would be his opponent in the 2000 election, an election he ultimately won. Despite this, the scandal, which rubbed off on Gore as a member of the Glenn Administration, was not an issue in 2004 due to the nomination of John McCain by the Republicans, who wanted to avoid seeming hypocritical. McCain would narrowly defeat Gore before his own defeat in 2008 by Barack Obama. Glenn considered a run for Governor of Ohio in 1994 and 1998, and a run for President in 1996 and the U.S. Senate in 2000, but due to his advanced age, Glenn decided to retire from politics instead. Despite his age of 77, in 1998, he flew again in space, on Discovery STS-95. Glenn was the oldest person to go into space until his record was broken in 2021 when Wally Funk flew at 80 and shortly after, William Shatner flew at 92. However, as of 2023, Glenn remains the oldest person to have ever reached Earth orbit.

## 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. In June 2014, Glenn underwent successful heart valve replacement surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. In early December 2016, he was hospitalized at the James Cancer Hospital of Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. 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. 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.