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The Daily Signal
Remembering the
Many Accomplishments of John Glenn
Jacob Jordan & Thomas Spoehr
December 09, 2016
In his 95 years, Glenn held three distinguished careers as a military
aviator, an astronaut, and a four-term U.S. senator, accomplishing more
in one lifetime than many could ever dream.
Glenn was born on July 18, 1921, in Cambridge, Ohio. When the Japanese
attacked Pearl Harbor, he left college to enlist in the military.
Glenn began his storied career as a Marine Corps fighter pilot, serving
in both World War II and the Korean War, and earning four Distinguished
Flying Crosses, before becoming a test pilot for the Fighter Design
Branch of the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics.
As a test pilot, Glenn chose one of the most dangerous occupations in
the world. In 1957, Glenn set a new speed record, with “the first
transcontinental flight to average supersonic speed,” according to
Reuters—traveling from Los Angeles to New York in less than 3.5 hours.
In 1958, the newly founded agency NASA began recruiting for astronauts.
Of the 508 pilots who applied to join NASA, only seven were accepted.
As a gifted pilot with a propensity for breaking barriers, Glenn was a
natural choice for the program.
Although he was disappointed not to have been the first American
astronaut selected for a suborbital flight, he would still make
history. On Feb. 20, 1962, he made his historic flight on Friendship 7,
becoming the first American to orbit the earth.
He emerged from the capsule a national hero and a beacon of hope that
challenged Soviet advances.
After retiring from NASA in 1964, Glenn turned his sites to the world
of politics. In 1974, he won a seat in the Senate and carried all 88 of
Ohio’s counties. Even in public office he continued finding new records
to break.
In 1980, Glenn won re-election by 1.6 million votes, the largest margin
in Ohio history. Then, in 1992, Glenn became the only person to ever
serve Ohio in a U.S. Senate seat for four terms.
Upon his retirement in 1999, Glenn was the ranking member of the
Committee on Governmental Affairs and served as a member of the Foreign
Relations Committee and Armed Services Committee. As a senator, Glenn
was best known as an advocate for nuclear nonproliferation, government
efficiency, a strong foreign policy, and science and health research.
Before his retirement, Glenn would take one more trip to space. At the
age of 77, as part of a research effort to investigate the effects of
space on aging, he became the oldest human ever to conduct a space
flight.
Glenn established the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at the Ohio
State University in 1998. He was married to his childhood sweetheart,
Anna Margaret Castor, for 73 years.
Glenn will forever be remembered as an American hero. He exemplified
the selflessness, bravery, and moral fiber that Americans of all ages
can respect.
Read this and other articles at The Daily Signal
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