John Glenn

Life in politics

In 1970, John Glenn entered politics and represented Ohio for the Democratic Party in the United States Senate from 1974 until retiring in 1999. Glenn had originally planned to enter politics earlier, but in 1966 had suffered a fall in his bathroom after attempting to adjust a heavy mirror. It fell on him, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on the bathtub. He sustained a concussion as well as injuring his inner ear, and recovery left him unable to campaign at that time.

In 1970, Glenn contested for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate; however, Glenn lost in the primary to fellow Democrat Howard Metzenbaum, who went on to lose the general election race to Robert Taft Jr. In the bitterly-fought 1974 Democratic primary rematch, Glenn defeated Metzenbaum. Metzenbaum had been appointed by Ohio governor John J. Gilligan to the other Ohio Senate seat to fill out the term of William B. Saxbe, who had resigned to become U.S. attorney general. In the 1974 general election, Glenn defeated Republican Mayor of Cleveland Ralph Perk.

In 1998, Glenn declined to run again. The Democratic party chose Mary Boyle to replace him, but she was defeated by then-Ohio Gov. George Voinovich.

Glenn also mounted a bid to be the 1984 Democratic Presidential candidate. Early on, Glenn polled well, coming in a strong second to Vice President Walter Mondale. It was also surmised that he would be aided by the almost-simultaneous release of The Right Stuff, a movie about the original seven Mercury astronauts in which it was generally agreed that Glenn's character was portrayed in a pleasing and appealing manner. However, Glenn apparently turned his attention to national politics too early, neglecting the sensitive voters of the Iowa caucuses. Media attention turned to Mondale, Gary Hart, and Jesse Jackson, leaving Glenn the strongest also-ran. The 1984 presidential bid left Glenn with a substantial campaign debt that took years to pay off.

Family

Raised in New Concord, Ohio, Glenn married his childhood sweetheart, Anna Margaret Castor; they are the parents of two children. Both Glenn and his future wife Annie attended Muskingum College which is located in New Concord. After his retirement, John and Anna Glenn founded the John Glenn Institute for Public Service & Public Policy at Ohio State University which moved to its new facility, the renovated Page Hall, in 2005. Glenn and his wife both suffer from varying degrees of hearing loss, and concern for this issue has always been one of Glenn's foremost interests. Glenn and his wife were both delegates on the Ohio delegation to the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

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