Space Hero and Senator

Glenn became the space hero that NASA officials and the American people so wanted. He was invited to speak to a joint session of Congress and was hon­ored with parades across the country. Four million people turned out for Glenn’s parade in New York City. A smaller but even more appreciative crowd turned out in his hometown of New Concord, Ohio.

After his return to NASA, Glenn was assigned to work on Project Apollo, the space program aimed at sending American astronauts to the Moon. He left NASA in 1964, however, and began working in business. Ten years later, Glenn won election to the U. S. Senate, where he served for the next twenty-four years. He won

О Seated between President John F. Kennedy (left) and General Leighton Davis (right), John Glenn (center) rides in a celebratory parade in Florida after his historic spaceflight in 1962.

reelection three times. Glenn tried to win the Democratic nomination for president in 1984, but his campaign never got off the ground. In 1997, he announced that he would retire from the Senate.