John Glenn

Born on July 19, 1921 the former United States Senator from Ohio, John Herschel Glenn, Jr. is also an astronaut and United States Marine Corps pilot (ret.). He is the only surviving member of the Mercury Seven. The Mercury Seven was an elite group of test pilots who were trained to operate the Mercury spacecraft and become the first American Astronauts.
Glenn flew the Friendship 7 mission and became the first American to orbit Earth. He was the fifth person in space. In 1965 Glenn retired from the military and resigned from NASA to run for the Senate. He represented Ohio from 1975 to 1999.
He 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. While a sitting Senator Glenn also became the oldest astronaut to fly in space (1998).
Glenn flew F9F Panther Jet interceptors in Korea and participated in 63 combat missions during the Korean War. He flew 27 mission s in the F-86F Sabre and engaged in combat near the Yalu River just before ceasefire.
In 1958 NASA listed requirements for its astronaut team. They had to be between 25 and 40, no more than 5'11"" and possess a degree in a STEM project. Out of 508 pilots only seven were selected.
In 1976 Glenn was a candidate for the vice presidential nomination He lost out to Walter Mondale. In 1984 Glenn ran for a presidential nomination. Glenn remained in the Senate and wrote the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978, was chairman of the Committee on Governmental Affairs and on the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees. Glenn funded the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy at Ohio State in 1998 to encourage students to go into public services. Today the school is the John Glenn School of Public Affairs.
In 1943 Glenn married Anna Margaret Castor. They have two children.