Astronaut, U.S. Senator. He was the first American to orbit the Earth and went on to serve in the United States Senate from 1975 to 1999. He was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War, serving as a fighter pilot in both the Navy and Marine Corps. After the Korean War ended, he became a test pilot and when the newly formed NASA began recruiting astronauts in 1958, he applied and was selected as one of the original Mercury Seven. On February 20, 1962, he became the third American in space and the first to orbit the earth when he lifted off in Friendship 7. His observations of the the journey fascinated watchers at home, particularly his description of "little specks, brilliant specks, floating around outside the capsule". He came back to Earth after five hours and was honored as a national hero, met President Kennedy at the White House, and was given a ticker-tape parade in New York City. He left NASA in 1964 and retired from the Marines a year later. He first entered the world of politics by running for the U.S. Senate from Ohio in 1964, but had to withdraw from the race early due to a concussion sustained during a fall. He ran again ten years later in 1974 for the Senate and defeated Republican Ralph Perk to become a United States Senator. He served in the Senate for four terms until retiring in 1999. During his tenure in the Senate, he was the chief author of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978 and also sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984. Before retiring from the Senate, he went up in space for a second time, this time on the Space Shuttle Discovery, in 1998. In his later years, he founded the John Glenn Institute of Public Service and Public Policy at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He also taught at the school as an adjunct professor. Among his many honors were the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, and six Distinguished Flying Crosses. A number of roads and schools are named for him, as well as a United States Navy mobile landing platform ship and the John Glenn Columbus International Airport. Before his passing, he was the oldest living former United States Senator.