Before astronaut John Glenn became a four-term senator, he was a primary candidate for the office going up against incumbent Democratic Senator Howard Metzenbaum in 1974.

As the campaigns squared off, Metzenbaum honed in on the nation’s war fatigue in the years after Vietnam and decided to try to use John Glenn’s decades of military service against him. Senator Metzenbaum was a self-made millionaire and leveled the charge against Glenn that he’d never met a payroll, among other slights.

War veteran, astronaut, and Marine Corps Colonel John Glenn decided to respond at a forum for the candidates in the most perfect way.

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