Tom Block: Remembering John Glenn’s flight
and wishing he’d thought to get an autograph

I was watching the coverage commemorating the 50th anniversary of the first US orbital fight by John Glenn, and I thought to myself – why don’t I have John Glenn’s autograph?

In 1975 and 1976 I was staff director for Senator Robert Taft, Jr. of Ohio and John Glenn was Ohio’s other Senator. On several occasions I worked with Mr. Glenn and his staff and would be with the Senator on the Senate floor or in his office. But I never got his autograph.

If you have been reading my KYForward columns, you may have read my piece last year of my fulfilling a life time dream with my trip up to Cape Canaveral to see the next to last shuttle launch. As a child of the “space race” I had always wanted to see a launch. I can remember having televisions brought into the cafeteria so that we could watch the early launches. We had all seen the bad unmanned launches when the rocket would blow up on the pad. The day John Glenn lifted off there was great uncertainty if the American rockets were capable of getting the astronauts into space.

In reflecting on my experiences with Senator Glenn, even though I was a great admirer, I think Senator Glenn was so accessible, and unassuming, that one forgot this was THE John Glenn.

I think it also shows the great opportunity of America, where two Ohioans, one a historic figure, the other just plain old me, could sit on the Senator floor or an office, and work together on a problem facing the State of Ohio.

Looking back a really regret I didn’t get a brief note, “to Tom Block, best wishes John Glenn.” But I didn’t.

Tom Block is a public policy consultant who had a 21-year career with JP Morgan Chase where he served as head of government relations in D.C. and created a Washington research product. A native Kentuckian, he also created the bank’s EU Government Relations program and developed a new position as U.S. Government Policy Strategist focusing on how U.S. government policy impacts capital markets. He has an extensive government and banking background, has worked on political campaigns and as a speech writer. He is a trustee of Bernheim Aboretum in Louisville and holds a B.A. degree in political science from American University. He and his wife now make their home in Kentucky. He is a regular contributor to KyForward. Contact him at columnist@kyforward.com.