John Glenn president would help unite the country. Glenn believed his experience as a senator from Ohio was ideal, due to the state's diversity. Glenn thought that Teddy Kennedy could win the election, but after Kennedy's announcement in late 1982 that he would not seek the presidency, Glenn thought he had a much better chance of winning. He hired a media consultant to help him with his speaking style. Glenn announced his candidacy for president on April 21, 1983 in the John Glenn High School gymnasium. He started out the campaign out-raising the front-runner, Mondale. He also polled the highest of any
John Glenn became the chair of both subcommittees. One of his goals as a new senator was developing environmental policies. Glenn introduced bills on energy policy to try to counter the energy crisis in the 70s. Glenn also introduced legislation promoting nuclear non-proliferation, and was the chief author of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978, the first of six major pieces of legislation that he produced on the subject. Glenn chaired the Committee on Governmental Affairs from 1987 to 1995. It was in this role that he discovered safety and environmental problems with the nation's nuclear weapons facilities. Glenn was made aware