[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 46 (Monday, November 16, 1998)]
[Pages 2281-2282]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Electronic Mail Message to John Glenn

November 7, 1998

Dear John,

    Thanks for your message. Hillary and I had a great time at the 
launch. We are very proud of you and the entire crew, and a little 
jealous. We can't wait for you to get home so we can have a first hand 
report. Meanwhile back on earth, we're having a lot of fun with your 
adventure. At a camp rally in Queens, I asked an 83 year old lady what 
she thought of your trip. She replied that it seemed like a perfectly 
fine thing for a young man like

[[Page 2282]]

you to do! I hope your last few hours go well. Give my best to the rest 
of the crew.
    Sincerely,
                                                  Bill Clinton

Note: The message was transmitted in the morning from the White House to 
John Glenn aboard the space shuttle Discovery orbiting the Earth. The 
transcript made available by the Office of the Press Secretary also 
included the text of the message to the President from John Glenn as 
follows:

Dear Mr. President,

    This is certainly a first for me, writing to a President from space, 
and it may be a first for you in receiving an E mail direct from and 
orbiting spacecraft.
    In any event, I want to personally thank you and Mrs. Clinton for 
coming to the Cape to d/see the launch. I hope you enjoyed it just half 
as much as we did on board. It is truly an awesome experience from a 
personal standpoint, and of even greater importance for all of the great 
research projects we have on Discovery. The whole crew was impressed 
that you would be the first President to personally see a shuttle launch 
and asked me to include their best regards to you Hillary. She has 
discussed her interest in the space program with Annie on several 
occasions, and I know she would like to be on a flight just like this 
one.
    We have gone almost a third of the way around the world in the time 
it has taken me to write this letter, and the rest of the crew is 
waiting. Again, our thanks and best regards. Will try to give you a 
personal briefing after we return next Saturday.
    Sincerely,
                                                    John Glenn