In the 1984 presidential campaign, Glenn depicted himself as Uncle Sam in this sign. The entire advertisement reads: "I need you in '84 John Glenn."

WASHINGTON (AP) -- John Glenn is flying high -- 341 miles high -- but waiting below is a problem that has been a lingering dark spot in a lifetime of stellar achievement.

The astronaut-senator, due to return from space Saturday, has been weighted down for years by the earthly problem of a $3 million debt from his ill-fated 1984 run for the White House.

Glenn sought the Democratic presidential nomination not long after release of the movie "The Right Stuff," but hero status did not carry the Ohio senator very far. Glenn flamed out so fast that he took to quipping he "wanted to run for president in the worst way -- and that's the way I ran."

But his Democratic primary failure was no joking matter.

The Glenn presidential committee remains $3 million in debt all these years later, and its accounts payable swell by more than $8,600 a month as interest accrues.

It is a well-known woe in Ohio, and much on the mind of 76-year-old Mayo Drake, who spoke of nothing else when asked in Tiffin, Ohio, about Glenn's new status as the oldest man in space.

Hero status prevails

"I know how much money he owes, and he's owed for a long time, and now they're making a hero out of him," she complained. Her ideas broke with most of her fellow pinochle players at Tiffin's Allen Eiry Senior Center, who praised Glenn for exploding geriatric stereotypes.

Most people would consider Glenn, 77, a wealthy man; the last time he ran for the Senate, he released a financial statement estimating his net worth at $10 million, much of it tied up in stocks and property. He has houses in Vail, Colorado, and suburban Washington; a condominium in Columbus, Ohio; a boat; and a plane.

For years, he said he was frustrated because federal campaign law made it impossible to write personal checks to reduce the debt.

Eventually, after numerous fund-raisers failed to come close to attracting all the donors he needed, Glenn asked for a waiver so he could use more than $50,000 of his own money despite having accepted public financing for the 1984 race.

Astronaut Glenn aboard Discovery

The Federal Election Commission made a rare exception, relaxing its rules to let Glenn put as much of his own money as he wanted toward debt retirement. Legally, the debt is owed by Glenn's campaign committee, not Glenn himself.

Glenn committed $500,000 of his own cash, and the campaign asked some creditors if they would accept less than full payment.

Getting a little 'short-fused'

A printer who had not been paid for campaign signs picketed outside the Hart Senate Office Building in 1995, and Glenn's legendary self-discipline began to fray. He said he was getting "a little bit short-fused" and complained that he was not getting credit for putting more of his own money than was legally required toward debt retirement.

"I'm not taking all of the inheritance my family would get," he said at the time. "How about my wife? Would they like me to keep a few dollars out for Annie?"

The printer got his money, but other vendors are still owed.

For the most part, spokesman Jack Sparks said, small creditors still unpaid have been difficult to locate; have written off the debts and do not want to reopen the books; or moved, closed or changed hands in some way.

Random calls verified that difficulty. Directory assistance had no numbers for many of the businesses listed on Glenn's disclosure form.

Sparks said payments in full have been sent to about 60 percent of the vendors owed less than $1,000 apiece. Of those owed more than that, about 65 percent of the vendors have settled for partial payment, he said.

'Us little people like to pay our debts'

Most of the $3 million-plus is owed to four Ohio banks that gave the Glenn campaign an unsecured loan. Glenn's committee has made payments on the bank loans, but most of the payments have been applied toward interest.

Those banks agreed at one point to apply all the committee's payments to the loan principal and forgo interest, but the FEC rejected that plan in 1997. It did allow the campaign to settle $222,000 worth of debts to vendors for $90,000.

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"It's frustrating for Senator Glenn because we thought we had a plan that worked and that everybody was happy with," said Sparks. "The banks were happy with it."

Banc One, the lead bank on the arrangement, declined comment.

The late William "Pete" Petry was owed $58.11 by the campaign for gas purchased at Petry's Texaco station in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Petry's widow, Opal, said she still has the company books and could prove she is owed the money if the Glenn campaign contacts her.

"Certainly the ones that manage John Glenn's business ought to want to pay. Us little people like to pay our debts," said Mrs. Petry.

"But I wouldn't want to get angry about it," she added. "If he can live with it, I can live without it."