D.C. — A former Navy secretary with a reputation for being a dabbler, Senator John W. Warner of Virginia died on Tuesday night at his home in Alexandria. He had served in the Senate for 30 years. He was 94.
According to Susan Magill, His Ex-Chief of Staff, Heart Failure was the Reason of Death.
Mr. Warner may have become widely recognisable as the handsome sixth husband of Elizabeth Taylor. In his first political race, a tough 1978 Senate election, she was a major draw for his campaign. In 1982, the pair officially split up.
At the end of his congressional career, Mr. Warner gained a reputation as a defender of Senate traditions and was praised for his efforts to establish a bipartisan compromise on divisive matters such as the Iraq war, judicial appointments, and the handling of terror prisoners.
Mr. Warner enjoyed widespread support in Virginia, although he frequently clashed with the state’s more conservative faction. In his first run for office, he was the Republican nominee only because his opponent in the state party convention was died in an aeroplane crash.
His Support for a Ban on Assault Rifles Infuriated the National Rifle Association.
In 1994, he angered some Republicans in the state by not endorsing Oliver L. North, the Reagan administration adviser at the centre of the Iran-contra controversy. And he was against Reagan’s unsuccessful nomination of Judge Robert H. Bork to the Supreme Court.
Mr. Warner became increasingly disenchanted with the Republican Party during his retirement years, leading him to support Donald Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, and his former Senate colleague, Joseph R. Biden Jr.
However, he was able to fend off challenges from the right and the left thanks to the support of the party establishment during his time in the Senate and the support of independents who were drawn to his moderate views on social issues like abortion and homosexual rights. In 2002, he ran for his final term and easily won with almost no competition.
In August 2007, Mr. Warner stated that he would not run in 2008, citing the fact that he would be 88 years old if he served out his full term and told friends that he doubted he had the energy to do the job.
In 1999, when he became chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, he reached the pinnacle of his influence in the Senate.
Although the Democrats briefly regained control of the House during his chairmanship, he eventually became a major figure within the Republican Party on military issues. His background working at the Pentagon, his service in both the Navy and the Marines, and his connections there all lent credence to his claims.
Mr. Warner anticipated the importance of the terrorism problem and established a special committee to address it. Even though many of his fellow Republicans hoped the problem would go away, he was one of the Republicans who voiced concerns about the Iraq war and called for hearings on the mistreatment at the Abu Ghraib jail outside Baghdad.
Mr. Warner shared President George W. Bush’s scepticism about the 2007 military increase in Iraq. However, he never disagreed with the government on the issue of a firm timeline for the removal of troops. The Democrats were hoping Mr. Warner would contribute his influence to their opposition to the war, and they accused him of not acting on his strong language against the combat.
Mr. Warner joined Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, in blocking Bush administration efforts to reinterpret the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war. This, the senators said, would leave captured American military members vulnerable to torture.
On Wednesday, former Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates released a statement praising Warner for his “steadfast support for our men and women in military,” adding that the senator “established an example for everyone of bipartisan leadership.”
When it Came to Politics in the Senate,
Mr. Warner was not afraid to get his hands dirty. After Mississippi Republican Senator Trent Lott made a racially insensitive remark in 2002, Warner was one of the first to speak out against Lott, and his stance helped convince Lott to resign as majority leader.
He also played a pivotal role in the Senate’s Gang of 14, a group of senators from both parties who avoided a showdown over the filibuster’s future in 2005 by reaching an agreement on judicial nominees.
Mr. Warner was a dashing Virginian who was dubbed “the senator from central casting” due to his ramrod military posture, distinguished silver hair, and occasionally exaggerated speaking manner.
John William Warner III was born to Dr. John Warner Jr. and Martha (Budd) Warner on February 18, 1927, in Washington. His mom stayed at home while his dad worked as a Washington, D.C., gynaecologist.
Mr. Warner attended St. Albans School, a Washington, DC, boarding school, but he dropped out at the age of seventeen to join the Navy and serve in the war’s last months. Although he completed all the requirements for graduation, he never really earned his diploma.
He then enrolled in Washington and Lee University, from which he graduated in 1949, and the University of Virginia School of Law, from which he took a leave of absence to serve in the Marines during the Korean War.
He Served in The Military,
Then went back to law school and graduated in 1953. From there, he worked as a legal clerk for the DC Circuit of the US Court of Appeals before becoming an assistant US attorney for the DC area from 1956 to 1960.
Before President Richard M. Nixon appointed him under secretary of the Navy in the 1970s, he spent most of the 1960s practising law privately. In 1972, he was appointed secretary and stayed in that role for the next year. He oversaw the nation’s bicentennial celebration in 1976 in his capacity as a government official.
He Ran a Farm in Middleburg, Virginia, Where he grew Beef Cattle for a Long Time.
After his divorce from a member of the affluent Mellon family, his marriage to Ms. Taylor, and his public involvement with newscaster Barbara Walters, Mr. Warner gained a reputation as somewhat of a playboy. However, his lengthy Senate career and record reflecting an independent streak ultimately masked much of that image.
John Warner IV, Virginia Warner, and Mary Conover are his children from his first marriage to Catherine Mellon; he also leaves behind his wife of 15 years, Jeanne (Vander Myde) Warner, who he married after she had lost her husband in 2003, and two grandsons.
Both of Virginia’s current senators, Democrats Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, spoke highly of Mr. Warner on Wednesday, calling him a friend, ally, and informal adviser. Unrelated Mark Warner had once attempted to unseat him.
Mr. Warner said in a statement, “John Warner and I ran against each other in 1996.” I’ve repeated many times since then that Warner was the best candidate.
