John Warner | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Official portrait,c. 1980 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States Senator fromVirginia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office January 2, 1979 – January 3, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | William L. Scott | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Mark Warner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 61stUnited States Secretary of the Navy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office May 4, 1972 – April 8, 1974 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Richard Nixon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | John Chafee | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | J. William Middendorf | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States Under Secretary of the Navy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office February 11, 1969 – May 4, 1972 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Richard Nixon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Charles F. Baird | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Frank P. Sanders | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | John William Warner III (1927-02-18)February 18, 1927 Washington, D.C., U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | May 25, 2021(2021-05-25) (aged 94) Alexandria, Virginia, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Republican | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouses | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Awards | Knight Commander of theOrder of the British Empire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Military service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allegiance |  United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Unit | 1st Marine Aircraft Wing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Warner's speech on the Senate floor a day after theSeptember 11 attacks Recorded September 12, 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
John William Warner III (February 18, 1927 – May 25, 2021) was an American politician and lawyer who served as aUnited States Senator fromVirginia from 1979 to 2009. A member of theRepublican Party, he previously served as theUnited States Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974. Warner is both the longest serving Republican Senator from Virginia, and the second longest serving Senator from Virginia behindDemocratHarry F. Byrd. He served as chairman of theSenate Armed Services Committee from 1999 to 2001, and from 2003 to 2007. Warner also served as the chairman of theSenate Rules Committee from 1995 to 1999.
Warner was a veteran of theSecond World War andKorean War, and was one of five World War II veterans serving in the Senate at the time of his retirement.[1] He did not seekreelection in 2008. After leaving the Senate, he worked for the law firm ofHogan Lovells, where he had previously been employed before joining theUnited States Department of Defense as theUnder Secretary of the Navy during thepresidency of Richard Nixon in 1969.
As of 2025, Warner is the last Republican to represent Virginia in the Senate, as well the only Republican Senator from Virginia to serve more than one term.
John William Warner III[2] was born on February 18, 1927, in Washington, D.C., to Martha Budd and Dr. John Warner Jr., an obstetrician-gynecologist in Washington.[3] He grew up in the District, where he attended the eliteSt. Albans School before graduating fromWoodrow Wilson High School in February 1945.
Warner enlisted in theUnited States Navy during World War II in January 1945, shortly before his 18th birthday. He served until the following year, leaving as apetty officer third class. He went to college atWashington and Lee University, where he was a member ofBeta Theta Pi, graduating in 1949; he then entered theUniversity of Virginia Law School.[4]
Warner joined theU.S. Marine Corps in October 1950, after the outbreak of theKorean War, and served inKorea as a ground aircraft maintenance officer with the1st Marine Aircraft Wing. His service number was 050488.[5] He continued in the Marine CorpsReserves after the war, eventually reaching the rank ofcaptain. He then resumed his studies, taking courses at theGeorge Washington University before receiving his law degree from UVA in 1953. That year, he became alaw clerk to Chief JudgeE. Barrett Prettyman of theD.C. Circuit. In 1956, he became an assistant prosecutor in the office of theUnited States Attorney for the District of Columbia.
In 1960, he entered private law practice and joined Hogan & Hartson (nowHogan Lovells). In the1960 United States presidential election, he served as an aide toVice PresidentRichard Nixon's campaign team.
After giving substantial funds and time to Nixon's successful presidential campaign in 1968, Warner was appointed Under Secretary of the Navy in the Nixon Administration in February 1969. On May 4, 1972, he succeededJohn H. Chafee asSecretary of the Navy. Thereafter Warner was appointed by PresidentGerald Ford as delegate to theLaw of the Sea talks, and he negotiated theU.S.-Soviet Incidents at Sea agreement which became acause célèbre of pro-Détente doves inU.S.-Soviet relations. He was subsequently appointed byGerald Ford to the post of Director of the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration.[6]
Following Ford's defeat, Warner began to consider political office for himself. He entered politics in the1978 Virginia election for the U.S. Senate. Despite the publicity of being Elizabeth Taylor's husband and the large amounts of money Warner used in his campaign for the nomination, he finished second at the stateRepublican Party (GOP) convention to the far more conservative politicianRichard D. Obenshain. Much of this loss was due to his perceived liberal political stances, especially his soft approach to U.S.-Soviet relations. In contrast, Obenshain was a noted anti-Soviet, a hardline anti-communist, and an opponent of other liberal policies including theGreat Society and much of theCivil Rights Movement. However, when Obenshain died two months later in a plane crash, Warner was chosen to replace him and narrowly won the general election overDemocratAndrew P. Miller, a formerAttorney General of Virginia. He was in the Senate until January 3, 2009. Despite his less conservative policy stances, Warner managed to be the second longest-serving senator in Virginia's history, behind onlyHarry F. Byrd Sr. and by far the longest-serving Republican Senator from the state. On August 31, 2007, Warner announced that he would not seek re-election in2008.[7]
His committee memberships included theEnvironment and Public Works Committee, theSenate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and theSenate Select Committee on Intelligence. As the chairman of theSenate Armed Services Committee, he protected and increased the flow of billions of dollars into the Virginia economy each year via the state's military installations and shipbuilding firms which served his reelection efforts in every cycle.
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Warner was quite moderate, especially in comparison to most Republican Senators from the South. He was among the minority of Republicans to support somegun control laws. He voted for theBrady Bill and, in 1999, was one of only five Republicans to vote to close the so-calledgun show loophole. While Warner voted against the1994 Assault Weapons Ban,[8] he co-sponsored efforts bySen. Dianne Feinstein to reauthorize the ban in 2004[9] and 2005.[10]
Warner supported[11] theRoe v. Wade decision establishingabortion rights and supportedembryonic stem cell research,[12] although he received high ratings fromanti-abortion groups because he voted in favor of many abortion restrictions.[13] On June 15, 2004, Warner was among the minority of his party to vote to expandhate crime laws to includesexual orientation as a protected category. He supported a constitutional amendment banningsame-sex marriage, but he raised concerns about the most recentFederal Marriage Amendment as being too restrictive, as it would have potentially bannedcivil unions as well.
In 1987, Warner was one of the six Republicans who voted to reject the nomination ofRobert Bork by PresidentRonald Reagan and the only Southern Republican to do so.[14] Warner was re-elected easily in 1984 and 1990, and faced his first real challenge for re-election in 1996 from political newcomer DemocratMark Warner (no relation), a millionaire who vastly outspent the incumbent and produced an unusually close election. John Warner prevailed with 52% of the vote.
According toGeorge Stephanopoulos, a former close aide to PresidentBill Clinton, Warner was among top choices to replaceLes Aspin as the Secretary of Defense in theClinton administration; Clinton ultimately selectedWilliam Perry.[15]
In the1996 presidential election, Warner served as a Senate teller (along with DemocratWendell H. Ford) of electoral votes.[16] Warner was among 10 GOP Senators who voted against the charge of perjury duringClinton's impeachment (the others wereRichard Shelby ofAlabama,Ted Stevens ofAlaska,Susan Collins ofMaine,Olympia Snowe ofMaine,John Chafee ofRhode Island,Arlen Specter ofPennsylvania,Jim Jeffords ofVermont,Slade Gorton ofWashington, andFred Thompson ofTennessee). Warner and others who voted against the article angered many Republicans by their position. However, unlike Snowe, Collins, Specter, Jeffords, and Chafee, the rest of the Republicans voted guilty on the second article.
As was the case in1990, Warner faced no Democratic opposition in2002, winning re-election to a fifth term in the Senate by a landslide over Independent candidate Jacob Hornberger.[17]
On May 23, 2005, Warner was one of 14 centrist senators, dubbed the "Gang of 14," to forge a compromise on the Democrats' proposed use of the judicialfilibuster, thus blocking the Republican leadership's attempt to implement the so-callednuclear option. Under the agreement, the Democrats would retain the power to filibuster a Bush judicial nominee only in an "extraordinary circumstance", and three Bushappellate court nominees,Janice Rogers Brown,Priscilla Owen, andWilliam H. Pryor, Jr., would receive a vote by the full Senate.
On September 17, 2006, Warner said that U.S. military and intelligence personnel in future wars will suffer for abuses committed in 2006 by the U.S. in the name of fighting terrorism. He feared that the administration's civilian lawyers and a president who never saw combat were putting U.S. service personnel at risk of torture,summary executions and other atrocities by chipping away atGeneva Conventions’ standards that have protected them since 1949. Following the Supreme Court ruling onHamdan v. Rumsfeld, which was adverse to the Bush Administration, Warner (with SenatorsLindsey Graham andJohn McCain) negotiated with the White House the language of theMilitary Commissions Act of 2006, suspendinghabeas corpus provisions for anyone deemed by the Executive Branch an "unlawful combatant" and barring them from challenging their detentions in court. Warner's vote gave a retroactive, nine-year immunity to U.S. officials who authorized, ordered, or committed acts of torture and abuse, permitting the use of statements obtained through torture to be used in military tribunals so long as the abuse took place by December 30, 2005.[18]
Warner's "compromise" (approved by a Republican majority) authorized the President to establish permissible interrogation methods and to "interpret the meaning and application" of internationalGeneva Convention standards, so long as the coercion falls short of "serious" bodily or psychological injury.[19] Warner maintained that the new law holds true to "core principles" that the U.S. provide fair trials and not be seen as undermining Geneva Conventions.[20] The bill was signed into law on October 17, 2006, in Warner's presence.[21][22][23]
In March 2007, after Chairman of the Joint ChiefsPeter Pace spoke publicly about hisviews on homosexuality and the military, Warner said, "I respectfully, but strongly, disagree with the chairman's view that homosexuality is immoral."[24]
On August 23, 2007, he called on President Bush to begin bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq by Christmas in order to make it clear to the Iraqi leadership that the U.S. commitment is not indefinite.[25]
On August 31, 2007, he announced that he would not seek a sixth term in the Senate in 2008.[26]
Warner was a cosponsor ofAmerica's Climate Security Act of 2007, also more commonly referred to as theCap and Trade Bill, that proposed to ration (cap) carbon emissions in the U.S., and tax or purchase (trade)Carbon credits on the global market for greater U.S. alignment with theKyoto protocol standards and goals.
In September 2008, Warner joined theGang of 20, a bipartisan coalition seeking comprehensive energy reform. The group pushed for a bill that would encourage state-by-state decisions onoffshore drilling and authorize billions of dollars for conservation and alternative energy.[27]
In October 2008, Warner voted in favor of theEmergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.[28][29]
Warner was listed as a senior advisor at the website for the D.C. law firm,Hogan Lovells. He was in the firm's Global Regulatory practice group, and his specialties were Aerospace, Defense, and Government Services.[30] In 2014, Warner endorsed Mark Warner'sSenate reelection bid.[31][32] On September 28, 2016, Warner endorsedDemocratic presidential candidateHillary Clinton overDonald Trump, praising Clinton's record of bipartisan cooperation.[33] He endorsed Republican candidateEd Gillespie for Governor in2017.[34] In 2018, he endorsed DemocratsTim Kaine for Senate andAbigail Spanberger andLeslie Cockburn for Congress while endorsing RepublicanBarbara Comstock forVirginia's 10th congressional district.[35][36][37] In2020, Warner endorsed former Vice PresidentJoe Biden for President of the United States and Mark Warner forhis reelection bid to the Senate.[38][39]
In 2020, Warner, along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials, signed a statement that asserted that President Trump was unfit to serve another term, and "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him."[40]
Warner also served as an Honorary Director on the Board of Directors at theAtlantic Council.[41]
On December 12, 2008, theOffice of the Director of National Intelligence awarded Warner the first everNational Intelligence Distinguished Public Service Medal. In 2008, Warner delivered theWaldo Family Lecture on International Relations atOld Dominion University.[42]
On January 8, 2009, the Secretary of the Navy announced the Navy would name the nextVirginia-classsubmarine after John Warner.USS John Warner (SSN-785) is the twelfthVirginia-class submarine[43] and was commissioned on August 1, 2015, at a ceremony atNaval Station Norfolk.[44][45]
On February 19, 2009, theBritish Embassy in Washington, D.C., announced thatQueen Elizabeth II would name John Warner an honorary Knight Commander for his work strengthening the American-British military alliance.[46] As a person who was not a British citizen (or a citizen of a country which acknowledges the British monarch as their own monarch), the title ofKnight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire only allowed Warner to put thePost-nominal lettersKBE after his name.[47]
The annual Senator John W. Warner Award is given to a third year undergraduate student at theUniversity of Virginia who exhibits a serious, convincing ambition to seek future election to public office. This award honors an individual who strives for service in an elected office, whether it is a part-time city council position or a full-time legislative or executive office. Successful candidates demonstrate the required courage to stand up and ask fellow citizens for their valued vote. The award of up to $3,000 funds a research project in an area that will inform the recipient's future career as an elected official. Award recipients include: John Jacob Nay, Casey Enders, James Linville, and Sarah Buckley.[48]
On May 2, 2013, Warner andUnited States Marine Corps representatives broke ground for the Senator John W. Warner Center for AdvancedMilitary Studies atMarine Corps University inQuantico, Virginia. The Warner Center is home to theMarine Corps Command and Staff College, School of Advanced Warfighting and College of Distance Education and Training, and theBrigadier General Simmons Center for Marine Corps History, including the archives of the Marine Corps and thehistory division.[49][50]
In August 1957, Warner married banking heiress Catherine Conover Mellon, the daughter of art collectorPaul Mellon and his first wife, Mary Conover, and the granddaughter ofAndrew Mellon. By his marriage, Warner accrued substantial capital for investing and expanding his political contacts. The Warners, who divorced in 1973, had three children: Virginia, John IV, and Mary. His former wife now uses the name Catherine Conover.[51]
Warner was the sixth husband of actressElizabeth Taylor, whom he married in December 1976, at theSecond Presbyterian Church inRichmond, Virginia, before he was elected to the Senate. They divorced in November 1982. Warner was the last surviving, as well as the longest-lived, of Taylor's seven husbands.
Warner was linked romantically to broadcast journalistBarbara Walters in the 1990s. In December 2003, he married Jeanne Vander Myde, a real estate agent and the widow of Reagan administration defense department official Paul Vander Myde.[52][53]
Warner died from heart failure at his home inAlexandria, Virginia, on May 25, 2021, at age 94.[54][55] Warner's funeral was held June 23, 2021, atWashington National Cathedral. President Joe Biden, Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, and AdmiralMichael Mullen were among those who spoke at the funeral.[56]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | John Warner | 613,232 | 50.2 | ||
| Democratic | Andrew P. Miller | 608,511 | 49.8 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | John Warner (Incumbent) | 1,406,194 | 70.1 | +19.9 | |
| Democratic | Edythe C. Harrison | 601,142 | 29.9 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | John Warner (Incumbent) | 846,782 | 80.4 | +10.3 | |
| Independent | Nancy B. Spannaus | 196,755 | 18.7 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | John Warner (Incumbent) | 1,235,743 | 52.5 | −27.9 | |
| Democratic | Mark Warner | 1,115,981 | 47.4 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | John Warner (Incumbent) | 1,229,894 | 82.6 | +30.1 | |
| Independent | Nancy B. Spannaus | 145,102 | 9.7 | ||
| Independent | Jacob Hornberger | 106,055 | 7.1 | ||
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Under Secretary of the Navy 1969–1972 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of the Navy 1972–1974 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromVirginia (Class 2) 1978,1984,1990,1996,2002 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Virginia 1979–2009 Served alongside:Harry F. Byrd Jr.,Paul S. Trible Jr.,Chuck Robb,George Allen,Jim Webb | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theSenate Armed Services Committee 1987–1995 | Succeeded by Sam Nunn |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Rules Committee 1995–1999 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Armed Services Committee 1999–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Carl Levin | Ranking Member of theSenate Armed Services Committee 2001, 2001–2003 | |
| Chair of theSenate Armed Services Committee 2003–2007 | ||
| Class 1 |  | |
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| Class 2 | ||
| Rules (1870–1947) | | |
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| Rules and Administration (1947–present) | ||
Chairs of theUnited States Senate Committee on Armed Services | ||
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| Military Affairs Committee (1816–1947) | | |
| Naval Affairs Committee (1816–1947) | ||
| Armed Services Committee (1947–present) | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
