Former Senator John W. Warner of Virginia, a centrist Republican who served as Navy secretary and one of the Senate’s most influential military experts, has died at 94, his longtime chief of staff, Susan A. Magill said Wednesday.
Susan Magill said Warner died of heart failure at home in Alexandria, Virginia, on Tuesday, with his wife and daughter by his side.
Warner, a courtly figure who courted celebrities and was married to Elizabeth Taylor when he was elected to the Senate in 1978, served five terms before retiring in 2008.
He was a strong supporter of President George W. Bush’s declaration of war in Iraq, and he was chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee for a time.
Warner, a former Secretary of the Navy and a veteran of World War II and Korea, devoted most of his career to military matters.
