John Warner a former Navy secretary and one of the Senate’s most influential military experts, has died at 94. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)
Former Sen. John W. Warner, a onetime Navy secretary who was once married to Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor, has died at 94, his longtime chief of staff said Wednesday.
Warner died Tuesday of heart failure at home in Alexandria, Va., with his wife and daughter at his side, Susan A. Magill said.
“He was frail but had a lot of spirit until his last days,” Magill said.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who isn’t related to John Warner, said he was “devastated” by the news.
“To me, he was the gold standard in Virginia,” Mark Warner said on Twitter.
John Warner, a Republican, was elected to the Senate in 1978 and served five terms before retiring in 2008.
Warner with his wife, actress Elizabeth Taylor, in 1977.
Warner with his wife, actress Elizabeth Taylor, in 1977. (AP)
A former secretary of the Navy, Warner was one of the Senate’s most influential military experts.
He was a key supporter of the war in Iraq and served for a time as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He was a conservative but had an independent streak, and was hugely popular with Virginia voters.
Warner was married to Taylor from 1976 to 1982. He was the sixth of the Hollywood actress‘ seven husbands.
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