The late five-term Republican senator John Warner of Virginia, whose marriages to Catherine Mellon and Elizabeth Taylor were more famous than his politics, was a highly charismatic, powerful pro-defense senator who also exhibited GOP heresies.
John Warner was debonair, wealthy, powerful, charismatic, and once married to Elizabeth Taylor. He wasn’t a movie star, though; he was a senator from Virginia and occasional Republican heretic whose death at 94 on Tuesday is a reminder of long-lost political traditions. His long congressional career, which ended in retirement in 2009, was marked by his lofty position in the bipartisan-defense establishment, tons of military pork to keep restive Virginians satisfied, and, despite a generally orthodox Republican voting record, occasional high-profile acts of heresy. It was no great surprise when Warner announced support for Democrat Mark Warner (no relation) as his successor, and he was among the early Republican supporters of Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump in 2016. Years earlier, he staved off the takeover of his party by right-wing zealots such as Oliver North that would presage the danger to come. Warner’s career was regularly marked by skill, personal charm, and regular doses of good fortune. After a comfortable upbringing in Washington, he performed brief Navy service near the end of World War II, and then volunteered for the Marines during the Korean conflict. Soon thereafter, Warner married banking heiress Catherine Mellon, which made him very rich (even after their 1973 divorce). His campaign work for and contributions to the 1968 Nixon presidential campaign helped him secure appointment as an undersecretary of the Navy before his ascension to the top post in 1972. He did some high-profile work for Gerald Ford in planning the Bicentennial, and marked 1976 personally by becoming the sixth husband of Elizabeth Taylor.
