Former Sen. John W. Warner of Virginia, a former Navy secretary and one of the Senate’s most influential military experts, has died at age 94.
His longtime chief of staff Susan A. Magill says he died Tuesday of heart failure at home in Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife and daughter at his side.
The Republican Warner was elected to the Senate in 1978 and served five terms. Warner announced in 2007 that he would not run again in 2008. Warner was a former secretary of the Navy and for a time was chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Warner was a centrist Republican and as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee supported the war in Iraq. He also had an independent streak and drew support from moderates on both sides of America's political divide.
Warner was also married to actor Elizabeth Taylor from 1976 to 1982.