Sen. Warner on seven presidents

During 30 years in the Senate, five years as a senior Pentagon official and two years as director of the U.S. bicentennial celebration, John Warner worked directly with seven presidents. Some of his observations follow.

Richard Nixon

“I got to know him pretty well” while working as an advance man for Nixon’s 1968 campaign for the presidency. “I still have a very high regard for his knowledge of foreign affairs.” But Nixon also “had an element of insecurity in him. He was always fearful and suspicious. And unfortunately, his staff did not just give him protection, or say to him: Mr. Vice President … or Mr. President, now wait a minute, this is not the way we think you should do this.”

Gerald Ford

Ford told Warner that working on the bicentennial commission would help him distance himself from the Pentagon, an unpopular place with voters at the end of the Vietnam War.

“He was the nicest man,” but he “almost inherited an impossible situation” in taking over after the Watergate scandal forced Nixon from office.

Jimmy Carter

“I rather liked him.” They shared an affection for the Navy and for Adm. Hyman Rickover, the father of the nuclear Navy. Rickover had been Carter’s mentor in the Navy; Warner had been Rickover’s boss as Navy secretary. Carter’s presidency turned sour in part because “he tried to run everything as if he was the captain of the ship. … That sort of rigidity didn’t serve him well.”

Ronald Reagan

Warner became fast friends with Reagan in part because of their shared love of horses and the outdoors. The pair occasionally rode together on a farm Warner owned in Virginia’s horse country. “His legacy was really one of being forthright and being himself. He never changed.”

George H.W. Bush

The 41st president “was a very broad-based man … a kindly person” who faced some unusual economic situations. And now his son’s got the same problem – a little more severe than he had.”

Bill Clinton

Having never served in the military himself, Clinton made a point of seeking the counsel of senior military leaders and defense-oriented lawmakers such as Warner during private sessions in the White House. “He would just sort of sit in the chair and watch the military and the members of Congress go at it, debate things … He was a good listener. … He was a learner.”

George W. Bush

Warner “tried to be supportive” and was a key backer of Bush’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003. Later, he broke with Bush and pushed the president to begin bringing troops home. “I don’t pretend to judge his presidency. … We’re fortunate this country has not been attacked in anything similar to 9/11. And you have to say that a lot of the steps that he took contributed to our nation not suffering another devastating blow.”