NEWS- 'A fullness of time': Sen. Warner says big goodbye

Warner's third wife, Jeanne, stood dutifully by her husband as the 80-year old senator said good-bye after 30 years on the job.
PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

Emerging from a Pavilion on the Lawn a little before 2pm last Friday, August 31, accompanied by his third wife, Jeanne Vander Myde, and a cluster of supporters and aides, Senator John Warner (R) circled the Rotunda and descended the front steps to a podium where he announced his retirement after 30 years as a U.S. Senator, the second longest tenure in Virginia history. Senator Harry F. Byrd Sr. holds the record.

With his smiling, sometimes tearful looking wife standing a foot away, taking her eyes from his face only to laugh when the press corps did (a selfless gesture it would be hard to imagine a certain Academy Award-winning former Warner wife doing), Warner said he chose the Rotunda as the site of his announcement because it was "hallowed ground," and because UVA professor and political pundit Larry Sabato, who watched the proceedings with former Virginia Governor Gerald L. Baliles, suggested it.

Warner said he made his decision after keeping a journal for six months, debating with himself whether he could help in these complicated times. True to this form, the Senator's aides passed out copies of what looked like a handwritten letter from which the senator read. Warner said he thought the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan is the most complex he has ever seen. In the end, though, the veteran statesman decided it was time to go and, of course, quoted Thomas Jefferson: "There is a fullness of time when men should go and not occupy too long the ground to which others have the right to advance." 

At one point, he told a story about coming to give a graduation speech on the Lawn in 1972 when he was President Richard Nixon's Secretary of the Navy. Then-UVA president Edgar Shannon had invited him despite Vietnam-era campus unrest and distrust of the military. As he began to talk about the importance of service to one's country, Warner said, he noticed that no one in the audience was paying attention. Instead, he said, they were watching streakers running in front of the Rotunda behind him.

During a short question and answer period, Warner hinted that he might ramp up his criticism of the war in Iraq, as he read a newspaper editorial accusing him of playing politics with the issue. Warner said he hoped his decision today would put an end to such accusations.

The Senator refused to answer questions about President George Bush's handling of the war until after the President has a chance to respond to General David Petraeus' report on the effectiveness of this year's troop surge, due on September 15.

Warner said he's not sure what he'll do next, mentioning something in the private sector or perhaps some philanthropy, but he did say he would remain involved in serving the people of Virginia.

Then, like an aging king in a Shakespearean drama, Warner left the podium to shake hands with the people.

Warner and his entourage, which included his wife Jeanne, UVA professor and political pundit Larry Sabato, and former Virginia Governor Gerald L. Baliles, were led by a secret service agent past some surprised students on the Lawn.
PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

Warner's aids passed out this handwritten letter from the Senator.
PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

Sabato bends Baliles ear during the proceedings.
PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

This time Warner pressed the flesh not for votes, but to say goodbye.
PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

Warner said he chose the Rotunda as the site of his announcement because it was "hallowed ground" to him.
PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

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