Virginia in the Union: Twenty U.S. Senators from Virginia in six parts
Part 6. 1967-2021: Late 20th century and Post-9/11 Virginia, (VUS SOL the United States since World War II)
Harry F. Byrd, Jr., Congresses 89-97. Presidents: Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan.
John Warner, Congresses 95-110. Presidents: Carter, Reagan, G.H.W. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush.
Mark Warner, Congresses 111-116. Presidents: Obama, Trump.
See List of United States Senators from Virginia for a comprehensive overview of them all and how their terms overlapped in Congress. See Lists of Presidents of the United States for a comprehensive list and portraits of each president.
With the twenty longest-serving U.S. Senators, every U.S. Congress and Presidential term is represented. This gives the history-as-biography approach to history a comprehensive survey of U.S. and Virginia.
Senate years of service and political party are listed along with their corresponding Presidents in the second paragraph of each article. All initial entries come from the Biographical Directory of the Congress of the United States at congress.bioguide.gov.
BYRD, Harry Flood, Jr., (son of Harry Flood Byrd, Sr.), a Senator from Virginia.
Senate Years of Service: 1965-1971; 1971-1983
Party: Democrat; Independent. Presidents: Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan.
Born in Winchester, Va., December 20, 1914; educated at Virginia Military Institute and the University of Virginia;
Newspaper editor and fruit grower; member of Democratic State central committee 1940-1965;
During the Second World War, served in the United States Naval Reserve as a lieutenant commander;
Member, State senate 1948-1965;
Appointed on November 12, 1965, as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of his father, Harry Flood Byrd, Sr., and was subsequently elected in a special election on November 8, 1966, to fill the unexpired term ending January 3, 1971; reelected as an Independent in 1970 and in 1976, and served from November 12, 1965, to January 2, 1983; was not a candidate for reelection in 1982;
He was a resident of Winchester, Va., until his death on July 30, 2013; interment in Mount Hebron Cemetery, Winchester, Va..
Bibliography
Congressional Biographical Directory online, Byrd, Harry F., Jr. Double Trouble: Vignettes from a Life of Politics and Newspapering. Harrisonburg, Virg.: R.R. Donnelley & Sons, 2007; Byrd, Harry F., Jr. “The Limitations of Detente.” In Trends in U.S.-Soviet Military Power, pp. 7-12. Washington: ACU Education and Research Institute, 1977; Hatch, Alden. The Byrds of Virginia. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1969.
WARNER, John William, a Senator from Virginia;
Senate Years of Service: 1979-2009. Party: Republican. Presidents: Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush.
Born in Washington, D.C., February 18, 1927; attended schools in Washington, D.C. and Virginia; served in the United States Navy 1944-1946; graduated, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va. 1949;
Served in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean conflict 1950-1952; served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve 1952-1956; graduated, University of Virginia Law School 1953;
Cattle farmer; admitted to the Washington, D.C. bar in 1953 and commenced practice the same year; law clerk, United States Court of Appeals for District of Columbia Circuit 1953-1954;
Assistant United States attorney 1956-1960; Under Secretary, United States Navy 1969-1972; Secretary, United States Navy 1972-1974; administrator, American Revolution Bicentennial Administration 1974-1976;
Elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1978 for the term commencing January 3, 1979; subsequently appointed by the Governor on January 2, 1979, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William Scott for the term ending January 3, 1979; reelected in 1984, 1990, 1996, and 2002, and served from January 2, 1979, to January 3, 2009; chair, Committee on Rules and Administration (One Hundred Fourth and One Hundred Fifth Congresses [September 12, 1995-January 3, 1999]), Committee on Armed Services (One Hundred Sixth Congress; One Hundred Seventh Congress [January 20, 2001-June 6, 2001], One Hundred Eighth and One Hundred Ninth Congresses); was not a candidate for reelection in 2008.
Bibliography: Congressional Biographical Directory online.
WARNER, Mark, a Senator from Virginia;
Senate Years of Service: 2009- . Party: Democrat. Presidents: Barack Obama, Donald Trump.
Born in Indianapolis, Ind., December 15, 1954; B.A., George Washington University, 1977; J.D., Harvard Law School, 1980;
Worked on the staff of Senator Christopher Dodd; engaged in the high-technology business; co-founded the company that became Nextel;
Virginia Democratic Party chairman, 1993-1995; unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1996;
Governor of Virginia, 2002-2006; chairman of the National Governors Association 2004-2005;
Elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 2008; reelected in 2014 for the term ending January 3, 2021.
Bibliography: Congressional Biographical Directory online.