First impressions are not all that perfect.  We all know that.  But, when it comes to this person, it took me- and a whole bunch of others- too long to correct our bias.

I’m talking about Senator John Warner, who just passed away on the 24^th of May.  John served some 30 years as a Senator representing Virginia.

John had served as undersecretary and Secretary of the Navy.  But, under Richard Nixon’s administration- which clearly provided zero gravitas to his capabilities.

Then on 4 December 1976 (during my first year as a Virginia resident), John married Liz Taylor. I’m sure it was for love- but it might have been as preparation for his run for the Senate.  At least, that’s what most of us thought when he announced his candidacy.  Those nuptials proved useful, too- John Warner won- to be the second Republican Senator from Virginia in some 100 years.  Oh- and he won by a landslide- less than 0.4% margin out of the 1.22 million votes cast.

Yet, Senator Warner proved he was not an empty suit.  His integrity was among his greatest attributes. And, while he was a Republican, he disavowed populism, chose principle over partisanship, supported abortion rights, voted for gun control, among other stances- and survived some 5 terms as Senator.  (By the way, this GOP stalwart endorsed Hilary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden last year.  No Trump sycophant, he!)

 

I also had a personal relationship with the Senator.  Back in the early 1990s, my company supplied the Veterans Administration with dialysate.  Not just one center, but their general warehouse and some 40 other hospitals across the US.

And, as was typical of the times, the VA failed to pay in a timely fashion.  At the time of our approaching Senator Warner, the VA owed us more than $ 140,000 over 30 days old.  After meeting with the Senator and presenting him with our evidence, he told us he would get back to us.   Within 30 days, we had an air-freighted check- and the VA never paid us later than 30 days again.

When we called to thank him, we were informed that he was honored to effect that constituent service, that he had heard that our product was the best on the market, and that the VA  had no right to squeeze its small business suppliers.

(Just so you know, when I approached a Democratic representative with an issue with the Social Security Administration, he also promised to take action.  And, did absolutely nothing.  So, what Senator Warner did was not a universal among our elected representatives.)

No, Senator Warner earned his well deserved reputation.   And, most importantly, he embodied patriotic public service.  We need a slew more Senators like him.