Navy and Newport News Shipbuilding poised to honor John Warner

Newport News Shipbuilding will christen the Navy's newest submarine Saturday in a ceremony that will more than mark a construction milestone. It will celebrate the legacy of retired U.S. Sen. John Warner, one of Virginia's most venerated leaders.

Warner insists that others are more deserving of having a warship named in their honor. He said as much when President George W. Bush called to deliver the big news more than five years ago.

When the phone rang that day, Virginia's senior senator had just climbed out of a swimming pool. He was in Florida with his wife, Jeanne, visiting his son and daughter-in-law, counting down the final days of a 30-year legislative career that put his fingerprints on everything from Soviet negotiations to climate change.

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