He then earned a bachelor's degree at Muskingum College in 1949 and a Ph.D. in American history in 1958 from the University of Michigan.

The National Archives, founded in 1934, had been part of the General Services Administration since 1949 and was controlled by political appointees.

During his term, he was elected president of the Society of American Archivists, and served in that position from 1976 to 1977.

That year, Warner returned to the University of Michigan, eventually becoming Dean of the School of Information and Library Science.

[3] He died in Ann Arbor, Michigan, of a heart attack on April 24, 2007, after battling cancer for a year.