John C. West
United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
In office June 8, 1977 – March 21, 1981
President	Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	William J. Porter
Succeeded by	Robert G. Neumann
109th Governor of South Carolina
In office January 19, 1971 – January 21, 1975
Lieutenant	Earle Morris Jr.
Preceded by	Robert Evander McNair
Succeeded by	James B. Edwards
80th Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina
In office January 17, 1967 – January 19, 1971
Governor	Robert Evander McNair
Preceded by	Robert Evander McNair
Succeeded by	Earle Morris Jr.
Member of the South Carolina Senate from Kershaw County
In office January 11, 1955 – January 10, 1967
Preceded by	James Clator Arrants
Succeeded by	District abolished
Personal details
Born	John Carl West (1922-08-27)August 27, 1922 Camden, South Carolina, U.S.
Died	March 21, 2004(2004-03-21) (aged 81) Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Lois Rhame ​ ( m. 1942)​
Children	3
Education	The Citadel University of South Carolina
Military service
Branch/service	United States Army

John Carl West Sr. (August 27, 1922 – March 21, 2004) was a U.S. Democratic Party politician who served as the 109th Governor of South Carolina from 1971 to 1975. He served as United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1977 to 1981.

Early life

West was born in Camden, South Carolina and grew up in the farming community of Charlotte Thompson near Camden. ^{[1] [2]} The following May, his father, along with seventy-six other persons, was killed in a fire at the nearby Cleveland School. ^[2] His mother and maternal grandmother escaped unharmed from the fire.

In 1942, he graduated from The Citadel with a bachelor's degree in political science. After graduation, he enlisted in the United States Army as an intelligence officer during World War II, assigned to stateside service. ^[2]

Political career

Following the war, West earned a law degree from the University of South Carolina in 1946. From 1948 to 1952, he served on the state Highway Commission. In 1954, he coordinated the unsuccessful U.S. Senate candidacy of Edgar A. Brown, who lost in a write-in campaign waged by former Governor Strom Thurmond. ^[2]

From 1955 to 1967, West served in the state senate. He was assigned to several committees which studied public school curriculum, investigated activities of the Communist Party of the United States of America, monitored the state Development Board, examined state support for the nursing profession and junior colleges, and recommended revisions to the state constitution.

West was the 80th Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, having served from 1967 to 1971. In the 1970 gubernatorial election, West with 53.2 percent of the vote defeated U.S. Representative Albert W. Watson, a Democrat-turned-Republican. Regarded as a New South governor, West vowed in his 1971 inaugural address that he would "eliminate from our government any vestige of discrimination because of race, creed, sex, religion or any other barrier to fairness for all citizens." ^[3]

After his tenure as governor, West returned to private law practice and was subsequently appointed United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, a position that he held from 1977 to 1981. After returning to the United States, he became a Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of South Carolina. From 1993 until his death from cancer, he was a partner in the Hilton Head law office of Bethea, Jordan, and Griffin.

Personal life

West married Lois Rhame in 1942. They had three children. ^[1] West died of liver cancer at his home on Hilton Head Island on March 21, 2004. ^[3]

References

External links

• John West: In His Own Words at University of South Carolina, South Carolina Political Collections
• John Carl West Papers at South Carolina Political Collections, University of South Carolina
• Governor John C. West Collection at the South Carolina Department of Archives & History (RG 552000)
• 1971 John C. West Inaugural Parade and Swearing in Ceremony on South Carolina Educational Television