John Carl West
| John C. West | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 14th 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 Gerhard 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 August 27, 1922 Camden, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | March 21, 2004 (aged 81) Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Camden, South Carolina |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Lois Rhame West (married 1942–2004, his death) |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater |
The Citadel University of South Carolina School of Law |
| Profession | Attorney |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army
|
| Rank | Military intelligence officer, stateside in World War II |
John Carl West, Sr. (August 27, 1922 – March 21, 2004), was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the 109th Governor of South Carolina from 1971 to 1975. From 1977 to 1981, he was the U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
West was born in Camden, South Carolina. He was reared in the Kershaw County farming community of Charlotte Thompson. In May 1923, his father, along with seventy-six other persons, was killed in a fire at the nearby Cleveland School. His mother and maternal grandmother escaped unharmed from the fire. West was hence reared by his determined single mother. In 1942, he married his childhood sweetheart, Lois Rhame. The couple had three children, a daughter and two sons, Shelton, Douglas, and John, Jr. That same year, he graduated from The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, and enlisted in the United States Army as a major, an intelligence officer, during World War II, assigned to stateside service.
Following the war, West earned a law degree in 1948 from the University of South Carolina in the capital city of Columbia. From 1948 to 1952, he served on the South Carolina 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, then a Democrat but in 1964 a defector to the Republican Party.
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