The President today announced that he will nominate Togo D. West, Jr., of Washington, D.C., to be General Counsel of the Department of Defense. He would replace Deanne Siemer, who has resigned. West has been Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense since earlier this year.
He was born June 21, 1942, in Winston-Salem, N.C. He received a B.S.E.E. (1965) and a J.D. (1968) from Howard University.
West was a law clerk with the firm of Covington & Burling in 1967 and 1968 and was law clerk to Judge Harold R. Tyler of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in 1968 and 1969. He was a judge advocate in the Military Justice Division of the U.S. Army in 1969 and 1970.
From 1970 to 1973, West was attorney-adviser to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. He was an associate with Covington & Burling from 1973 to 1975 and in 1976 and 1977. From 1975 to 1976, he was Associate Deputy Attorney General. From 1977 to 1979, he was General Counsel to the Department of the Navy.
Jimmy Carter, Department of Defense Nomination of Togo D. West, Jr., To Be General Counsel. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/249259