The President today announced that he will nominate John C. West, of Camden, S.C., to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. West was Governor of South Carolina from 1971 to 1975, and is currently a partner in the law firm of West, Cooper, Bowen, Beard and Smoot.
West was born August 27, 1922, in Camden., S.C. He received a B.A. from The Citadel in 1942 and an LL.B. from the University of South Carolina in 1948. He served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1946.
From 1948 to 1970, West was a partner in the law firm of West, Holland, Furman and Cooper. He also served as a State senator in South Carolina from 1954 to 1966, and as lieutenant governor from 1966 to 1970.
West served as Governor of South Carolina from 1971 to 1975, and he has been with West, Cooper, Bowen, Beard and Smoot since then. In 1976 West headed the South Carolina Trade Mission visiting Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.
Jimmy Carter, United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Nomination of John C. West. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/243130