Togo Dennis West, Jr.
TOGO DENNIS WEST, JR., was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on 21 June 1942; was valedictorian at Atkins High School there; graduated from Howard University with degrees in electrical engineering and law in 1965 and 1968, respectively; married Gail Berry, 1966; served as law clerk for Judge Harold R. Tyler, Jr., U.S. Southern District of New York, 1968-1969; received a commission in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps, 1969; was a judge advocate in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), 1969-1973; practiced law as an associate in the firm of Covington and Burling in Washington, D.C., 1973-1975; was associate deputy attorney general of the Department of Justice, 1975-1976; returned to his law practice, 1976-1977; was general counsel of the Department of the Navy, 1977-1979; was special assistant to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense, 1979-1980; appointed general counsel of the Department of Defense, 1980-1981; resumed the practice of law as managing partner in the New York firm of Patterson, Belknap, Webb and Tyler, 1981-1990; submitted to Congress and the Secretary of State an independent inquiry concerning the murders of American churchwomen in El Salvador, 1982; was senior vice president in charge of government relations for the Northrop Corporation, 1990-1993; was sworn in as the sixteenth Secretary of the Army, 22 November 1993; was appointed Acting Secreatary of Veterans Affairs on 2 January 1998 and officially retained the title Secretary of the Army until his confirmation by the Senate as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on 5 May 1998.
TOGO DENNIS WEST, JR.
Clinton Administration
Oil on canvas 42"x35", 1998
page created 13 March 2001