View source for Togo D. West Jr.

{{Infobox officeholder
|name         = Togo West
|image        = TogoDWest.jpg
|office       = 3rd [[United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs]]
|president    = [[Bill Clinton]]
|term_start   = May 4, 1998
|term_end     = July 10, 2000
|predecessor  = [[Jesse Brown]]
|successor    = [[Anthony Principi]]
|office1      = [[United States Secretary of the Army]]
|president1   = [[Bill Clinton]]
|term_start1  = November 22, 1993
|term_end1    = May 4, 1998
|predecessor1 = [[Gordon R. Sullivan|Gordon Sullivan]] {{small|(Acting)}}
|successor1   = [[Robert M. Walker|Mike Walker]] {{small|(Acting)}}
|office2      = [[General Counsel of the Navy]]
|president2   = [[Jimmy Carter]]
|term_start2  = April 22, 1977
|term_end2    = January 13, 1979
|predecessor2 = [[E. Grey Lewis|Grey Lewis]]
|successor2   = [[Coleman Hicks]]
|birth_name   = Togo Dennis West Jr.
|birth_date   = {{birth date|1942|6|21}}
|birth_place  = [[Winston-Salem, North Carolina|Winston-Salem]], [[North Carolina]], [[United States|U.S.]]
|death_date   =  {{death date and age|2018|3|8|1942|6|21}}
|death_place  =  [[Caribbean Sea]] aboard cruiseliner between [[Barbados]] and [[Puerto Rico]]
|party        = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|spouse       = Gail Berry
|children     = 2 daughters 
|education    = [[Howard University]] {{small|([[Bachelor of Science|BS]], [[Juris Doctor|JD]])}}
|allegiance   = {{flag|United States}}
|branch       = {{army|United States}}
|serviceyears = 1965–1973
|unit         = [[Judge Advocate General's Corps, United States Army|Army Judge Advocate General's Corps]]
|mawards      = [[Legion of Merit]]<br>[[Meritorious Service Medal (United States)|Meritorious Service Medal]]
}}
'''Togo Dennis West Jr.''' (June 21, 1942 – March 8, 2018) was an attorney and public official who was the third [[United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs]]. He was picked by [[President of the United States|President]] [[Bill Clinton]] on [[January 27]], [[1998]], during Clinton's second term, and was confirmed by the [[United States Senate]] on [[May 5]], [[1998]]. Before that, he had served as [[United States Secretary of the Army]] under Clinton, from [[1993]] to [[1997]]. He was the [[List of African American United States Cabinet Secretaries|second African American]] to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

==Personal life==
West was born in [[Winston-Salem, North Carolina|Winston-Salem]], [[North Carolina]]; there, he became an [[Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)|Eagle Scout]] with Bronze Palms, and attended Atkins High School (where his parents were teachers), graduating as [[valedictorian]] in 1959. After that, he entered [[Howard University]], getting a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in engineering in 1965, and a [[Juris Doctor]] in 1968, receiving ''[[cum laude]]'' honors and graduating first in his class. While a freshman at Howard University, he became a member of [[Alpha Phi Omega]] fraternity. West is also a member of the Kappa Psi chapter of [[Omega Psi Phi]] fraternity. While a student at the [[Howard University School of Law]], West became the managing editor for the ''Howard Law Journal''; he also met Gail Berry, who became his wife.  The Wests later had two daughters.

A member of [[St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square (Washington, D.C.)|St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square]], he served as a [[vestryman]] and [[churchwarden|Senior Warden]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.studentorg.vcu.edu/aphio/about/pc_f2004.html |title=Fall 2004: Togo West |accessdate=10 December 2008 |work=Alpha Phi Omega @ VCU |publisher=Alpha Phi Omega, Alpha Delta Iota Chapter |archive-date=9 February 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050209054328/http://www.studentorg.vcu.edu/aphio/about/pc_f2004.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He has been named a [[Distinguished Eagle Scout Award|Distinguished Eagle Scout]] by the [[Boy Scouts of America]] and was awarded the [[Silver Buffalo Award]] for his national contributions to America’s youth. He is the President of the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

==Career==
After completing law school and clerking for a federal judge, West entered the [[United States Army]] and served in the [[Judge Advocate General's Corps]].  From his military service, he earned the [[Legion of Merit]] and the [[Meritorious Service Medal (USA)|Meritorious Service Medal]].  He subsequently practiced law at the firm of [[Covington & Burling]] before being appointed an associate deputy attorney general in the administration of President [[Gerald Ford]].  Then, West held several posts in the administration of [[Jimmy Carter]]:   general counsel to the Navy (1977-1979), special assistant to the secretary and to the deputy secretary of defense (1979), and general counsel to the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] (1980-1981). As the Secretary of the Army, West commented on the [[Aberdeen scandal]], which prompted stricter enforcement and investigation into the Army's [[sexual harassment]] policies.

West returned to private practice in 1981 with the firm of [[Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler]] and later worked as senior vice president for government relations of the [[Northrop Corporation]] until he became a member of the Clinton administration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=American President: Bill Clinton |url=http://www.americanpresident.org/history/billclinton/cabinet/veteransaffairs/togowest/h_index.shtml |access-date=2009-10-08 |archive-date=2006-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061001205503/http://www.americanpresident.org/history/billclinton/cabinet/veteransaffairs/togowest/h_index.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Since leaving the government, West has worked as a lawyer and has served as president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington-based [[think tank]] that works on issues that are important to [[minorities]].<ref>[http://www.jointcenter.org/ The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>  He is also a strong supporter of and past board member of the [[Mount Vernon (plantation)|Mount Vernon]] preservation society.

==Death==
West, Jr. died of a [[heart attack]] on March 8, 2018 at the age of 75, while on a cruise traveling between [[Barbados]] and [[Puerto Rico]].<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/togo-d-west-jr-clinton-appointee-who-investigated-army-abuses-and-led-veterans-affairs-dies-at-75/2018/03/11/10983c7e-2538-11e8-b79d-f3d931db7f68_story.html?utm_term=.9f3dc2f77a23 Togo D. West Jr., Clinton appointee who investigated Army abuses and led veterans affairs, dies at 75]</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{commons|Togo West}}

{{start box}}
{{succession box|
  title=[[United States Secretary of the Army]]|
  before=[[Michael P.W. Stone]]|
  after=[[Louis Caldera]]|
  years=1993 – 1997|
}}
{{succession box|
  title=[[United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs]]|
  before=[[Jesse Brown]]|
  after=[[Hershel W. Gober]]<br/>{{small|(acting)}}|
  years=1998 – 2000|
}}
{{end box}}


{{Clinton cabinet}}
{{USSecArm}}
{{USSecVA}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:West, Togo D., Jr.}}
[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:2018 deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction]]
[[Category:African American lawyers]]
[[Category:African-American military personnel]]
[[Category:African American politicians]]
[[Category:People from Winston-Salem, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Politicians from North Carolina]]
[[Category:United States Secretaries of the Army]]
[[Category:United States Secretaries of Veterans Affairs]]
[[Category:Lawyers from North Carolina]]