Togo D. West Jr.

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 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 second African American to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Personal life
West was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; there, he became an 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, he served as a vestryman and Senior Warden.

He has been named a 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.  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 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.

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.  He is also a strong supporter of and past board member of the 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.

References 

1942 births
2018 deaths
Deaths from myocardial infarction
African American lawyers
African-American military personnel
African American politicians
People from Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Politicians from North Carolina
United States Secretaries of the Army
United States Secretaries of Veterans Affairs
Lawyers from North Carolina