Arthur Boggess Culvahouse Jr. (born July 4, 1948) is an American attorney who served as the United States Ambassador to Australia from 2019 to 2021. He is the former Chair of O'Melveny & Myers, an international law firm of more than 1,000 lawyers with offices around the world. Culvahouse also served as counsel to

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

in the last two years of his presidency, and was entrusted by

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

and

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

to vet their vice presidential candidates. Trump appointed Culvahouse as the U.S. Ambassador to Australia in November 2018,Donald Trump announces Arthur B Culvahouse Jr as ambassador to Australia after two-year gap
Greg Jennett,

ABC News Online ABC News, also known as ABC News and Current Affairs, is a public news service produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The service covers both local and world affairs, broadcasting both nationally as ABC News, and across the Asia- ...

, 2018-11-06. Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20181106085414/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-06/donald-trump-announces-new-ambassador-to-australia/10470294 and the Senate confirmed him in January 2019. He presented his credentials to the Governor-General of Australia, Sir Peter Cosgrove, on March 13, 2019.

Early life and education

Culvahouse was born in Ten Mile, Tennessee, the son of Ruth (Wear) and Arthur Boggess Culvahouse. He graduated in 1970 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

from the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

and in 1973 as a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

. From 1973 to 1976, Culvahouse was Chief Legislative Assistant/Counsel to Senator Howard H. Baker Jr. He practiced law with O'Melveny & Myers from 1976 to 1984, and again from 1989 until 2018.

Career

Reagan Chief Counsel

From 1987 to 1989, Culvahouse served as counsel to U.S. President

. As

White House Counsel The White House Counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Off ...

, he advised the President on matters ranging from Iran-Contra investigations, to the Supreme Court nominations of

Robert Bork Robert Heron Bork (March 1, 1927 – December 19, 2012) was an American legal scholar who served as solicitor general of the United States from 1973 until 1977. A professor by training, he was acting United States Attorney General and a judge on ...

and

Anthony Kennedy Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American attorney and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirement in 2018. He was nominated to the court in 1987 by Pres ...

, to the legal aspects of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Culvahouse served as Bork's "handler" during his rejected Senate confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court. In January 1989, Reagan awarded Culvahouse the Presidential Citizens’ Medal, an award established in 1969 to "recognize citizens who performed exemplary deeds of service for the country or their fellow citizens."

Post-White House

From 1990 to 1992, Culvahouse served as a member of the Federal Advisory Committee on Nuclear Failsafe and Risk Reduction, appointed by Secretary of Defense

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...

, to evaluate and recommend improvements in the United States'

nuclear command and control Nuclear command and control (NC2) is the command and control of nuclear weapons. The U. S. military's ''Nuclear Matters Handbook 2015'' defined it as the "activities, processes, and procedures performed by appropriate military commanders and su ...

system. In December 1992, Cheney awarded Culvahouse the Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service. Culvahouse's prior service on boards and commissions includes service on the Supreme Court Fellows Commission (2002–2005), the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Naval Academy (1989–1991), and the Counterintelligence Advisory Panel to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (1989–1990). Prior to his appointed as U.S. Ambassador to Australia Culvahouse was a member of the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...

Board of Trustees, and the Leadership Board of the Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness.

McCain campaign

In May 2008, Culvahouse was chosen to head presumptive Republican presidential nominee

's search for a vice presidential

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a pre ...

, the first time that Culvahouse had ever been involved in a presidential campaign. At the same time, he won a third four-year term to the chairmanship of his law firm. Culvahouse was mentioned in the ''

ABA Journal The ''ABA Journal'' (since 1984, formerly ''American Bar Association Journal'', 1915–1983, evolved from '' Annual Bulletin'', 1908–1914) is a monthly legal trade magazine and the flagship publication of the American Bar Association. It is n ...

'' as a possible

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

in a John McCain presidency, because "a lot of Democrats in Washington respect him and he has private access to a lot of ears on

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...

." McCain's pick of

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, and author who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 Republican vice presidential nomi ...

for vice president led to controversy over the vetting process. In 2009, Culvahouse defended his vetting in a speech to the Republican National Lawyers Association: Palin "had a lot of capacity. The mistake I made -- and we've laughed about it since -- after giving cCainthat advice, he said, 'Well, what's your bottom line?' I said, 'John. High risk, high reward.' And his response, ‘You shouldn't have told me that, I've been a risk-taker all of my life.'" “Me and two of my most cynical partners interviewed alin and came away impressed,” Culvahouse said.

Trump campaign

In May 2016,

, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, chose Culvahouse to head the search for his running mate.

Ambassador to Australia

On 6 November 2018, Trump nominated Culvahouse as the next United States Ambassador to Australia, to fill a post that had been vacant since John Berry left the post in September 2016. The appointment was confirmed by the Senate on 2 January 2019. On March 13, 2019, his credentials were accepted by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir Peter Cosgrove. He left office in January 2021, at the end of Trump's term.

References

External links

Culvahouse's profile at the OMM website
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Culvahouse, Arthur B. Jr. 1948 births 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Living people New York University School of Law alumni People from Roane County, Tennessee Presidential Citizens Medal recipients Reagan administration personnel Tennessee lawyers Tennessee Republicans United States presidential advisors University of Tennessee alumni Washington, D.C., Republicans White House counsels Brookings Institution people Ambassadors of the United States to Australia First Trump administration personnel