Arthur B. Culvahouse, Jr.

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 in the last two years of his presidency, and was entrusted by John McCain and Donald Trump to vet their vice presidential candidates.

Trump appointed Culvahouse as the U.S. Ambassador to Australia in November 2018, 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 from the University of Tennessee and in 1973 as a Juris Doctor from the New York University School of Law. 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 Ronald Reagan. At the same time, he won a third four-year term to the chairmanship of his law firm. 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 [McCain] that 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 [Palin], and came away impressed,” Culvahouse said.

Ambassador to Australia

On 6 November 2018, Trump nominated Culvahouse as the next United States Ambassador to Australia, On March 13, 2019, his credentials were accepted by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir Peter Cosgrove.