John Carl West Sr. (August 27, 1922 – March 21, 2004) was a U.S. Democratic Party politician who served as the 109th Governor of South Carolina from 1971 to 1975.

After graduation, he enlisted in the United States Army as an intelligence officer during World War II, assigned to stateside service.

In the 1970 gubernatorial election, West defeated U.S. Representative Albert W. Watson, a Democrat-turned-Republican with 53.2 percent of the vote .

Regarded as a New South governor, West vowed in his 1971 inaugural address that he would "eliminate from our government any vestige of discrimination because of race, creed, sex, religion or any other barrier to fairness for all citizens.

"[3] After his tenure as governor, West returned to private law practice and was subsequently appointed United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, a position that he held from 1977 to 1981.