Howard Westen

From West Wing Wiki

Howard Morgan Westen (1945-) is a U.S. Senator from Nevada having served since 1989.

Westen was born in Silver City, Nevada and spent his early years on his family's cattle ranch in northern Nevada. After attending the University of Nevada in 1967, Westen became manager of his family's ranch. By the early-80's Westen become a multi-millionaire in the cattle and mining business. In 1984, Westen was elected Lieutenant Governor of Nevada. In 1988, Westen was elected to the U.S. Senate, and was re-elected in 1994, 2000, and 2006. Westen has served on many powerful Senate committees during his Senate career including Finance and Judicary.

In 2002, Westen launched a longshot bid to be thr Republican nominee for President. Westen was at first considerd a second-tier candidate, But went on to do well in early primaries and won several westen and north-eastern primaries, Although he lost the nomination to Robert Ritchie, Westen was considerd a leading candidate for the Vice-presidency (Jeff Heston was ultimately chosen).