James C. Oberwetter (born November 3, 1944) is the former

U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia The United States recognized the government of King Ibn Saud in 1931, but it was not until 1939 when it appointed its first U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Bert Fish, then resident in Cairo and ambassador to Egypt. Fish made one trip down to Jed ...

Career

He previously served as Press Secretary for then-congressman

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

(who later became

Vice-President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

and

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

). He has also been the special assistant to the Administrator of the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

and a member of the

American Petroleum Institute The American Petroleum Institute (API) is the largest U.S. trade association for the oil and natural gas industry. It claims to represent nearly 600 corporations involved in production, refinement, distribution, and many other aspects of the pet ...

’s Communications Committee. Prior to his diplomatic service, Oberwetter served as Senior Vice President of

Hunt Oil Company Hunt Oil Co. is an independent oil and gas company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It conducts its main oil production activities in the United States, Canada and, as of 1984, in Yemen. In the past, the company was owned by american oil tycoon ...

, of

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

where he directed the company's public affairs and government relations functions. In 2007, he founded Oberwetter & Company, LLC, which focused on international business and corporate strategies in the public arena. In December 2008, he was selected by the board of the

Dallas Regional Chamber The Dallas Regional Chamber--formerly known as the Dallas Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce—is a chamber of commerce that represents businesses and institutions in North Texas, including the Dallas/ Fort Worth metr ...

to become its president effective February 1, 2009.

Personal life

He and his wife Anita reside in Dallas, Texas. Oberwetter has three daughters: Ellen Oberwetter, Rea Oberwetter MacKay, and Brooke Oberwetter. He graduated from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

with a BJ degree from the School of Communications.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberwetter, James C. 1944 births Living people Ambassadors of the United States to Saudi Arabia People from Dallas Moody College of Communication alumni