Arch A. Moore, Jr. of Glen Dale, Marshall County, West Virginia was the State’s 28th and 30th Governor. He was first elected to public office in 1952 as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates. In 1956, he was elected to the House of Representatives and was re-elected in 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964 and 1966. In 1968, he was elected Governor, and was re-elected in 1972 and 1984.
In 1971, Governor Moore became the first and only West Virginia Governor to be elected National Chairman of the Nation’s Governors. In 1987, he was Chairman of the National Governor’s Association’s Energy and Environment Committee. He served as National Chairman of the Republican Governor’s Association in 1976; served as President of the Council of State Governments in 1972-73; served as Chairman of the Appalachian Governors of the Appalachian Regional Commission in 1972 and 1986; became President of the Education Commission of the United States, and served from 1974-76 in that capacity.
Internationally, he has represented the United States on every major continent of the world. In 1974, he was one of the first Governors to be invited to the Peoples Republic of China by its government. He further represented the United States as a Special Representative of the President and formally opened the Bicentennial Exposition of the “World of Franklin and Jefferson” in 1976 in Warsaw, Poland. He served on the Republican National Committee from 1963 to 1990, was its senior member in terms of years of service and was elected as a Delegate to his party’s National Convention in 1964, 1976, 1980 and 1984.
A veteran of World War II, he served in the United States Infantry as a Combat Sergeant. He led his infantry platoon, being one of the first, if not the first, in a human penetration of the infamous Siegfreid Line. Ninety percent of his platoon was destroyed by the Germans. He was severely wounded and left for dead on the battlefield. He has been decorated with the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, and the European Campaign Ribbon, with three Battle Stars.