WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday named Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. as the U.S. ambassador to Australia, a position that has been vacant for two years.

If approved by the Senate, Culvahouse would be the first U.S. ambassador to Australia since October 2016.

Culvahouse, a Republican from Tennessee, is the former Chair of O'Melveny & Myers, an international law firm. He assisted late Senator John McCain and Donald Trump to vet vice presidential candidates in 2008 and 2016 respectively.

He served as counsel to then U.S. President Ronald Reagan from 1987 to 1989, according to a statement issued by the White House.

Culvahouse also served on numerous boards and commissions, including the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, the Intelligence Oversight Board, the Nuclear Command and Control System Federal Advisory Committee, and the Supreme Court Fellows Commission.

He earned a B.S. from the University of Tennessee and J.D. from the New York University School of Law.

Admiral Harry Harris was once nominated as U.S. ambassador to Australia earlier this year, but President Trump assigned him to the post in South Korea just hours before his confirmation hearing in April.