setting emacs variables

[Gerald A Winters]

I am a C-programmer and am using v20.7.  I would like to
change the default indentation level from "2" to "4" when
in C-mode.  I have a couple manuals and both indicate to 
change the emacs varibale "c-indent-level".  However, neither
of these works in my .emacs file:

(setq c-indent-level 4)
(setq-default c-indent-level 4)

I would be *very* grateful if someone can suggest a solution.
thanks.

--jerry