Albert William Watson, Sr. | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 2nd district |
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In office June 15, 1965 – January 3, 1971 |
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Preceded by | Himself |
Succeeded by | Floyd Spence |
In office January 3, 1963 – February 1, 1965 |
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Preceded by | Corinne Boyd Riley |
Succeeded by | Himself |
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Richland County |
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In office January 10, 1961 – January 8, 1963 |
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In office January 11, 1955 – January 13, 1959 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Sumter, South Carolina, U.S. |
August 30, 1922
Died | September 25, 1994 Columbia, South Carolina, U.S. |
(aged 72)
Resting place | Crescent Hill Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum Columbia, South Carolina, U.S. |
Political party |
Democratic (1955–1965) Republican (1965–1994) |
Residence | Columbia, South Carolina |
Alma mater |
North Greenville Junior College |
Profession | Attorney |
Military service | |
Service/branch | United States Army Air Corps |
Rank | Weather Specialist |
Battles/wars | World War II |
North Greenville Junior College
Albert William Watson (August 30, 1922 – September 25, 1994) was a Democrat-turned-Republican state and U.S. representative from South Carolina. He is best known for his losing 1970 campaign for governor, which has been described as the last openly segregationist campaign.
Albert William Watson was born in 1922 to Claude Watson, Sr. and his wife in Sumter in central South Carolina. His family moved and he was reared near the state capital of Columbia in Lexington County, where he attended public schools. He subsequently enrolled at the former North Greenville Junior College in Greenville, South Carolina. During World War II, Watson served as a weather specialist in the United States Army Air Corps, the forerunner of the Air Force.
In 1950, he graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law and thereafter opened his legal practice in Columbia. In 1954, he was elected from Richland County to the South Carolina House of Representatives, which he served from 1955 to 1958 and again from 1961 to 1962.
In 1958, Watson lost the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor to Burnet Maybank, Jr., son of former U.S. Senator Burnet Maybank. In 1961, Watson returned to the state House for a final two-year term.