Albert William Watson (August 30, 1922 – September 25, 1994) was a

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-turned-

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state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

and

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from South Carolina. He is best known for his losing 1970 campaign for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, which has been described as the last high-profile, openly segregationist campaign.

Background

Albert William Watson was born in 1922 to Claude Watson, Sr. and his wife in

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in central South Carolina. His family moved and he was reared near the state capital of Columbia in

Lexington County Lexington County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 293,991, and the 2021 population estimate was 300,137. Its county seat and largest town is Lexington. The county was chartered ...

, where he attended public schools. He subsequently enrolled at the former

North Greenville Junior College North Greenville University is a Private university, private Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist university in Tigerville, South Carolina. It is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). It is accredi ...

in Greenville, South Carolina. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Watson served as a weather specialist in the

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. In 1950, he graduated from the

University of South Carolina School of Law The University of South Carolina School of Law, also known as South Carolina Law School, is a professional school within the University of South Carolina. The school of law was founded in 1867, and remains the only public and non-profit law scho ...

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 1959 and again from 1961 to 1963. In 1958, Watson lost the Democratic

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for

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to Burnet Maybank, Jr., son of former

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Burnet Maybank Burnet Rhett Maybank (March 7, 1899September 1, 1954) was a three-term US senator, the 99th governor of South Carolina, and mayor of Charleston, South Carolina. He was the first governor from Charleston since the American Civil War (1861-186 ...

. In 1961, Watson returned to the state House for a final two-year term. In 1948, Watson married the former Lillian Audrey Williams (born 1926), and the couple had three children, Laura L. Watson, Albert Watson, Jr., and Clark P. Watson. A

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The word ...

deacon, Watson had a twin brother, Allan R. Watson (1922-2001), who was a Baptist minister and served as the pastor of churches in

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and

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. He preached at the

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in September 1969. A second brother, Claude Watson, Jr., of Columbia, died in 2003.

Congressional career

In 1962, Watson first ran for

South Carolina's 2nd congressional district The 2nd congressional district of South Carolina is in central and southwestern South Carolina. The district spans from Columbia to the South Carolina side of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area. From 1993 through 2012, it included all of ...

seat in the U.S. House to fill the opening created when fellow Democrat John J. Riley died on New Year's Day. His wife,

Corinne Boyd Riley Corinne Boyd Riley (July 4, 1893 – April 12, 1979) was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina, wife of John Jacob Riley. Born in Piedmont, South Carolina, Riley attended public school. She graduated from Converse College, Spartanburg ...

, had won a special election to serve out the remainder of the term, but did not run for a full term in November. After securing the Democratic nomination, Watson faced

Floyd Spence Floyd Davidson Spence (April 9, 1928 – August 16, 2001) was an American attorney and a politician from the U.S. state of South Carolina. Elected for three terms to the South Carolina House of Representatives from Lexington County as a Demo ...

, a fellow state representative from neighboring Lexington County, who had turned Republican a few months earlier. The ensuing

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

was far closer than expected, with Watson winning by only five percentage points. He received crucial support from his mentor,

Strom Thurmond James Strom Thurmond Sr. (December 5, 1902June 26, 2003) was an American politician who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to 2003. Prior to his 48 years as a senator, he served as the 103rd governor of South Caro ...

. Like Thurmond, Watson was an open and unashamed

segregationist Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Interna ...

. Both supported

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...

's campaign for President. While Watson headed the South Carolina "Democrats for Goldwater" organization, Thurmond went as far as switching parties and becoming a Republican on September 17, 1964. Partly because of his support for Goldwater, Watson was reelected without opposition as Goldwater carried South Carolina, the first Republican to have done so since

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governor ...

in 1876. The House Democratic Caucus stripped Watson of his seniority for supporting Goldwater. Another Deep South congressman,

John Bell Williams John Bell Williams (December 4, 1918 – March 25, 1983) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician who represented Mississippi in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1968 and served as List of Governors o ...

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, lost his seniority for supporting Goldwater as well. Declaring he would "not sit around and be bullied by northern liberals," Watson resigned from Congress on February 1, 1965. He then announced that he would run in the

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for his old seat on June 15, 1965—as a Republican. Watson won the special election with 59.1 percent of the vote to become the first Republican to represent South Carolina in the House since 1896, and the first Republican to win a disputed House election in the state since

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. It was a different Republican Party in the South, however, as in 1965 most blacks in South Carolina were still effectively

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. Watson was comfortably reelected in 1966 and 1968. Watson's opposition to

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

legislation exceeded that of most other Southern Republicans. For instance, he was the only House Republican to vote against the Jury Selection Act of 1968, a civil rights measure intended to eliminate racial discrimination in jury selection.

1970 gubernatorial election

In 1970, Watson opted not to run for reelection, instead announcing his candidacy for governor. As a measure of how weak the Republicans were in South Carolina for most of the post-Reconstruction era, in most elections since losing the governorship in 1892 they hadn't even fielded a candidate. He won the nomination with a major assist from Thurmond. He faced strong competition from the Democratic nominee, Lieutenant Governor John C. West, originally from Camden. State and national Republicans were somewhat cool toward Watson because of his obstinate support for segregation. The

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...

was intended to end segregation, and enforcement of the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement ...

meant that African Americans were re-entering the political system. Not a single daily newspaper endorsed Watson for governor."The Changing Politics of Race," p. 235 Hastings Wyman took leave from his position as an aide to Senator Thurmond to serve as Watson's campaign manager.

Racist politics

Gubernatorial campaign issues

Watson's running mate was James Marvin Henderson, Sr.

1970 election results

Official results gave West 251,151 votes (52.1 percent) to Watson's 221,236 (45.9 percent). Red Bethea of the American Independent Party polled 9,758 votes (2 percent). African-American voters in 1970 numbered 206,394, or 46 percent of the African-American voting-age population and 35 percent of the total registration. Historians consider Watson's gubernatorial campaign to be the last openly segregationist campaign in South Carolina and one of the last in the South as a whole., ''Greenville Online'', 21 March 2004 Watson was succeeded in the House by Spence, who had nearly won the seat in 1962. Spence went on to hold the seat for thirty years.

Later years

In 1971, Thurmond asked Nixon to appoint Albert Watson to the

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, but Democratic U.S. Senator

George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American historian and South Dakota politician who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 pres ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

opposed him. The next year McGovern became Nixon's general election opponent. Watson died in Columbia at the age of seventy-two in 1994. He is interred there at Crescent Hill Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Albert (South Carolina) 1922 births 1994 deaths University of South Carolina School of Law alumni South Carolina lawyers Republican Party members of the South Carolina House of Representatives People from Sumter, South Carolina Politicians from Columbia, South Carolina Baptists from South Carolina United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians Lawyers from Columbia, South Carolina 20th-century Baptists