Robert P. Watson

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Robert P. Watson is a professor, author, historian, frequent media commentator, and former candidate for the United States House of Representatives.

Background and education[]

Robert Watson was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1962 and raised in nearby Hershey, where he attended public schools and was an all-star athlete in several sports. He earned an athletic scholarship to Virginia Tech where he completed his bachelor's degree and played football and track. He went on to earn a master's and Ph.D.

Work[]

Watson is the author and editor of over 40 books on topics in history and politics, and has published hundreds of scholarly articles, book chapters, and essays. Several of his books have won awards and been featured on C-SPAN's Book TV and at major literary festivals, including Affairs of State (Rowman & Littlefield, 2012), America's First Crisis (SUNY Press, 2014), The Nazi Titanic (Hachette Book Group, 2016), The Ghost Ship of Brooklyn (Hachette Book Group, 2017), George Washington's Final Battle (Georgetown University Press, 2020), and Escape (Rowman & Littefield, 2021). A frequent media commentator, he has been interviewed by local, national, and international print, TV, and radio outlets, including CNN, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, The New York Times, BBC, USA Today, and others. For many years, he was a Sunday columnist for the Sun-Sentinel newspaper and analyst for WPTV 5 (NBC), RTE One (Ireland), Australian Broadcasting Corporation, WFTL 850 (AM), WIOD 610 (AM), and WPBT 2 (PBS).

Watson has served on the boards of many academic journals and organizations, such as the Calvin Coolidge Foundation, Harry S. Truman Foundation, Western Social Science Association, International Abraham Lincoln Journal, The Social Science Journal, George McGovern Library and Center for Public Service, and others and was the founder and editor of the journal, White House Studies. He has convened or co-convened a half-dozen national conferences on the American presidency, directed the annual Truman Legacy Symposium at The Harry S. Truman Little White House, hosted many community "town halls" on current issues, and organized civic education programs for school children. He has served as a visiting scholar or fellow with numerous historic sites, including George Washington's Mount Vernon, James Madison's Montpelier, the Pentagon, Smithsonian Institute, US Military Academy at West Point, Museum of the American Revolution, Illinois Holocaust Museum, Truman Presidential Library, Ford Presidential Museum, and National Archives, to name a few, and is a popular lecturer aboard luxury cruise ships and for One Day University.

Watson has won a number of awards, including the International Abraham Lincoln Center Award, Children's Hero Award for the many civics programs he offers area schools, and both the Distinguished Professor of the Year and Faculty Service awards at Florida Atlantic University (several times) and Lynn University (several times). He has taught at Troy University, Northern Arizona University, University of Hawaii-Hilo, Florida Atlantic University, and with the Junior Statesman Foundation at Yale, Stanford, and Georgetown. In 2007 he joined Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, where he holds the titles Distinguished Professor of American History and Avron Fogelman Research Professor. He was instrumental in bringing the Third Presidential Debate of 2012 to Lynn University.

Politics[]

A member of the Democratic Party, Watson formed an exploratory committee in May 2005 to consider running for the United States House of Representatives in Florida's 22nd District, which pitted him against Republican incumbent Rep. Clay Shaw. Watson later withdrew from the race to focus on writing books.

Politically, Watson has long advocated universal health care, strengthening environmental protections, civil and voting rights, and the need for reform and integrity in politics. Watson continues to organize political debates, town hall programs, and voter registration drives, and regularly offers public lectures on politics and current issues.

In 2006, Watson and Yury Konnikov founded the non-profit think tank Think Act Lead, which advocates political reforms and progressive solutions to public problems; the two also serve on the board of the Florida Initiative for Election Reform.

Recent Works[]

• The Ghost Ship of Brooklyn: An Untold Story of the American Revolution (Da Capo Press, 2017)
• The Nazi Titanic: The Incredible Untold Story of a Doomed Ship in World War II (Da Capo Press, 2016)
• America's First Crisis: The War of 1812 (SUNY Press, 2014)
• The Presidents' Wives: The Office of the First Lady in US Politics, 2nd edition (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2014)
• Affairs of State: The Untold History of Presidential Love, Sex, and Scandal (Rowman & Littlefield, 2012)
• George Washington's Final Battle: The Epic Struggle to Build a Capital and Nation (Georgetown University Press, 2021)
• Escape! The Story of the Confederacy's Infamous Libby Prison and the Civil War's Largest Jail Break (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021)
• When Washington Burned (Georgetown University Press, forthcoming in 2022)

External links[]

• Official website
• Lynn University Faculty Profile
• Appearances on C-SPAN