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Robert Watson is an award-winning professor, community leader, analyst for numerous news outlets, and author who has published over 30 books, two encyclopedia sets, and hundreds of scholarly articles, essays, and book chapters on American history and politics.
As a scholar, Watson has served as the founder and editor of the journal White House Studies, assistant editor and reviews editor of The Social Science Journal, and has been a board member with several academic journals, community organizations, and the Harry S. Truman Foundation, Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation, and George McGovern Center for Leadership and Public Service. He has also edited/directed the Report to the First Lady (presented to the White House), co-convened several national conferences on the presidency, co-founded (with the Truman Presidential Library) the annual Truman Legacy Symposium, and has served as a visiting fellow or scholar with over a dozen organizations including the Truman Presidential Library, Gerald Ford Presidential Museum, South Dakota Humanities Council, James Madison University, and the US Military Academy at West Point.
As a political commentator, Watson has been interviewed thousands of times by media outlets around the country and world, including CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, USA Today, The New York Times, NPR, the BBC, and so on, and has appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, C-SPAN and Book TV, The Voice of America, and the debut program for American History TV, to name a few. He is also the political analyst for WPTV 5 NBC, a regular guest on the Sunday morning talk/news shows "To the Point" (WPTV 5) and "Issues" (WPBT 2 PBS) in Florida, was a blogger for the Huffington Post during the 2012 presidential campaign, and was a long-time Sunday columnist for the Sun-Sentinel newspaper.
As a leader in his community, Dr. Watson organizes voter registration drives and civic education programs for schools, hosts regular community town halls, lectures to civic and professional groups around the country, and co-founded three non-profits (dedicated to civic engagement, political reform, and fact-checking political ads). He also developed the initial proposal for Florida Atlantic University to host a presidential primary debate in 2008 and for Lynn University to host the final presidential debate of 2012.
For his work, Professor Watson has received a number of awards including: the International Abraham Lincoln Center's award for his contributions to the study of the presidency; the Children's Hero Award for the civics and history programs he offers to schools; the League of Women Voters' "Good Government Award" for his election commentary; the South Florida Business Journal's "Heavy Hitter in Education" for his efforts to promote civic education; the Student Chabbad Center's award for promoting Jewish education and understanding; multiple awards for community service and teaching excellence including Outstanding Professor of the Year at both Florida Atlantic and Lynn (twice); and he has been inducted into two sports halls of fame.
Robert was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, attended public schools in nearby Hershey, and was educated at Virginia Tech, where he was a member of the football and track teams. Robert and his wife, Claudia, reside in Boca Raton with their children, Alessandro and Isabella, and where he serves as Professor of American Studies at Lynn University and Senior Fellow at the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship.
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