J.C. Watts
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Julius Caesar Watts, Jr. (born November 18, 1957) is a former representative from Oklahoma.
He was born in Eufaula, Oklahoma. After graduating from high school in 1976, Watts attended the University of Oklahoma. As quarterback, he led the Sooners to consecutive Big Eight Conference titles and Orange Bowl championships. He graduated in 1981 with a B.A. in journalism.
Between 1981 to 1986, he played in the Canadian Football League, receiving the Most Valuable Player award of the Grey Cup, during his rookie season.
He served as a Southern Baptist youth minister and associate pastor in Del City, Oklahoma from 1987 to 1994.
He was elected to the Oklahoma State Corporation Commission in 1990.
Watts was elected to the United States Congress in 1994. He was the first black Republican elected in a Southern state to a federal office in 120 years. He garnered attention soon after his election by declining to join the Congressional Black Caucus.
He was selected in 1997 to deliver the Republican response to President Bill Clinton's State of the Union Address. Later that year, Watts stirred up controversy when he branded some unnamed black Democrats and civil rights leaders "race-hustling poverty pimps." [1] (http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13545). In 1998, he was chosen as the chairman of the House Republican Conference.
Although elected on a pledge to serve no more than three terms, Watts sought and won a fourth term in 2000. In 2002 he decided not to run for re-election, citing a desire to spend more time with his family.
He is chairman of the J.C. Watts Companies, which works with clients on strategies for business development, communications and public affairs. He serves on the boards of the Boy Scouts of America, the United States Military Academy, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Clear Channel Communications, Dillard’s, and Terex Corporation. He writes a monthly column for The Sporting News and is a commentator on The Tavis Smiley Show.
External link
- J.C. Watts Companies website (http://www.jcwatts.com/)
- Biography from Oklahoma state site (http://www.odl.state.ok.us/usinfo/congress/107cong/watts107.htm)
- Speech Watts gave at Dartmouth College (http://www.thedartmouth.com/article.php?aid=2005040801010)