J. C. Watts | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Official portrait, 2003 | |
| Chair of the House Republican Conference | |
| In office January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2003 | |
| Leader | Dennis Hastert |
| Vice Chair | Tillie Fowler Deborah Pryce |
| Preceded by | John Boehner |
| Succeeded by | Deborah Pryce |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOklahoma's4th district | |
| In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Dave McCurdy |
| Succeeded by | Tom Cole |
| Member of theOklahoma Corporation Commission | |
| In office January 14, 1991 – January 3, 1995 | |
| Governor | David Walters |
| Preceded by | James Townsend |
| Succeeded by | Ed Apple |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Julius Caesar Watts Jr. (1957-11-18)November 18, 1957 (age 68) Eufaula, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 6, includingTrey |
| Relatives | Wade Watts (uncle) |
| Education | University of Oklahoma (BA) |
| Football career | |
.jpg) A football from the Oklahoma Sooners and signed by the team. Notable signatures include Billy Sims (1978 Heisman Trophy winner) and J. C. Watts. On the white quarter of the football an inscription to Ford was written in red. | |
| Profile | |
| Position | Quarterback |
| Career information | |
| College | Oklahoma |
| Career history | |
| 1981–1986 | Ottawa Rough Riders |
| 1986 | Toronto Argonauts |
| Awards and highlights | |
| |
Julius Caesar Watts Jr. (born November 18, 1957) is an American politician, clergyman, and formerfootball player. Watts played as aquarterback incollege football for theOklahoma Sooners and later played professionally in theCanadian Football League (CFL). He served in theU.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003 as aRepublican, representingOklahoma's 4th congressional district.
Watts was born and raised inEufaula, Oklahoma, in a rural impoverished neighborhood. After being one of the first children to attend an integrated elementary school, he became a high schoolquarterback and gained afootball scholarship to theUniversity of Oklahoma. He graduated from college in 1981 with a degree in journalism and became a football player in the CFL until his retirement in 1986. He was the MVP of the69th Grey Cup.
Watts became aBaptist minister and was elected in 1990 to theOklahoma Corporation Commission as the first African-American in Oklahoma to win statewide office. He successfully ran for Congress in 1994 and was re-elected to three additional terms with increasing vote margins. Watts delivered the Republican response toBill Clinton's 1997State of the Union address and was elected Chair of theHouse Republican Conference in 1998. He retired in 2003 and turned to lobbying and business work, also occasionally serving as a political commentator.
Watts was born inEufaula inMcIntosh County, Oklahoma[1] to J. C. "Buddy" Watts Sr., and Helen Watts (d. 1992).[2] His father was a Baptist minister, cattle trader,[3] the first black police officer in Eufaula,[4] and a member of the Eufaula City Council.[5] His mother was a homemaker.[6] Watts is the fifth of six children and grew up in a poor ruralAfrican-American neighborhood.[7] He was one of two black children who integrated the Jefferson Davis Elementary School in Eufaula and the first blackquarterback at Eufaula High School.[4]
While in high school, Watts fathered a daughter with a white woman, causing a scandal.[8] Their families decided against aninterracial marriage because of contemporary racial attitudes and Watts' family provided for the child until she could be adopted by Watts' uncle,Wade Watts, a Baptist minister, civil rights leader and head of the Oklahoma division of theNAACP.[8]
He graduated from high school in 1976 and attended theUniversity of Oklahoma on afootball scholarship.[1][9] In 1977, Watts married Frankie Jones, an African-American woman with whom he had fathered a second daughter during high school.[6][8]
Watts began his college football career as the second-string quarterback and left college twice, but his father convinced him to return, and Watts became starting quarterback of theSooners in 1979 and led them to consecutiveOrange Bowl victories.[5] Watts graduated from college in 1981 with aBachelor of Arts[1] in journalism.[5] Watts was selected by theNew York Jets of theNational Football League in the eighth round of the1981 NFL Draft. The Jets tried Watts at several positions and could not guarantee that he would play quarterback, so he opted to sign with theCFL'sOttawa Rough Riders. As Ottawa's quarterback, he helped the team reach the1981 Grey Cup game, which they nearly won in an upset.[5] Watts stayed with the Rough Riders from 1981 to 1985 and played a season for theToronto Argonauts before retiring in 1986.[5][10]
Watts returned to Oklahoma and became a youth minister inDel City and was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1993.[6] He is ateetotaler.[11] Watts opened a highway construction company and later cited discontent with government regulation of his business as reason to become a candidate for public office.[6] Watts' family was affiliated with theDemocratic Party and his father and uncle Wade Watts were active in the party, but it did not help Watts when he ran for public office and he changed his party affiliation in 1989, months before his first statewide race.[5][9] Watts later stated he had first considered changing parties when, as a journalism student, he covered the1980 U.S. Senate campaign ofRepublicanDon Nickles.[6] Watts' father and uncle continued to strongly oppose the Republican party, but supported him.[2][12] Watts won election to theOklahoma Corporation Commission in November 1990[7] for a six-year term[2] as the first African-American elected to statewide office in Oklahoma.[13] He served as a member of the commission from 1990 to 1995 and as its chairman from 1993 to 1995.[1]
Watts ran for Congress in 1994 to succeedDave McCurdy, who had announced his retirement from theHouse of Representatives to run for theSenate. He positioned himself as both afiscal andsocial conservative, favoring thedeath penalty,school prayer, abalanced budget amendment andwelfare reform, and opposingabortion,gay rights, and reduceddefense spending.[6] After a hard-fought primary campaign[3] against state representativeEd Apple, Watts won 49 percent to Apple's 48 percent of the vote in August 1994, and 52 percent in the resultingrun-off election in September 1994 with the support of RepresentativeJack Kemp and actor andNational Rifle Association presidentCharlton Heston.[6] Watts started his race against the Democratic nominee, David Perryman, a white lawyer fromChickasha, with a wide lead in several early polls and 92 percent name recognition in one poll.[13] Watts hosted formerPresidentGeorge H. W. Bush, U.S. SenatorBob Dole, andMinority WhipNewt Gingrich[6] and focused onwelfare reform and the necessity ofcapital formation andcapital gains, as well as a reduction in thecapital gains tax as beneficial for urban blacks.[13] Some voters were expected to not vote for Watts because of race, but the editor of a local political newspaper argued Watts' established Christian conservative image and his popularity as a football player would help him win.[13] OnNovember 8, 1994, Watts was elected with 52 percent of the vote[14] as the first African-American Republican U.S. Representative from south of theMason–Dixon line sinceReconstruction.[15] He andGary Franks of Connecticut were the only two African-American Republicans in the House.[15] Oklahoma's Fourth District at the time was 90 percent white and had been represented by Democrats since 1922.[5]
As Congressman, Watts was assigned to theArmed Services Committee and theFinancial Services Committee.[6] Watts emphasized moral absolutes and was considered in line with Republican SpeakerNewt Gingrich's agenda,[15] theContract with America,[6] and at the time was the only African-American who did not join theCongressional Black Caucus.[11] He initially supported endingaffirmative action, declaring inadequate education the main obstacle for racial equality, but subsequently opposed legislation banning the practice for the federal government.[6] Watts focused on promoting his party, attending NAACP meetings and meeting with representatives from historically black colleges.[6] In 1995, Watts was named national co-chairman for thepresidential campaign of RepublicanBob Dole.[9]
Watts' 1996 reelection campaign featured state representativeEd Crocker as the Democratic candidate[16] in a negative campaign.[2] Crocker questioned Watts' business dealings because of tax issues for a real estate company of which Watts was the principal owner, and whether he was paying child support for one of his daughters born out of wedlock.[16] Crocker suggested Watts might use drugs or sanction their use because he declined to participate in a voluntary drug screening in the House of Representatives.[17] Watts denied the charge, took the test, and accused Crocker ofdraft dodging during theVietnam War and later living at the "center of the West Coast drug culture."[17] Watts was given a featured speaking role at the1996 Republican National Convention[17] and was re-elected with 58 percent of the vote in the1996 U.S. House election.[14]
Following the election, Watts switched from the Financial Services Committee to theHouse Transportation Committee.[6] He was the only African-American Republican in the House and was chosen to deliver the Republican reply to PresidentBill Clinton'sState of the Union address in February 1997,[4] the youngest congressman and first African-American to do so.[5] In his response, Watts focused on providing a positive vision of the Republican Party and advocated deficit and tax reduction and faith-based values.[4] Watts had previously spoken toThe Washington Times and created controversy by criticizing "race-hustling poverty pimps"[4] as keeping African-Americans dependent on government. These remarks were viewed as critical of activistJesse Jackson andWashington, D.C. mayorMarion Barry, andJesse Jackson Jr. demanded a public apology.[4] Watts stated he did not speak about Barry and Jackson but about "some of the leadership in the black community."[4]
In his 1998 reelection campaign against Democrat Ben Odom, Watts faced accusations about debts, unpaid taxes and over actions in a federal bribery investigation in 1991, where he arranged to receive campaign contributions from a lobbyist for telephone companies that were investigated during Watts' membership on the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.[7] Odom used portions of a transcript to try to discredit Watts, and the accusations were widely publicized in Oklahoma.[7] Watts argued he had been exonerated from any criminal conduct and that his financial problems were a result of losses for Oklahoma oil and gas businesses during the 1980s.[7] He was re-elected with 62 percent of the vote.[14]
From 1995 until 1997, Watts was only one of two black Republicans in Congress (along withGary Franks ofConnecticut). From 1997 until 2003, Watts was the only black Republican Congressman. There would not be another until the elections ofTim Scott andAllen West in 2010.
In Congress, Watts had established himself as a "devoted conservative."[18] He had a lifetime 94 percent rating from theAmerican Conservative Union[19] and a lifetime "liberal quotient" of 1 percent fromAmericans for Democratic Action,[20] and was regarded as a team player by Republicans.[11] Watts was electedHouse Republican ConferenceChair in 1998, replacingJohn Boehner,[21] after a vote of 121–93.[6] Watts assumed the position in 1999[1] and was the first African-American Republican elected to a leadership post.[11]
In his leadership position, Watts opposed government regulations and President Clinton's attempt to restore the ability of theFood and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products.[22] He voted to impeach Bill Clinton,[2] was appointed by SpeakerDennis Hastert to lead a group of House Republicans to investigate cybersecurity issues,[3] and became a member of a presidential exploratory committee forGeorge W. Bush.[23] Watts argued for using tax reduction to improve education, job training and housing in poor urban and rural settings, and advocated letting religious institutions carry out the work.[3] Watts worked to make his party more inclusive, promoted African trade, supported historically black colleges and universities,[18] and was opposed to federal funding of embryonicstem cell research.[24]
To keep a majority of House seats in the2000 election, Watts advised Republicans to moderate their language and criticized the party for creating the perception it favored a view of "family values that excluded single mothers."[3] Watts opposed theConfederate battle flag flying over theSouth Carolina State House and advised Republicans to go slowly on opposing racial quotas.[3] By then, Watts had become involved in a contest with other members of the Republican House leadership, includingTom DeLay, over control of the party's message and nearly announced retirement in early February 2000, due to strains on his family, who remained in Oklahoma during his tenure in Washington,[6] but changed his mind after consultations with constituents, Hastert, and his family.[3] He ran, despite an earlier pledge to serve not more than three terms.[25] Watts won re-nomination with 81 percent against James Odom[26] and was re-elected by his largest margin yet against Democratic candidate Larry Weatherford.[14]
After George W. Bush took office as president, Watts co-sponsored a bill to create tax incentives for charitable donations and allow religious charities to receive federal money for social programs,[27] and proposed several new tax reductions in addition to Bush's tax cut plan,[28] targeting theestate tax andmarriage penalty.[29] Watts was one of ten congressional leaders taken to an undisclosed location following theSeptember 11 attacks.[30]
In 2002, Watts stated he would not seek reelection, citing a desire to spend more time with his family,[18] but stated the decision was difficult becauseRosa Parks asked him to stay.[31] Republicans argued Watts complained about the party message and the cancellation of an artillery system in his district by the Bush Administration, which Watts denied.[18] Watts supported the candidacy ofTom Cole, who won the election to fill his seat.[32]
After he left Congress, Watts was appointed by President Bush to be a member of the Board of Visitors to theUnited States Military Academy for a term expiring December 30, 2003.[33] Watts founded a lobbying and consulting firm, J. C. Watts Companies, in Washington, D.C., to represent corporations and political groups and focus on issues he championed in Congress.[34] TheJohn Deere Company hired Watts aslobbyist in 2006 and Watts later invested in a Deere dealership and sought financial support from United States agencies and others for a farm-related project inSenegal.[35] Watts wrote an autobiography, wrote regular opinion columns for theLas Vegas Review-Journal,[36] and joined the boards of several companies, includingDillard's,[37]Terex,[38]Clear Channel Communications,[39] andCSX Transportation,[citation needed] and served as chairman ofGOPAC.[40]
Watts supported theIraq War in 2003, stating: "America did not become the leader of the free world by looking the other way to heinous atrocities and unspeakable evils."[41] He was later hired as a political commentator byCNN[35] and following the2006 House election, Watts argued the Republican Party had lost seats because it failed to address the needs of urban areas and did not offer a positive message. He stated: "We lost our way, pure and simple."[42]
In 2008, Watts announced he was developing acable news network with the help ofComcast, focusing on an African-American audience,[43] and that he considered voting forBarack Obama, criticizing the Republican party for failing in outreach to the African-American community.[44] Reports showed he contributed toJohn McCain, but not to Obama.[45]
Watts considered running to succeedBrad Henry asGovernor of Oklahoma in the2010 gubernatorial election,[46] but declined in May 2009, citing his business and contractual obligations.[47]
On April 7, 2015, Watts joinedU.S. SenatorRand Paul on stage duringPaul's announcement speech for U.S. president.[48]
For most of 2016, Watts served as the president and CEO ofFeed the Children (FTC). The board of directors announced his appointment on January 21.[49] On November 15, the organization and Watts announced that he was no longer serving in those roles.[50] The following April, Wattssued both FTC and its board of directors for wrongful termination. According to Watts, he was fired after uncovering rampant financial mismanagement at the charity and notifying thestate's Attorney General Office of potentially illegal practices. Feed The Children denied there was any validity to Watts' claims and proceeded to file acounter-suit against him. The case was settled in 2019, after FTC agreed to drop their counter-suit and pay Watts $1 million to resolve all his claims against them.[51]
In 2019 Watts began plans to start theBlack News Channel,[52] which launched on February 10, 2020, as a 24-hour news channel aimed at an African American audience.[53] The channel went out of business in April 2022, in the face of lagging cable and satellite provider subscriptions and an unsuccessful 2021 revamp that added commentators at odds with Watts's views.[54]
| Year | Democrat | Votes | Pct | Republican | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | 4th Party | Party | Votes | Pct | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | David Perryman | 67,237 | 43% | J. C. Watts Jr. | 80,251 | 52% | Bill Tiffee | Independent | 7,913 | 5% | |||||||||
| 1996 | Ed Crocker | 73,950 | 40% | J. C. Watts Jr. | 106,923 | 58% | Robert Murphy | Libertarian | 4,500 | 2% | |||||||||
| 1998 | Ben Odom | 52,107 | 38% | J. C. Watts Jr. | 83,272 | 62% | |||||||||||||
| 2000 | Larry Weatherford | 54,808 | 31% | J. C. Watts Jr. | 114,000 | 65% | Susan Ducey | Reform | 4,897 | 3% | Keith B. Johnson | Libertarian | 1,979 | 1% |
| Passing | Rushing | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YEAR | CMP | ATT | CMP% | YDS | TD | INT | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD |
| 1977 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1978 | 13 | 38 | 34.2 | 227 | 2 | 4 | 42 | 204 | 4.9 | 6 |
| 1979 | 39 | 81 | 48.2 | 785 | 4 | 5 | 123 | 455 | 3.7 | 10 |
| 1980 | 35 | 78 | 44.9 | 905 | 2 | 10 | 163 | 663 | 4.1 | 18 |
| Totals | 87 | 197 | 44.2 | 1,917 | 8 | 19 | 328 | 1,322 | 4.0 | 34 |
| Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YEAR | TEAM | CMP | ATT | CMP% | YDS | TD | INT | RAT | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | |
| 1981 | OTT | 77 | 142 | 54.2 | 957 | 3 | 11 | 50.1 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1983 | OTT | 175 | 358 | 48.9 | 3,089 | 18 | 20 | 72.3 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1984 | OTT | 189 | 360 | 52.5 | 3,052 | 21 | 23 | 74.0 | 61 | 357 | 5.9 | 1 | |
| 1985 | OTT | 236 | 439 | 53.8 | 2,975 | 12 | 25 | 60.5 | 106 | 710 | 6.7 | 1 | |
| 1986 | OTT | 66 | 127 | 52.0 | 864 | 7 | 9 | 62.6 | — | — | — | — | |
| TOR | 108 | 182 | 59.3 | 1,477 | 5 | 5 | 83.1 | — | — | — | — | ||
| Totals | — | 851 | 1,608 | 52.9 | 12,414 | 66 | 93 | 67.9 | 346 | 2,312 | 6.7 | — | |
The speakers included J.C. Watts, a former congressman who's African-American; state Sen. Ralph Alvarado, who's Hispanic; local pastor Jerry Stephenson, who's African American and a former Democrat; and University of Kentucky student Lauren Bosler.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Townsend | Member of theOklahoma Corporation Commission 1991–1995 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOklahoma's 4th congressional district 1995–2003 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Response to the State of the Union address 1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of the House Republican Conference 1999–2003 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
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