U.S. News & World Report: Thomas Watson
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Thomas Watson
Thomas John Watson Jr. was an American businessman, diplomat, Army Air Forces pilot, and philanthropist. The son of IBM Corporation founder Thomas J. Watson, he was the second IBM president (1952–71), the 11th national president of the Boy Scouts of America (1964–68) and served on the World Scout Committee (1965-1971), and the 16th United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union (1979–81). He receive…
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business · American businessman and diplomat (1914–1993) · diplomat · businessperson · aircraft pilot · politician · entrepreneur · also Thomas Watson, Thomas J. Watson Jr., Thomas John Watson, Thomas Watson Jr., Thomas John Watson Jr., Watson
Born 14 January 1914 · Died 31 December 1993 · Q46000
19 published statements · 0 followers
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2026· 1 entry
1998· 1 entry
Was included on TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people of the 20th century
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1993· 3 entries
Died 1993-12-31.
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“Machines might give us more time to think but will never do our thinking for us.”
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“Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the dangers of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of 'crackpot' than the stigma of conformity.”
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1987· 1 entry
Fortune magazine hailed Watson on its cover as "the greatest capitalist in history"
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1981· 1 entry
In which he warned against further escalation against the USSR
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1974· 1 entry
Watson described his relationship with his father; "My father and I had terrible fights
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1971· 1 entry
On his doctor's advice after having a heart attack
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1967· 1 entry
Career landmark: board member (1967–1979).
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1964· 2 entries
Won Presidential Medal of Freedom presented by Lyndon B. Johnson (1964).
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And what Fortune magazine called "IBM's $5 Billion Gamble," in the end, paid off
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1958· 1 entry
“We had a superb sales organization but lacked expert management organization in almost everything else”
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1956· 2 entries
Career landmark: chief executive officer (1956–1971).
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In a move that became a bi-annual event, he reorganized IBM on divisional lines, to give a decentralized organization, with five major divisions in the US
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1955· 1 entry
Earned Silver Buffalo Award (1955).
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1952· 2 entries
And was named as the company's CEO shortly before the death of his father, Watson Sr
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Career landmark: president (1952–1971).
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1914· 1 entry
Born 1914-01-14.
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