Alexander Watson

Alexander Fletcher Watson (born August 8, 1939) is a retired American ambassador and diplomat.

Watson was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Harvard University, earning a bachelor's degree in government in 1961, and joined the Foreign Service in 1962.

Watson served as Vice Consul/Third Secretary at the American embassy in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and in 1964 became Vice Consul at the embassy in Madrid, Spain. Watson left Spain in 1966 to become an intelligence analyst at the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Watson continued to serve as an intelligence analyst until 1968, when he began attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, graduating with his master's degree a year later.

From 1969 to 1972, Watson again worked overseas, this time in Brazil. Watson served his first two years in the country as a Political Officer at the embassy in Brasilia, until he was transferred to serve in the consulate in Salvador in the same position. in 1975, Watson returned to the U.S. to work as a Country Officer in the Office of Brazilian Affairs, a division of the State Department's Bureau of Inter-American Affairs. In 1975, Watson was transferred to the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, becoming Special Assistant for Legislative and Public Affairs in the Office of Development Finance. In 1977, Watson was promoted to Deputy Director of the Office of Development Finance, and one year later became Director. In 1979, Watson returned to Latin America, serving successively as Deputy Chief of Mission in three American embassies: La Paz, Bolivia (1979-1981); Bogotá, Colombia (1981-1984) and Brasilia, Brazil (1984-1986).

In 1986, Watson became the U.S. Ambassador to Peru, serving until 1989. In that year, he became Deputy Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations, holding this post until 1993, when Watson was appointed Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs by President Bill Clinton, retiring at the end of Clinton's first term in 1996.

After retiring, The Nature Conservancy appointed Watson as Vice President and Executive Director of its to head its Latin America and the Caribbean division. He has since left that position, and now works at Hills & Co.

In 2004, he joined Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, a group of retired diplomats and military commanders opposed to the reelection of President George W. Bush. Bush was re-elected nonetheless.

Watson speaks Spanish and Portuguese. He is married to Judith Tuttle, and has two children.

References

* [http://www.fas.org/irp/news/1993/12246117-12248480.htm Federation of American Scientists profile]

succession box
title = United States Chargé d'affairs "ad interim", Bolivia
before = Marvin Weissman
after = Edwin G. Corr
years = July 1980–September 1981succession box
title = United States Ambassador to Peru
before = David C. Jordan
after = Anthony Quainton
years = 27 November 1986–9 August 1989