Philip Howell Watts Collection

DONOR:

Diana Hottell; [2007]

SIZE:

[1 cu ft]

SCOPE & CONTENT:

Materials regarding Richard Nixon: scrapbook; photo of Mr. Watts with Sri. C. Rajagopalachari, autographed; map of the trip, newspaper articles, mementos

BIOGRAPHY:

In 1953, Mr. Watts was executive secretary of the US State Department's policy planning staff. In that capacity, he organized and accompanied then Vice President Richard Nixon's trip around the world.

Mr. Watts's scrapbook and files relate to the 1953 itinerary of Vice President Richard Nixon (under President Dwight D. Eisenhower) starting October 7 and returned December 11, 1953. He stopped in Tehran, Iran, Rangoon, India, Djakarta, Manila, Kuala Lampur, Ceylon, Hong Kong, South Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Taipei, Singapore, Bangkok, Kabul, Hawaii, and San Francisco.

Mr. Watts was born in Morristown NJ, graduated from Harvard University, and was an investment banker in New York before moving to Washington DC in 1941. He worked on the staff of Nelson Rockefeller, then as coordinator of the Inter-American Affairs at the State Department. He later served in the Navy in the Pacific during World War II. After the war, Mr. Watts became vice president of the Foreign Service Educational Foundation, which led to the creation of the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University. Later he was executive director of the House Select Committee on Foreign Aid during the period immediately preceding congressional debate on the Marshall Plan for aid to postwar Europe. Mr. Watts was a member of the advisory council of the School for Advanced International Studies, a trustee of the Federal City Council, and a member of the boards of Children's Hospital and the old United Givers Fund. He was a former senior warden and vestryman at St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, and a member of the Chevy Chase Club, the Metropolitan Club, and the Alabi Club.

In 1955, Mr. Watts joined Alex Brown and & Sons, as a general partner of the investment broker and later became a limited partner where he served for 20 years until his death at the age of 77 in 1986.