Sen. Watson to Be Nominated as Ambassador

President Clinton announced Wednesday that he is planning to nominate Diane E. Watson--a five-term state senator from Los Angeles--to be U.S. ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia.

Watson, a Democrat, has been representing her Los Angeles district since 1978, when she was the first African American woman to be elected to the California Senate.

Before entering politics, Watson was a schoolteacher. She entered politics in 1975, winning election to the Los Angeles Board of Education and leading the fight to integrate the schools during her tenure.

In 1978, Watson won her Senate seat with 70% of the vote, and she also won her next four elections by large margins. She has chaired the Health and Human Services Committee in the Senate for the past 16 years and has been instrumental in reforming health and welfare programs.

Watson was born in her Senate district, in a middle-class neighborhood just a mile from the house where she now lives.

Her father was an LAPD officer. After her parents divorced, her mother worked nights as a mail sorter and rented out a room to make ends meet.

Watson’s Senate accomplishments include the creation of California’s controversial antismoking campaign, which has been credited with cutting smoking rates dramatically.

Her tenure has not been free of controversy. In 1988, she was fined $2,000 for failing to disclose a loan from a health care lobbyist. She also was accused--and later cleared--of using state funds and legislative staff to prepare her doctoral dissertation.

Watson earned a bachelor of arts degree in education from UCLA in 1956, a master of science degree in school psychology from Cal State L.A. in 1967, and a PhD in educational administration from Claremont Graduate School in 1987.