George Watkins (politician)

George Robert Watkins ( born May 21, 1902 in Hampton, Virginia; † August 7, 1970 in West Chester, Pennsylvania ) was an American politician. Between 1965 and 1970 he represented the State of Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

George Watkins attended the public schools of his home and then started working as a ship's outfitters ( Shipfitter ). In 1920 he came to Chester in Pennsylvania, where he founded the company in Chester Stevedoring Co, which he sold in 1931. In 1932 he founded with a partner shipping company Blue Line Transfer Co, which had run trucks in the entire eastern United States. At the same time he proposed as a member of the Republican Party launched a political career. From 1945 to 1948 he was sheriff in Delaware County. Between 1949 and 1960 he was a member of the Senate of Pennsylvania. He also farmed in Delaware County, a farm and bred racehorses.

In the congressional elections of 1964, Watkins was in the seventh election district of Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he became the successor of William H. Milliken on January 3, 1965. After two re- elections he could remain until his death on 7 August 1970 at the Congress. Since 1967, he represented the ninth district where his state. His time as a congressman was shaped by the events of the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement.