High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Thomas John Watson, Jr. (January 14, 1914 ? December 31, 1993) was the president of IBM from 1952 to 1971 and the eldest son of Thomas J. Watson, IBM's first president. He was listed as one of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Thomas Watson, Jr. was born on January 14, 1914 just before his father was summarily dismissed from his job at NCR. Then came two daughters, Jane and Helen, before the youngest child, Arthur Kittredge Watson, was born. Both sons were immersed in IBM from a very early age; Tom Watson, Jr. was later to say that IBM was always on his mind. He was taken on plant inspections ? his first memory of such a visit (to the Dayton, Ohio factory) was at the age of five ? business tours to Europe and he made appearances at the Hundred Per Cent Club even before he was old enough to attend school.