Thomas J. Watson, Jr. was was the eldest son of Thomas J. Watson, chairman of IBM. Throughout his life, Thomas dealt with incredible pressure at being raised under the popularity of his father. He was known to have struggled throughout his life with depression. Because of poor academic standards, he earned a business degree from Brown University in 1937.

The critical turning point in his life was when he served the Air Force in World War II. His combat experiences made him the person who was later able to take over the reigns of IBM. In May of 1956, Thomas was named CEO. Only six weeks later his father died. Yet this would not stop him from changing the world of computer technology.

Thomas Jr. took the single biggest risk to IBM when he decided to make all of its previous computer software obsolete, by making a uniform system of software for all future IBM macines. The new series called the System/360 almost completely bankrupted the entire company. Its succesful launch in 1964 was called by Fortune magazine "IBM's $5 Billion Gamble".

That same year, because of his success, Dwight D. Eisenhower at the New York World's Fair awarded Thomas J. Watson Jr. the Medal of Freedom, the hightest award a U.S. President can bestow on a civilian.

Watson was later commissioned as US ambassador to the Soviet Union, serving from 29 October 1979 to 15 January 1981.