[1] He graduated from St. Johnsbury Academy and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College in 1922.

)[11] Waterman managed Aiken's successful 1936 campaign for governor,[11] and in 1946 was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate, losing the Republican primary to Ralph E. Flanders,[12] who went on to win the general election.

[11] Waterman was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on May 13, 1955, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated by Judge Harrie B.

[15] Waterman's opinions included the one that upheld the prosecution and sentencing of Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.

[15] He also wrote the opinion that reaffirmed the order for a special New York legislative election in 1965, which the state Court of Appeals had canceled.

[20] The degree was conferred after the trustees, faculty and administration agreed that his writings while serving as a judge satisfied the requirements for the course he had not completed before passing the bar exam in 1926.

[5][21] Waterman died in St. Johnsbury on February 6, 1984, aged 82, [15] and was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in St.