Benjamin Joseph Wattenberg (born Joseph Ben Zion Wattenberg; August 26, 1933 – June 28, 2015) was an American author, neoconservative political commentator and demographer, associated with both Republican and Democratic presidents and politicians in the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s. National Affairs claimed that Wattenberg "challenged and reshaped conventional wisdom (...) at least once a decade".