Reflections on gubernatorial accomplishments
Scott reflects on the accomplishments of his gubernatorial administration from 1969 to 1973. While Scott argues that he does not believe history will isolate his administration for any one particularly significant accomplishment, he express great pride in "what didn't happen." According to Scott, the most significant accomplishment of his administration was the work it did to quell racial unrest, with only a handful of skirmishes, during a particularly tumultuous era.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with Robert W. (Bob) Scott, April 4, 1990. Interview L-0193. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
In terms of the time and energy
that you spent, politically capital that you spent, would you consider
this the most important issue? Or one of several?
- BOB SCOTT:
-
I have asked that question, what was the most important thing that
occurred, and it is hard to say, because they are different. Political
victoriesߞit ranks right up there with another one, and that
was getting the tobacco tax passed. First and last and so forth.
- WILLIAM LINK:
-
That came in one year?
- BOB SCOTT:
-
That was inߞwas it '69 or '71,
I've forgotten. I'll find out. But that was taking
on another sacred cow. You see, we all have our sacred cows, and the
University was one and tobacco was another. I took them both on, and
they were political. And I won both. Incidentally, I used that income
from the increasedߞfrom the cigarette tax and crown drink tax
on it at the same time. I didn't want that, at the time, but
I had to take that along with it. And it was used to get the money to
start the new public school kindergarten system. So, it was all
education-related. But I guess those two were probably the most
significant political victories. In terms of long term impact on the
state, I don't know that the restructuring of the University
has that much direct impact on individuals, I think. It's
more of a restructuring from a government standpoint, and it was a
little different philosophy of a way of doing business and budgetarily,
it ߞI don't know that it saved all that much money.
It just saved a lot of scrapping and fighting in the legislature. In
terms of impact upon the stateߞthe state
and the people of the stateߞsome things we were able to get
done and things that didn't get much attentionߞthe
environmental package. That was just the coming thing back then, the
environmental legislation, so I got that going. Beginning the public
school kindergarten; even though we didn't get it put into
place all over the state, we got the program started in the eight
educational districts in the state. And so I think those had more impact
than the restructuring did. But.....
- WILLIAM LINK:
-
But it obviously preoccupied a lot of your time.
- BOB SCOTT:
-
Well, particularly in the last half of the administration,
itߞI have often said that my administration is not known, and
I don't think that it will go down in history for having any
one thing that stands out. Like Terry Sanfordߞthe Education
Governor. My father, the Good Roads Governor. I'm not known
much for anything. And that doesn't bother me. I'm
gratified with what we were able to do, and like most governors,
I'm frustrated that I didn't get more done. But,
the big story in North Carolina, during that four-year period was what
didn't happen, in terms of racial unrest. And we had our
problems, don't get me wrong, again A&T, and the
so-called Wilmington Tenߞare you a native of North Carolina?
- WILLIAM LINK:
-
No, I am not, my parents are.
- BOB SCOTT:
-
Well, then you know the history about, we had what we call the
"Wilmington Ten." We had a few incidents like that.
But in the public schools, themselves, we worked hard. God knows, Dr.
Craig Phillips sent to the public restruction and his team was working
with our office, we strengthened the Good Neighbor Council that Dan
Moore had started and really staffed it up, and we had teams all over
the state talking, talking, talking. The blacks and whites trying down
to dampen down the hot spots and so on. So we spent a tremendous amount
of energy and time to those things, and I have always felt that if I had
that time and energy to devote to other things, then maybe we would have
gotten more visible things done. And, of course, again, as I say, what
didn't happen doesn't make the history books.
Again, I feel that was a very significant contribution.