Ralph H. Scott

He worked seven days a week, using a Ford Model A to pick up milk from farmers in the mornings before parking in downtown Burlington to make his deliveries on foot.

He also created a company that manufactured plastic containers and processed aerosol cream, and he served on the boards of directors of an insurance firm, a savings and loan association, and a textile mill.

[6] In 1948 while his brother, Kerr Scott, was mulling his chances of running for the office of Governor of North Carolina, Ralph investigated the potential of his candidacy.

Lieutenant Governor Hoyt Patrick Taylor, the presiding officer of the Senate, sent Scott a letter asking for his desired committee assignments.

[6] When visiting his home district on weekends, he often met with constituents to hear their requests and worked to secure government favors upon them, including jobs, paroles, or the paving of roads.

After hearing rumors that U.S. Representative Carl T. Durham would retire from his seat in North Carolina's 6th congressional district, Scott declared his candidacy in the Democratic primary.

[18] During the Democratic primaries of the 1964 North Carolina gubernatorial election, Scott supported progressive L. Richardson Preyer and frequently criticized conservative candidate Dan K. Moore.

His criticism was so intense that his nephew Bob, who was running for the office of Lieutenant Governor and attempting remain neutral in the gubernatorial contest, had to issue a public statement distancing himself from Ralph.

Ralph used his position in the legislature to assist his nephew's agenda, and in returned asked for the governor to help grant favors to his constituents.

Ralph Scott proposed the only bill that was supportive of the students, a measure which would establish their representation on the boards of trustees of state-supported schools.

In order to secure money for vocational rehabilitation projects for disabled persons, he appointed a subcommittee on the matter which met once and voted to recommend increased funding.

[25] Allred challenged Scott again in 1980, accusing him of impropriety for lobbying for the paving of an access road to a Holiday Inn hotel while he held stock in the company.

Sanford dubbed him "the conscience of the legislature" while former Senator Robert Burren Morgan said that he had wielded as much influence "as any single individual ever in the state, including governors.