A native of Alamance County, North Carolina, and a farmer by training, Scott was a lifelong advocate for agricultural issues and became known in his home state as "the Squire of Haw River."

His father advised him that he should acquire land and develop his agricultural enterprise to ensure that when he sought public office he could campaign without fear of losing his job due to political reprisal.

Graham was regarded as one of the most racially and generally progressive figures in the South, and became victimized by pernicious attacks concerning his views on race relations when he campaigned the following year to maintain his senate seat.

In an effort to defend Graham, Scott lent the full weight of his political organization to him and assiduously campaigned across North Carolina.

Despite intervention from Scott, President Harry Truman, U.S. House Speaker Sam Rayburn, and others, Graham was defeated by conservative lawyer Willis Smith for the Democratic Party's nomination.

[2] Four years later, when Scott elected to run for the same U.S. Senate seat which had been contested by Graham, he was queried by a local reporter about how his campaign would respond to the race-baiting strategies that are imputed with the loss of his appointee.

He was a signatory of the Southern Manifesto, objecting to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education that state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students are unconstitutional.

Reacting directly to the Brown ruling, Kerr expressed his wish that the Supreme Court "would reaffirm its own historic decisions approving equal, but separate, school facilities."

"[5] Scott also opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and President Eisenhower's decision to send troops to escort black students to Little Rock Central High School.