William Lloyd Scott (July 1, 1915 – February 14, 1997) was an American Republican politician from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

[3] He graduated from high school in St. Albans, West Virginia[4] and began a career with the Government Printing Office.

[15] Other initiatives and pet projects Scott advocated included a return to "old time" Independence Day celebrations.

[19] During his Congressional service, Scott was criticized for excessive expenses incurred during his fact-finding trips abroad.

"[21] In addition, his name appeared in an exposé of Congressional staff hiring practices as one of the members who had given "No Blacks" and other similar instructions to the Capitol Hill Placement Bureau.

[23] One news report indicated that during a job interview, Scott was told that the applicant was Jewish, and replied "Oh, I've got too many of them here now to hire you.

"[23] A 1974 article in New Times by Nina Totenberg reported that Scott had been ranked at the top of the list of "The Ten Dumbest Members of Congress".

"[25] In addition, 1975 press accounts of a trip he took to the Middle East stated that Scott was a "diplomat's nightmare" who mistook the Suez Canal for the Persian Gulf, refused to enter a mosque because it wasn't "a Christian building", and asked Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin "What is this Gaza stuff?

"[26] Scott held a press conference to deny the claims of the New Times story, which had the effect of giving the allegation wider circulation and enhanced credibility.

[27][28] In 2000 and afterward, journalist Harry Stein, who had provided much of the background information to Totenberg based on an earlier Stein article that he now considers a "hit piece", agreed with Scott's assessment at the time that the articles were written by "some left-wing kids from Richmond with an agenda."

Stein wrote that at the time of the Totenberg article, Scott was a tempting target because he was roundly disliked by his colleagues and his staff, and widely regarded as incompetent.