The burden of high expectations for politicians
Scott considers one of the broader problems of government. People expect so much from their leaders that when those leaders fail to deliver, like Governor Terry Sanford when he promised an extensive road-paving system, the people become cynical. Politicians' evasiveness does little to improve the situation, Scott worries.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with Robert W. (Bob) Scott, February 11, 1998. Interview C-0336-2. 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
- JACK FLEER:
-
You mentioned, at the beginning of today's interview, that one
of the things that impressed you was the chief justice saying that you
would uphold the law of the nation and the state and the constitution.
And we've talked about appointments, we've talked
about legislative responsibilities, we've talked about
ethical considerations in your administration. Do we expect too much of
one person, the governor of the state?
- ROBERT W. (BOB) SCOTT:
-
Boy, I don't know. I've never had a question put to
me like that. Expectations are pretty high, but that's partly
the fault of the process, the candidate raises the expectations.
"If you elect me, I'll do these things!"
And so we may—I think we do expect the
officeholder, the governor, the president in particular, and yes, the
lieutenant governor, because the lieutenant governor
[unclear]
—we expect more because we
don't understand the process, we don't understand
the restrictions, the limitations on their power, on the office of
governor. The governor may, indeed, really want to do that, but finds
out that, for whatever reason, it simply can't be done. So it
was not done. There comes then the disappointment on those who expected
him to do thus-and-so, and consequently it builds cynicism. And I think
that's part of the reason why there is a lot of cynicism in
the government today.
I had a fellow, just this past week, I happened to run into him and he
told me he retired from state government here locally; he worked as a
heavy equipment operator for the state highway
commission. He was thirty years in it, and retired January the 31st. And
he asked me, "Do you ever see Governor Hunt any
more?" And I said, "Well, not really,
except at meetings, where, you know, we speak, and he goes on, and
I'm in the audience, and he's up on stage giving a
talk. I don't really see him." He said,
"Well, when you see him next time, you tell him that he
doesn't have but three more years to give us a chance to vote
on the lottery." You know, I don't know that
Governor Hunt's ever said he'd give us a chance to
vote on the lottery, but if he did, that's for the
legislature to decide, not him! And, you see, his expectation was,
because somehow he had it in his mind that the governor was going to let
us vote to see if the state would put on a lottery. And, oh, heavens, I
ran into that a lot of times, the expectations of people. And I think
elected officials, because we are in a democracy, and the powers are
dispersed, and so the governor being the most visible, that the people
expect more of that officeholder, the person in that office, and then
when he can't wave a magic wand to cause things to happen,
then they become disappointed and cynicism is apt to rise to the
fore.
- JACK FLEER:
-
Are people willing to accept a governor's explanation of his
inability to do things?
- ROBERT W. (BOB) SCOTT:
-
Well, I don't know. People want you to be honest, frank,
above-board, and yet they don't. If you are,
you'll never get elected. I was asked this question not long
after I finished my term as governor. I was making a talk locally to a
group, and we had a question and answer period afterwards, and near the
end of that question-and-answer period, someone asked me, "If
you were running
for"—remember, this is right after I
completed my term in office, not long
after—"If you were running for office
again, would you be this frank, and honest, and open with
us?" And I said, "Well, I'm not
sure that I would. I would not be dishonest with you, but I'm
not sure I'd be quite as open and frank. Because one of the
questions you asked me earlier was, how important, in the scheme of
state government, is the office of secretary of state? And I
told you, Not very. I said, It's a constitutional office,
it's been there since the constitution was adopted, people
think about it: well, you have a president, vice-president, secretary,
treasurer. But in this case, the secretary of state opens the general
assembly and keeps certain records"—of
course, it's become a little more powerful, with the merchant
code they put in there, but even so. But I said, "I
wouldn't have said that if you'd asked me in a
public forum, because I don't want to offend the secretary of
state, or his friends, or his supporters that elected him.
I'll make them mad at me because I said the office
didn't amount to anything. So I'm not playing as
honest and open with you. I'm not going to say that
it's not, that it's unimportant, you
see." So I'm not sure I could get elected again,
because it's the only power they have.
And besides, and let's assume I had maybe fifteen million
dollars to run a campaign, which precludes my ever running again anyway,
I tend to be frank and a little bit abrupt. I don't have the
finesse that some do. You would think after all these years of giving
speeches, I would've made the effort to improve that.
I tend more to say what I think now
than—. I think, without sounding
egotistical—or being egotistical; it might sound
egotistical—I think I'd make a better
governor now, because I have a better sense of priority, of
what's important. A lot of stuff now would roll off my back
that used to perhaps get me bent out of shape a little bit when I was
governor. Partly that comes from maturity, of course.
- JACK FLEER:
-
And experience?
- ROBERT W. (BOB) SCOTT:
-
And experience. But I wouldn't like it in particular, but I
wouldn't get bent out of shape if I got unfavorable
editorials about something. And I realize that this is an opinion of a
group of people sitting around a table deciding what the editorial
policy was going to be by five votes, you know.
- JACK FLEER:
-
It's not everybody out there.
- ROBERT W. (BOB) SCOTT:
-
But if I didn't have to go through the throes of a campaign, I
think I might like to try it for another four years. I think about that
for about fifteen seconds.
- JACK FLEER:
-
Even though you know the expectations are very great.
- ROBERT W. (BOB) SCOTT:
-
Yeah. But one of the reasons I think I wouldn't get elected is
because I would tell folks, "There's no way I can do
that." Well, they'll go on with somebody who says
they can. I remember very well Terry Sanford—I
use this in Chapel Hill, sometimes, with
students—I'll never forget, when Terry
Sanford was campaigning for governor in 1960, he was way up in the
western part of the state, Cherokee County or some place up there, and
he made a statement, he was strong on rural roads, he wanted to continue
Kerr Scott's program, and there were still a
lot of rural roads that hadn't been paved. And
he, according to the news cast, made a statement in a speech up there,
that he wanted to pave all the school bus routes in the state. But man,
there wasn't that much money in the state treasury, if you
took it all. Maybe he didn't realize how much money he was
talking about, or he thought he was way up there in the mountains and
nobody would hear it, but some reporter picked it up and it made the
wire services. "Sanford is going to pave all the school bus
routes in the state." And I thought at the time, good heavens!
What did that man say? Well, you know, there was no
retraction of it anywhere.
- JACK FLEER:
-
Got caught up in the spirit of the campaign.
- ROBERT W. (BOB) SCOTT:
-
Yeah, and when he gets elected and we don't get the school bus
route paved through this community, well, you know, it was just a
political promise. So all that breeds some skepticism and cynicism.
You know, that's one of the reasons, Dr. Fleer, that I enjoy
my little bit of teaching. I've come to know what you as a
professional have known for many years: there's an immense
satisfaction in being able to pass along, to future leaders and
potential future leaders, whatever experience and knowledge you have
had, hoping that it will enhance their ability to lead. I'd
always heard about this, I heard about it from my mother, who was a
teacher, my wife who was a teacher, but I never experienced that until I
got into a classroom. I understand now.