Despite having risen to become the most prominent elected black Republican in the country, Tim Scott has never forgotten where he came from. After his parents separated when he was a child, he grew up sharing a single bedroom with his mother and older brother in North Charleston.
His home -- which was little more than a shack -- was located on a dirt road. Scott said his mother worked double shifts as a nursing assistant at a Charleston hospital, and his grandfather left school in third grade to pick cotton. Even though he was illiterate, his grandfather would hold up the newspaper to "read" in front of his young grandsons just to instill the importance of knowledge and education in them.
"My grandfather ... had a passion for progress that was palpable," Scott said.
"My grandmother who cleaned houses taught me the importance of a work ethic and individual responsibility, and my mom, who is my true ultimate American hero ... she taught me the dignity of work."