Former Library of Congress Chief Executive Officer Donald Scott discusses his new memoir Recipient of Grace.

Scott’s story begins as a poor black youth growing up in Hunnewell, Missouri, and concludes with his term as chief operating officer at the Library of Congress. In between, he recounts his service in the U.S. Army and the undercurrent of racial tensions.

Scott retired from the army as a brigadier general, but that end marked the beginning of a new chapter in his career, one that would take him from Chief of Staff for the City of Atlanta to founding director for Americorps National Civilian Community Corps to the Library of Congress.