Samuel James Ervin, Jr. served as a state supreme court judge and U.S. senator from North Carolina. He is most famous for presiding over the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, more familiarly known as the Watergate Committee. In this capacity, Ervin questioned executive officials who worked for President Richard M. Nixon about the White House's involvement in the 1972 burglary of the Democratic National Committee offices and the subsequent cover-up.

Ervin was born on September 27, 1896 in Morganton, North Carolina. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina in 1917 and served as an infantryman in France during World War I. After the war he enrolled at Harvard Law School, graduating in 1922.

Ervin returned to North Carolina and entered private law practice. However, he soon became involved in politics. He was elected to the North Carolina legislature in 1923 and served three terms. From 1935 to 1943 Ervin...