Sam Ervin

Background

Sam Ervin was born September 27, 1896, in Morganton, North Carolina. His ancestors, Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, fled from religious persecution to settle in the new land in 1732.

Education

Educated in public schools and blessed with an insatiable appetite for learning, Ervin earned his college degree from the University of North Carolina in 1917.

Career

He was enlisted in World War I, and was wounded in combat in France. At one point during the war Ervin resigned his commission as a lieutenant as that was the only way he could return to the front and combat. A much decorated hero for his actions, when he returned home he attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1922. From the mid-1920s until the mid-1950s he practiced law when he was not called to higher duties: as a representative to the North Carolina General Assemblies of 1923, 1925, and 1931; as a criminal court judge (Burke County) from 1935 to 1937; as a U. S. representative for one year (1946) to finish the term of office vacated by the death of his brother; and as an associate justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1948 to 1954. Ervin was appointed to the U. S. Senate by Governor William B. Umstead when Senator Clyde R. Hoey from North Carolina died in the summer of 1954. He was elected to complete that term in November of 1954 and was reelected by more than 60 percent of the vote in 1956, 1962, and 1968. During his 20 years in the Senate, Ervin served on several committees of note: the select committee investigating (and ultimately censuring) Senator Joseph McCarthy for activities which disgraced the Senate during McCarthy's anti-Communist smear campaign (1954); the select committee investigating labor racketeering, involving illegal activities in labor or management (1957 - 1960); and the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities (the Watergate Committee) in 1973 and 1974, which he chaired. He also served as chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights and succeeded in protecting the rights of persons in the military, of the mentally ill, of the criminally accused, and of American Indians. (However, he consistently opposed a liberal interpretation of the Constitution to facilitate legislation supporting civil rights during the 19606. ) In addition to the Judiciary Committee and the select committees, Ervin's regular assignments were on the Armed Services and Government Operations committees. Ervin's role as chairman of the Watergate Committee allowed most of the country to observe through televised hearings several characteristics for which he is remembered: a person who held the Constitution in the highest regard and found trespassers to be among the lowest of criminals; a trial judge and attorney who knew how to press witnesses and generate relevant information; and, because of the nature of his appointment as chairman, an individual who was generally above partisan politics, even though he was usually classified as a conservative by his voting record. In retirement, Ervin practiced "a little law" in Morganton, North Carolina. He died April 23, 1984, of respiratory failure.

Achievements

• During his Senate career, Ervin was a legal defender of the Jim Crow laws and racial segregation, as the South's constitutional expert during the congressional debates on civil rights. Unexpectedly, he became a liberal hero for his support of civil liberties. He is remembered for his work in the investigation committees that brought down Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1954 and especially for his investigation of the Watergate scandal in 1972 that led to the resignation of Richard Nixon.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Humor of a Country Lawyer (Chapel Hill Books)

    (Originally published in 1984, Senator Ervin's delightful ...)

  • Quotations from Chairman Sam;: The wit and wisdom of Senator Sam Ervin (Harrow books)

Views

Throughout his career, Ervin maintained that a strict interpretation of the Constitution was very important. He was intolerant of those who meddled with the Constitution, be they activist judges or individuals who violated the tenets of that document. While seldom outwardly critical of individuals, Ervin maintained that those individual freedoms protected by the Constitution-particularly those restrictions upon government-were the most sacred protections guaranteed by the Constitution and were necessary for the preservation of democratic government.

Quotations: "There is nothing in the Constitution that authorizes or makes it the official duty of a president to have anything to do with criminal activities. "

"The President seems to extend executive privilege way out past the atmosphere. What he says is executive privilege is nothing but executive poppycock. "

"I believe in a wall between church and state so high that no one can climb over it. When religion controls government, political liberty dies; and when government controls religion, religious liberty perishes. Every American has the constitutional right not to be taxed or have his tax money expended for the establishment of religion. For too long the issue of government aid to church related organizations has been a divisive force in our society and in the Congress. It has erected communication barriers among our religions and fostered intolerance. "

"If religious freedom is to endure in America, the responsibility for teaching religion to public school children must be left to the homes and churches of our land, where this responsibility rightfully belongs. It must not be assumed by the government through the agency of the public school system. "

Connections

He married Margaret Bruce Bell in 1924, and they had two daughters and a son.

Father:

Samuel James Ervin

Mother:

Laura Theresa (Powe) Ervin

Spouse:

Margaret Bruce Bell

References

• A good man: The life of Sam J. Ervin
• Wisdom of SAM Ervin
• Just a Country Lawyer: A Biography of Senator Sam Ervin
• Senator Sam Ervin, Last of the Founding Fathers (Caravan Book)