U.S. senator best known as chairman of the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, which investigated the Watergate Scandal during the administration of Richard M. Nixon (Nixon, Richard M.).

The son of a lawyer, Ervin graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1917 and earned a law degree from Harvard University in 1922. He returned to North Carolina to practice law and later held several state judicial posts, including justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. In 1954 Ervin won election to the U.S. Senate and quickly established a reputation as an expert on—and defender of—the Constitution. He sat on the Senate committee that censured Senator Joseph McCarthy, and he helped investigate labour racketeering in the late 1950s. During the 1960s he led Southern filibusters against civil-rights laws, while simultaneously acting as one of the leading champions of civil liberties.

Ervin supported President Nixon on the war in Vietnam but disagreed vehemently with Nixon's refusal to spend funds authorized by Congress for social programs. Chosen to head the seven-member committee investigating the Watergate Scandal, he became something of a folk hero for his unceasing pursuit of evidence against White House claims of executive privilege. His earthy humour, distinctive accent, and unfailing charm made him a popular figure throughout the televised hearings.

After more than 20 years in the Senate, Ervin declined to run for reelection in 1974 and returned to his hometown of Morganton, N.C., the next year to resume private legal practice. He wrote two books: The Whole Truth: The Watergate Conspiracy (1980), his version of the eventual triumph of the U.S. Constitution in the Watergate ordeal, and Humor of a Country Lawyer (1983).