Former US Senator from North Carolina Sam Ervin was born this day in 1896. Sam Ervin will be best remembered as the leader of the Senate Watergate Committee in 1973-74. Ervin was an unlikely hero in some ways. He served as a US Senator from 1954-74 and fought against civil rights for years. He was chosen by Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield because he was unlikely to run for re-election in 1974,  he had no other big aspirations, he was an even keel Democrat with knowledge of the law and the US Constitution. President Richard Milhaus Nixon at first thought that this all might work in his favor but he was wrong. Ervin didn’t run for re-election in 1974. He died in 1985 at the age of 88.