Forty years ago this month, the Senate launched its best-known
inquiry when chairman Sam Ervin of North Carolina gaveled to
order the first public hearing of the Select Committee on
Presidential Campaign Activities, commonly known as the
Watergate Committee. Americans watched live televised broadcasts
of the hearings as senators and staff questioned the president’s
closest advisors about the break-in and cover-up at the
Watergate office complex and other “illegal and improper
campaign practices and financing” that occurred during the
presidential campaign of 1972. The Senate Watergate Committee
has been credited with reviving public confidence in
congressional investigations, which had declined during the
McCarthy inquiries of the 1950s. Several factors contributed to
the committee’s overall success including extensive media
coverage, sustained public interest, the meticulous work of
investigators, the cooperation of key witnesses, and the
continuing support of the full Senate. Public support for the
investig