North Carolina State Senate
What position did Robert Burren Morgan take between Mar 1958 and Jun 1959?
Robert Burren Morgan Robert Burren Morgan ( October 5 , 1925 – July 16 , 2016 ) was an American politician . He was a Democratic United States Senator from the state of North Carolina , a position that he filled for a single term from 1975 until 1981 . To date he is the only alum of East Carolina University to serve in the US senate , and was succeeded by to date the only faculty of East Carolina University to serve in the US senate , John Porter East . Life and career . Born in Lillington , North Carolina , Morgan attended Lillington public schools and later East Carolina College and Wake Forest University School of Law . Morgans political career began early when political leaders in his home county of Harnett County , including highly respected Democratic stalwart Veneble Baggett , visited him at the Wake Forest Law School and urged him to run for Clerk of Court . Morgan did so and was elected . After building a reputation in that office , he went into the private practice of law . His skill as a trial lawyer caused his practice to grow , and he soon established a reputation that extended across the state . Personal injury , real property and antitrust law were among his specialties . He next ran for the North Carolina State Senate and won . He rose to the Senates highest office , President Pro Tempore , and chaired key committees . In 1968 , Morgan challenged long-time incumbent Attorney General Wade Bruton in the Democratic Party primary , defeated him , and then won the General Election . He served one four-year term and then was re-elected . He served two years of that term and then resigned to run for the U.S . Senate . Early in his political career , Morgan was considered a supporter of segregation because of his allegiance to his former Wake Forest law professor , politician I . Beverly Lake , Sr. , who ran an unsuccessful pro-segregation campaign for governor in 1960 against the progressive supporter of civil rights , Terry Sanford . But later , as an influential state senator , as North Carolina attorney general from 1969 to 1974 , and as the successful candidate to succeed Democratic U.S . Senator Sam Ervin , Morgan was considered a moderate . After winning the Democratic primary for U.S . Senate in 1974 , Morgan resigned as attorney general . He then won the general election over Republican William Stevens , garnering 63% of the vote . Morgan was defeated for re-election in 1980 by Republican John Porter East , an ally of the states senior senator , Jesse Helms , in an extremely close race . Morgan returned to the practice of law and also served as director of North Carolinas State Bureau of Investigation under Attorney General Lacy Thornburg . From 2000 to 2003 , Morgan served as founding president of the North Carolina Center for Voter Education , a Raleigh , North Carolina based nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that seeks to increase civic engagement in North Carolina . Morgan was president emeritus of that organization . Morgan died at the age of 90 at his home in Buies Creek , North Carolina on July 16 , 2016 surrounded by family . External links . - Civil Rights Greensboro : Robert Morgan - Robert Morgan Papers ( #268 ) , East Carolina Manuscript Collection , J . Y . Joyner Library , East Carolina University - Historical Marker for Robert B . Morgan located in Lillington , North Carolina