[1] He received a bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1936 and returned to Sanford to establish a timber business.

[2] After the outbreak of World War II, Gavin left Sanford to serve in the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps for one year,[1][2] reaching the rank of corporal.

Gavin denounced Sanford as a tool of the liberal leadership of the national Democratic Party and organized labor.

He called for a "fusion" of Democratic and Republican voters to support his candidacy, and promised to institute a civil service system to reduce the amount of patronage available to state politicians.

[8] Though he said he would not make race an issue of his campaign, he criticized the national Democratic Party's support for civil rights.

[3][2] Republican governor James Holshouser appointed him as a special judge on the North Carolina Superior Court in 1974.