Norman Arthur Erbe was the 35th Governor of Iowa from 1961 to 1963. He entered state politics, serving as Iowa Attorney General from 1957 to 1961 before succeeding Herschel C. Loveless as governor. In the 1962 election, he was defeated for re-election by Harold E. Hughes. Erbe hosted the world premier of the motion picture Meredith Willson’s The Music Man (1962 film) in Mason City, Iowa.

After leaving politics, Erbe served as Executive Vice-President of the Associated Builders and Contractors in 1979. He published his memoirs, Ringside at the Fireworks, in 1997. He died on June 8, 2000 and is buried in the Linwood Park cemetery in Boone, Iowa.