Pittman, Key, 1872-1940

Key Pittman (1872-1940) was a United States Senator for Nevada from 1916 to 1940. He was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi on September 12, 1872. Key Pittman was privately tutored and attended Southwestern Presbyterian University in Clarksville, Tennessee. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1892. He practiced law in Seattle, Washington, but in 1897 Pittman stopped his law practice and worked as a miner in Klondike, Alaska. In 1901, he returned to practicing law in Alaska and then in 1902 he moved to Tonopah, Nevada. Once in Nevada, Key Pittman was appointed to represent the State of Nevada at the St. Louis Exposition, the Lewis and Clark Exposition, and the Irrigation Congress. Pittman ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate in 1910. In 1913 however, Pittman was elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of George S. Nixon. Pittman was re-elected in 1916, 1922, 1928, 1934, and 1940. He served as President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate in the seventy-third through the seventy-sixth Congresses. Senator Pittman was chairman of the Committee on Territories, the Committee on Industrial Expositions, and the Committee on Foreign Relations. Senator Pittman passed away in Reno, Nevada on November 10, 1940.

Source:

"Biographical Directory of the United States Congress," United States Congress, accessed August 4, 2015. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=P000372