Key Pittman

Key Pittman
United States Senator from Nevada
In office January 29, 1913 – November 10, 1940
Preceded by	William A. Massey
Succeeded by	Berkeley L. Bunker
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
In office March 4, 1933 – November 10, 1940
Preceded by	George H. Moses
Succeeded by	William H. King
Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
In office March 4, 1933 – November 10, 1940
Preceded by	William E. Borah
Succeeded by	Walter F. George
Born	September 19, 1872 Vicksburg, Mississippi
Died	November 10, 1940 (aged 68) Reno, Nevada
Political party	Democratic
Profession	Lawyer

Key Pittman (September 19, 1872 – November 10, 1940) was a United States Senator from Nevada. He was a Democrat. Pittman was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1872 and was educated by private tutors and at the Southwestern Presbyterian University in Clarksville, Tennessee. He studied law, then later became a lawyer. In 1897, he joined in the Klondike Gold Rush and worked as a miner until 1901. Pittman moved to Tonopah, Nevada, in 1902 and continued the practice of law. He represented Nevada at the St. Louis Exposition, the Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition, and the irrigation congress. In 1910, he made an unsuccessful run for the Senate. Later, he was elected as a Democrat to the Senate in 1913 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of George S. Nixon, and served until his death in 1940. Between 1933 and 1940 he was the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations and was also a member of the Committee on Territories and the Committee on Industrial Expositions. In addition, during those years Pittman was President pro tempore of the Senate.

Pittman "On Ice"

It was rumored for years that he died before his final election in 1940, and that party leaders kept his body on ice in a hotel bathtub until he was re-elected; this story has been disproven ([1]). In fact, he suffered a severe heart attack before the election, and died after the election at the Washoe General Hospital in Reno, Nevada. His brother, Vail M. Pittman, served as the Governor of Nevada. Several pieces of legislation bore his name, including the Pittman Act of 1918.

•  • e United States Senators from Nevada
Class 1: Stewart • Sharon • Fair • Stewart • Nixon • Massey • Pittman • Bunker • Scrugham • Carville • Malone • Cannon • Hecht • Bryan • Ensign Class 3: Nye • Jones • Newlands • Henderson • Oddie • McCarran • Brown • Bible • Laxalt • Reid

•  • e Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate

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• Key Pittman at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress