Key Pittman

Key Pittman (September 19, 1872 - November 10, 1940) was a Senator from Nevada. He was a Democrat.

He was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1872. He was educated by private tutors and at the Southwestern Presbyterian University in Clarksville, Tennessee. He studied law, then later became a lawyer. He joined in the gold rush to Klondike, Alaska in 1897 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 and Clark Exposition, and the irrigation congress. In 1910, he ran for the Senate but lost. Later, he was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1913 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of George S. Nixon. He served in the Senate until his death in 1940. He has served as the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations between 1933 and 1940. He also served as the President pro tempore of the United States Senate, Committee on Territories, and the Committee on Industrial Expositions.

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. 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, has served as the Governor of Nevada.