Vail Pittman

Pittman was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, the youngest of four sons born to William Buckner Pittman and Katherine Key Pittman, a direct descendant of Francis Scott Key. His siblings included Key Pittman, a longtime United States Senator from Nevada.{{cite web|title=Vail M. Pittman|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/pinkerton-pittoni.html|publisher=The Political Graveyard|access-date=6 October 2012}} William and Katherine Pittman died when Vail Pittman was an infant, and the Pittmans were raised in Lake Providence, Louisiana, by their uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Vail Montgomery. Vail Pittman was educated by private tutors and in the public schools until he attended Sewanee Military Academy. He then attended the University of the South and Brown's Business College, but returned to Lake Providence in 1903 to manage the family cotton plantation after Vail Montgomery's death.

Pittman moved to Tonopah, Nevada, in 1904, and worked initially at the Tonopah-Goldfield Lumber and Coal Company until purchasing the company's coal business and operating it as a separate company. He sold the coal business in 1907, and subsequently engaged in a variety of occupations, including undersheriff of Nye County, sergeant-at-arms of the Nevada Senate, and partner in a mining company. On May 20, 1919, he married Ida Louise Brewington. In 1920 Vail and Ida Pittman bought the Ely Daily Times of Ely, Nevada, and he began a successful career in the newspaper business.{{cite web|title=VailM.Pittman|url=http://www.unr.edu/nwhp/bios/nv1st/pittman_i.html|publisher=Nevada's First Ladies|access-date=6 October 2012}} Pittman was also involved in several civic and business organizations, including the good roads movement and the local chamber of commerce. From 1925 to 1929 Pittman served in the Nevada Senate. After his brother Key's 1940 death, Vail Pittman unsuccessfully sought the governor's appointment to his U.S. Senate seat.

Pittman was elected the 19th lieutenant governor of Nevada in 1942. He was a candidate in the Democratic primary for United States Senate in 1944, but was defeated by the incumbent, Pat McCarran. He became governor when Edward P. Carville resigned in 1945 to accept appointment to a vacant U.S. Senate seat. Pittman was elected to a full term in 1946, and served until 1951. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1950 and in 1954, losing both times to Charles H. Russell. After leaving office Pittman resumed operation of the Ely Daily Times. He later sold the newspaper, and became an officer of the Nevada Savings and Loan Association and the Nevada State Bank. He was involved in the Rotary Club and was a delegate to international conferences in Switzerland and Japan. He served as a delegate to the 1956 and 1960 Democratic National Conventions.{{cite web|title=Vail M. Pittman|url=http://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_nevada/col2-content/main-content-list/title_pittman_vail.html|publisher=National Governors Association|access-date=6 October 2012}}

Pittman died from cancer on January 29, 1964, in a hospital in San Francisco, California{{cite web|title=Vail M. Pittman|url=http://nsla.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=850:nevada-governors-biographical-information&catid=132:archives-photographs|publisher=Nevada State Library and Archives|access-date=6 October 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305203710/http://nsla.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=850%3Anevada-governors-biographical-information&catid=132%3Aarchives-photographs|archive-date=5 March 2012}} at the age of 83. He is interred at Masonic Memorial Gardens, Reno, Washoe County, Nevada, US.

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• {{Find a Grave|11257227}}
• [http://www.unr.edu/nwhp/bios/nv1st/pittman_i.html Nevada First Ladies]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120305203710/http://nsla.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=850%3Anevada-governors-biographical-information&catid=132%3Aarchives-photographs Nevada State Library and Archives]
• [http://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_nevada/col2-content/main-content-list/title_pittman_vail.html National Governors Association]
• [https://archive.library.unr.edu/public/repositories/2/resources/239 A Guide to the Vail Montgomery Pittman Papers, NC392]. Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Reno.

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{{s-bef|before=Edward P. Carville}}

{{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Governor of Nevada|years=1946, 1950, 1954}}

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{{succession box|before=Edward P. Carville|title=Governor of Nevada|years=1945 – 1951|after=Charles H. Russell

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{{succession box|before=Maurice J. Sullivan|title=Lieutenant Governor of Nevada|years=1943 – 1945|after=Clifford A. Jones}}

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{{Governors of Nevada}}

{{Lieutenant Governors of Nevada}}

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Category:1880 births

Category:1964 deaths

Category:Democratic Party governors of Nevada

Category:Lieutenant governors of Nevada

Category:Democratic Party Nevada state senators

Category:Politicians from the Las Vegas Valley

Category:Politicians from Vicksburg, Mississippi

Category:People from Lake Providence, Louisiana

Category:People from Tonopah, Nevada

Category:20th-century members of the Nevada Legislature