Vail Pittman was born on September 17, 1883 in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He came to Nevada in 1904 during the Tonopah mining boom, where he eventually entered the newspaper business in 1913. Between 1925 and 1929 Pittman served one term as a Senator in the State Legislature, and then he was elected Lieutenant Governor on the Democratic ticket in 1942. He became Acting Governor July 24, 1945 when Governor Carville resigned and was appointed U.S. Senator by Pittman, after the death of James Scrugham. In 1946 he was elected Governor and served one term, being defeated by Charles Russell in his bid for reelection in 1950. Pittman moved to Las Vegas and later died in a San Francisco hospital, January 29, 1964 at age 80.