William Pittenger (politician)

William Pittenger

William Alvin Pittenger (born December 29, 1885 in Crawfordsville , Indiana , †  November 26, 1951 in Duluth , Minnesota ) was an American politician . Between 1929 and 1947 he represented the state of Minnesota three times in the US House of Representatives .

Career

William Pittenger attended public schools in his home country and Wabash College , which he graduated from in 1909. After a subsequent law degree at Harvard University and his admission as a lawyer in 1912, he began to practice in Duluth in his new profession. There he struck a political career as a member of the Republican Party . Between 1917 and 1920 he was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives .

In the 1928 congressional election he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the eighth constituency of Minnesota . There he took over from William Leighton Carss on March 4, 1929 . After being re-elected in 1930, he was able to complete two legislative terms in Congress by March 3, 1933 , which were largely overshadowed by the Great Depression. In 1933, shortly before the end of his term in office, the 20th Amendment to the Constitution was passed, bringing the terms of office of Congress and President forward.

In the 1932 elections, Pittenger lost to Ernest Lundeen from the Farmer-Labor Party . In the following two years he worked again as a lawyer in Duluth. At the same time he was working on his return to Congress. After winning the 1934 elections, he was able to take his old seat in the House of Representatives again between January 3, 1935 and January 3, 1937. In those two years many of the federal government's New Deal laws were passed, which Pittenger's Republican Party was rather hostile to. In the 1936 election, Pittenger lost to John Bernard of the Farmer-Labor Party.

In 1938, William Pittenger made it back into Congress. There he took over his old place from Bernard on January 3, 1939. After three re-elections, he was able to remain in Congress for four more terms until January 3, 1947. During this time the Second World War and the beginning of the Cold War fell . In 1946, Pittenger lost to John Blatnik of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party in the congressional election . Overall, Pittenger completed six legislative terms in Congress between 1929 and 1947.

After his final resignation from the US House of Representatives, William Pittenger worked again as a lawyer in Duluth. He died there on November 26, 1951.

Web links

• William Pittenger in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• William Pittenger in the database of Find a Grave (English)