Alan Harvey Bible (November 20, 1909 – September 12, 1988) was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1954 to 1974. He previously served as Attorney General of Nevada from 1943 to 1951.

Early life and education

Alan Bible was born in Lovelock, Nevada, to Jacob Harvey and Isabel (née Welsh) Bible. His family was originally from Germany, and settled in Virginia; Bible's grandfather moved to Ohio before the Civil War and subsequently fought with the Union Army. His father operated a grocery store and a cattle ranch outside of Lovelock, while his mother worked as a schoolteacher. He joined the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity in his sophomore year, and became class treasurer and assistant editor of The Sagebrush in his junior year.

Early career

Bible was admitted to the Nevada bar in 1935 and joined Senator McCarran's law firm in Reno.

Bible was reelected in 1956, 1962, and 1968 defeating Republicans Clarence Clifton Young, William B. Wright, and Edward Fike respectively, and represented Nevada in the United States Senate from December 2, 1954, until his resignation on December 17, 1974. He did not run for reelection in 1974; Republican Paul Laxalt defeated Democratic nominee Harry Reid. Bible's resignation enabled the governor to appoint Laxalt to fill the vacancy, giving him seniority over other senators elected in 1974. After leaving the Senate, Bible was elected to the Board of Directors of Bally Manufacturing Corporation.

During his time in the United States Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia (Eighty-fifth through Ninetieth Congresses), the Joint Committee on Washington Metropolitan Problems (Eighty-fifth and Eighty-sixth Congresses), and the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Small Business (Ninety-first through Ninety-third Congresses). He is buried in Reno, Nevada.

References

  • Alan Bible: Recollections of a Nevada Native Son: The Law, Politics, the Nevada Attorney General's Office, and the United States Senate (oral history). University of Nevada Oral History Program. Reno, NV, 1982.
  • A Guide to the Papers of Alan Bible, Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Reno.