During the First World War, he was commissioned as a major in the United States Army in 1917 and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1918.[3] After the war, he remained in the military as a member of the Organized Reserve Corps.[2] He was state public service commissioner from 1919 to 1923.[2] He was the Governor of Nevada between 1923 and 1927.[4] He was the editor and publisher of the Nevada State Journal from 1927 to 1932.[5] He became a special adviser to the Secretary of the Interior on Colorado River development projects in 1927.[6]
Later, he was elected as a Democrat to Congress and served from 1933 until December 7, 1942, when he resigned, having been elected to the United States Senate to fill the unexpired term of Key Pittman on November 3, 1942.[5] Scrugham served from December 7, 1942, until his death on June 23, 1945, in San Diego, California, at the age of 65.[5]
The James G. Scrugham Engineering & Mines Building, opened in 1963, houses the dean's office and several departments in the College of Engineering, as well as the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology.[7]
^"Biography, James G. Scrugham". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Washington, DC: Historian of the United States Senate. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
^"Biography, James G. Scrugham". Nevada: Past Governors Bios. Washington, DC: National Governors Association. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
