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21 May 07
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After his campaign, Pinchot promoted American involvement in the European war and opposed President Wilson's neutrality. The Progressives had returned to their old parties, and Pinchot, who was in opposition to the president, reluctantly rejoined the Republicans. Upon Wilson's re-election in 1916, Pinchot turned from national to state politics.
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In 1920, Governor Sproul appointed him Commissioner of Forestry, in which position he initiated administrative changes and refused to grant political patronage. His goal, however, was the governorship, where he believed he would have greater opportunity to bring about the reforms he proposed. His campaign for that office, in 1922, concentrated on reforms that could arouse the greatest popular support-government reorganization and economy, enforcement of prohibition, and regulation of public utilities. To achieve a broader electoral base and gain the support of Joseph Grundy, president of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association and a political power in the state, he played down some of his earlier proposals for reform. Aiding him too was the fact that Republican leaders were divided over a replacement for party chief Boies Penrose, who had recently died.
Pinchot won a close election. The new governor, however, had no intention of being absorbed by the bosses, through what he termed the "amoeba treatment," and stubbornly persisted with his reforms, often annoying his supporters as well as hardening his opponents. He began his administration by tightening state spending. Typically, he took but a portion of his salary. He persuaded the Assembly to pass an administrative code. This standardized salaries and gave the Governor power to reorganize the executive branch of government and reduce duplication by combining 139 agencies into fifteen departments and three commissions. A pension system was also introduced, to be financed by the employees and the state.
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