Gifford Pinchot was an American forester and politician. He was the fourth chief of the US Division of Forestry, the first head of the US Forest Service, and Pennsylvania's 28th governor. He spent the majority of his life as a Republican, but briefly joined the Progressive Party. Born into the rich Pinchot family, Gifford Pinchot pursued a career in forestry after graduating from Yale University in 1889. President William McKinley chose Pinchot to head the Division of Forestry in 1898, and he became the first chief of the United States Forest Service when it was founded in 1905. The debate contributed to the Republican Party's split and the founding of the Progressive Party ahead to the 1912 presidential election. Pinchot backed Roosevelt's Progressive candidacy, but he was beaten by Democrat Woodrow Wilson. Pinchot returned to public duty in 1920, when he was appointed head of Pennsylvania's forestry division by Governor William Cameron Sproul. He was elected governor of Pennsylvania in 1922, succeeding Sproul. He was elected governor of Pennsylvania for a second term in 1930, and he backed many of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs. Following the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, Pinchot oversaw the formation of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, which he described as "the best liquor control system in America".
