Summary

During Taft's two-month absence from the White House, smoldering hostilities between Chief Forester Gifford Pinchot — a close ally of Roosevelt — and Interior Secretary Richard Ballinger, named by Taft to replace James Garfield, flared into a big controversy. This personal conflict soon escalated into a conflagration of east vs. west, corporate vs. public interests, developers vs. conservationists. Just before the Roosevelt administration ended, Garfield set aside from private development 1.5 million acres of land adjacent to 16 rivers in six western states — through executive orders. This maneuver was intended to preserve lands and waters that have potential as hydroelectric power generating sites.

But Interior Secretary Ballinger restored by executive order the bulk of those lands to the public domain while Taft was on his railway tour — enraging conservationists and progressives. Ballinger brushed off reporters who asked him to explain his actions and...