Ballinger–Pinchot Controversy

Ballinger–Pinchot Controversy On 7 January 1910, William Taft fired Gifford Pinchot as chief US forester for accusing Interior Secretary Richard Ballinger of subordinating the conservation of natural resources to the benefiting of business interests. A congressional committee found the charges unwarranted, but Ballinger was discredited and resigned on 6 March 1911. The episode alienated many Progressive Republicans from Taft, and helped push Theodore Roosevelt into challenging him for the 1912 presidential nomination and later running against him on the Progressive party ticket.