Widely noted for his role in the passage of the National Reclamation Act of 1902, Francis G. Newlands of Nevada was a champion of the growth of federal power in the modernization of America. One of the few liberal national Democrats at the beginning of the 20th century, he is known as a key architect of the modern regulatory state. Newlands worked to irrigate the Nevada desert and other arid western states with nationally funded reclamation and dam-building projects. As a leading western Progressive, he supported national planning for the utilization of all the nation's water resources, the Progressive conservation cause of Republican Theodore Roosevelt, and the supervision of private corporations by an enlarged and more powerful federal government. Yet he advocated the denial of suffrage to African Americans through the repeal of the 15th Amendment, was suspicious of centralized banking, and defended the right of private corporations to fair treatment by public regulatory agencies. William Rowley's biography reveals a complicated and sophisticated man who successfully lived a dual political life under a cloud of personal and public scandal. It is a fascinating story of American politics during a period of immense national change.