Editing Andrew Mellon (section)

===Pennsylvania politics, 1921–1933===

Knox and Penrose both died in 1921, leaving a power vacuum in Pennsylvania Republican politics. Along with his nephew, William Larimer Mellon, Mellon became an influential player in Pennsylvania politics, and their support helped ensure the elections of Senator [[David A. Reed]] and Senator [[George W. Pepper]] in 1922.<ref>Murray (1975), pp. 224–227</ref> Mellon was unable to assert the same level of control that Boies Penrose had had over state politics, and his leadership of the state party was challenged by [[William Scott Vare]] of Philadelphia and progressive leader [[Gifford Pinchot]], who won the 1922 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election.<ref>Cannadine (2006), pp. 294–295</ref> Nonetheless, Mellon would continue to exert an important influence on Pennsylvania politics throughout the 1920s, especially in senatorial elections and in Allegheny County.<ref>Murray (1975), pp. 231–233</ref> Mellon's influence over state politics waned in the early 1930s, as the progressive allies of Governor Pinchot took control of the state Republican Party.<ref>Murray (1975), p. 240</ref>