The school's rector often excused Winant from class to escort visiting parents around campus, Bellush wrote. Winant returned to St. Paul's to teach history. And as he would later as a legislator, Winant welcomed students to his office after class to continue discussions. He also persuaded students and administrators at St. Paul's to abolish secret societies on campus and to open the school's government to more people. Winant was 26 when he made his first run for state representative but quit the race early because his father disapproved.
Most new legislators wait a term before proposing sweeping reform.
Winant, however, didn't waste any time. He proposed a shorter work week for women and children and better health and educational opportunities for everyone. He lost all of it, initially, but wasn't discouraged. Neither apathy nor outright hostility on the part of party leaders dissuaded him from pressing for social welfare goals,'' Bellush wrote. Winant served his first term as governor in 1924, winning on a platform of reform and idealism at a time when neither was popular.