On January 2, 1939 Stassen was inaugurated by Chief Justice Henry M. Gallagher. His first action was to order an audit of expenditures in every state department. He would later sign into law Minnesota's first civil service law. In September he organized a farm problems conference with World War Two's effect on agricultural being the main issue that was attended by the governors of South Dakota, Wisconsin, Kansas, North Dakota, and Illinois or their representatives. When New York District Attorney and future Governor Thomas E. Dewey traveled to Minneapolis during the 1940 presidential campaign he was introduced by Stassen. By the end of 1939 Stassen's approval rating was over 80% and he had the support of over 80% of both Democrats and Farmer-Laborers. Despite the fact that Stassen was then constitutionally ineligible for the presidency because of his age, some Republicans supported his involvement in presidential politics and Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes commented that Stassen was a political upcomer and was more serious than Dewey.