 The logical choice was UFA President Henry Wise Wood . However , Wood had little taste for the minutiae of government , preferring to remain at the head of what he saw as a broader political movement ( saying he would " sooner be President of the UFA than the USA " ) , and saw party lawyer Brownlee as the best choice . Brownlee , who , like Wood , had not contested the election , said he felt that the Premier must be a farmer for the aspirations of the UFA 's base to be fulfilled . George Hoadley , one of the two UFA members with previous legislative experience ( Hoadley had been a sitting Conservative MLA prior to the election ; UFA MLA Alex Moore had been elected in a by @-@ election a few months before the general election ) , was considered , but since his previous experience had been as a Conservative — one of the old line parties so disdained by the UFA — he was deemed unacceptable . There was even some speculation that incumbent Liberal Premier Charles Stewart , who had become a member of the UFA before it entered politics directly , would stay on as Premier , but he immediately announced that he would serve only until the UFA selected a leader . A meeting of the UFA caucus in Calgary selected Greenfield , and he took office as Premier on August 13 , 1921 . 
