In 1900, he founded the Cebu newspaper, "El Nuevo Día" [English: 'The New Day'] which lasted for three years. When Cebu Governor Juan Climaco was sent as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the St. Louis Purchase Expedition, Osmeña was appointed acting governor. When Climaco returned, he was appointed as provincial fiscal. His stint there elevated him in politics when he was elected governor of Cebu in 1906. While governor, he ran for election to the first National Assembly of 1907 and was elected as the first Speaker of that body. Osmeña was 29 years old and already the highest-ranking Filipino official. He and another provincial politician, Manuel L. Quezon of Tayabas, set up the Nacionalista Party as a foil to the "Partido Federalista" of Manila-based politicians. In his first years as Speaker, he was plagued with organizational burdens as the National Assembly is still organizing. The Members of the Assembly sought to establish legislative procedures which were constantly rejected by the American superiors because they still perceive that Filipinos are incapable to be independent. Three important bills from the Assembly were rejected by the Philippine Commission:  However, it did not stop him from presiding over the important legislation the Assembly has passed. The creation of the Council of State and the Board of Control enabled the Philippine legislature to share some of the executive powers of the American Governor-General. In 1916, the Jones Law was passed replacing the Philippine Commission with a Philippine Senate. Osmeña was friends and classmates with Manuel Quezon, who was the Majority Floor Leader under Osmeña's speakership. When the Jones Law was passed, Quezon was elected as Senate President and Osmeña remained Speaker. In 1922 Osmeña was elected to the Senate representing the 10th Senatorial District. He went to the United States as part of the OsRox Mission in 1933, to secure passage of the Hare–Hawes–Cutting Independence Bill which was superseded by the Tydings–McDuffie Act in March 1934. In 1924, Quezon and Osmeña reconciled and joined forces in the Partido Nacionalista Consolidado against the threat of an emerging opposition from the Democrata Party. The reunited Nacionalista Party dominated the political scene until the second break-up when the members polarized into Pros and Antis in 1934. Quezon and Osmeña again reconciled for the 1935 Presidential Election. In 1935 Quezon and Osmeña won the Philippine's first national presidential election under the banner of the Nacionalista Party.