[4] He was admitted to the bar the same year through the enactment of a special grant by the State legislature and commenced practice in Paducah, Kentucky.

[1] Wheeler secured significant appropriations for projects in his district, including the expansion of a federal courthouse in Paducah and the protection of a local ice harbor.

[2] He used his influence as a member of the Naval Affairs Committee to secure the naming of the USS Paducah.

[2] When the British tried to prevent U.S. involvement in the Cuban War of Independence and enlisted American citizens for service in the Second Boer War, Wheeler criticized the administration of Republican President Theodore Roosevelt, particularly Secretary of State John Hay, for bringing the country to "this humilitating condition".

[2] In 1902, he made national headlines by criticizing an official reception for Prince Henry of Prussia and the attendance of Alice Roosevelt at the coronation of King Edward VII as "flunkeyism" and "toadyism".

[2] His comments drew mixed reaction from the press, but President Theodore Roosevelt cancelled his daughters trip to King Edward's coronation as a result.