Much that was planned at the outset could not, for lack of means, be then or for long afterward carried out. In fact, throughout nearly the whole administration of Mr. White the institution was "land poor"—its vast estates an expense instead of an income.
Throughout his presidency Mr. White filled also the professorship of History, and with the same inspiring influence upon historical studies as at the University of Michigan. Though his other duties compelled his restriction to a single course throughout the year, no element of the university's work left a deeper mark upon the whole student body.
And his benefactions took often a more tangible form. From his own means he built and furnished upon the university's grounds the home which he gave to be used, when he should be through with it, by his successors in the presidency. Of his lesser gifts it would be idle to attempt enumeration. No department but felt again and again the help of his ready pocket. The library especially was continually his debtor, and after his retirement he bestowed upon it in 1887 his own noble historical collection, perhaps the richest private library in America. His gifts must aggregate a couple of hundred thousand dollars. In proportion to his income he has perhaps been the university's most liberal donor.
But during these years of his presidency he was not wholly divorced from outside activities. His fertile mind and restless temperament could not brook such slavery. He was always in touch with the republic of letters and with the larger interests of State and nation. His open letters and occasional addresses amount to volumes. In 1870 he was appointed by President Grant a member of the commission created by Congress for the investigation of the condition and resources of Santo Domingo, and into his hands fell the scientific direction of the expedition. Though its youngest member, he proved the conservative element of the commission, and it was in deference to his protests that no recommendation as to annexation was made by it. In the fall of 1871 he presided at the State convention of his party at Syracuse. The next year saw him a delegate at large to the national convention at Philadelphia which renominated President Grant, and a little later the head of New York's delegation in the electoral college. In 1876 he was again a delegate at large to the Republican National Convention, but was hindered from attendance by other official duties in connection with the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, where he had been made chairman of the Jury of Public Instruction. Soon after this ill health drove him abroad, and before his return in 1878 he served the United States as its Honorary Commissioner to the Paris Exposition, and was
