The fact that the United States is now the third naval power is largely owing to these early activities of Whitney.
Certainly all this national service forms a strange prelude to Whitney's activities in the public utilities of New York and other cities.

Had he died, indeed, in his fiftieth year, his name would be renowned today as a worker for the highest ideals of American citizenship.

What suddenly made him turn his back upon his past, join his former enemies in Tammany Hall, and engage in these great speculative enterprises?
The simplest explanation is that, with his ability and ambition, Whitney had the luxurious tastes of a Medici.

At the height of his career his financial success found expression in a magnificent house which he established on Fifth Avenue.

Its furnishings were one of the wonders of New York.
Whitney ransacked the art treasures of Europe, stripped medieval castles of their carvings and tapestries, ripped whole staircases and ceilings from the repose of centuries, and relaid them in this abode of splendor, and here he entertained with a lavishness that astounded New York.