Later Endeavors
In his book Appalachian Aspirations, Professor John Benhart describes Porter (and ex-Governor John C. Brown) as "typical of the New South Conservatives who dominated Tennessee politics during the two decades following Reconstruction, mixing the mores of the Old South with a recognition that industrial capitalism was the wave of the future." Following his tenure as governor, Porter remained active in the New South economy. He served as president of the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway from 1880 to 1884, and also served on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company.
In 1885, Porter was appointed Assistant Secretary of State by President Grover Cleveland. He served under Secretary of State Thomas F. Bayard. In 1893, during Cleveland's second term, Porter was appointed U.S. Minister to Chile. He remained at this post until the Spring of 1894.
Porter spent the latter part of his life promoting and raising funds for his alma mater, the University of Nashville (from which he had been granted an honorary LL.D. in 1877), and its affiliated Peabody College. He was appointed a trustee of the Peabody Education Fund in 1883, and became president of the Board of Trustees for the University of Nashville in 1890. He became chancellor of the University of Nashville in 1901, and president of Peabody College in 1902. In the latter part of the decade, he oversaw the liquidation of the University of Nashville's assets and their transfer to the Peabody fund for the reestablishment of Peabody College. The fund chose to locate the reorganized college at Vanderbilt's campus, however, leaving Porter embittered. He resigned from the fund's board in 1909.
In 1899, Porter published a book, The Military History of Tennessee, War of 1861-65, which became Volume VIII of Clement Evans's 12-volume series, Confederate Military History. He was also active in the Tennessee Historical Society, at one point serving as its president.
Porter died at his home in Paris in 1912, and is buried in the Paris City Cemetery.
Read more about this topic: James D. Porter
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