Whitney was born in Williamsburgh Township in 1843 and attended Cornwall Grammar School before articling at the law office of John Sandfield Macdonald in the 1860s, but did not resume his legal studies until 1871.

His mentor was William Ralph Meredith, who deeply influenced many of Whitney's later measures as premier like worker's compensation and dealing with the University of Toronto.

Early in his premiership, Whitney sought to remedy the troubled University of Toronto by improving its finances and finding a successor to its unpopular president James Loudon.

It provided the institution with a foundation for growth in the twentieth century and it represented a complete break with almost every aspect of Liberal policy towards the University of Toronto.

The measure inflamed French-Canadian opinion across Canada, particularly in Quebec, and divided the country as it entered World War I. Whitney died in office shortly after he had won the 1914 election.