He led the movement to replace the state constitution and played an important role at the convention to institute a law that prevented the government from taking loans in response the current fiscal crisis in Indiana.

Instead, young Whitcomb taught school and attended Transylvania University in Kentucky, where he studied law and adopted many southern customs.

[1] After graduating in 1819 he moved to Fayette County, Kentucky, where he was admitted to the bar and, in March 1822, began to practice law.

[2][3] Whitcomb was appointed as prosecuting attorney for Monroe County, Indiana by Governor James B. Ray and served from 1826 to 1829.

He was one of only nine men to speak against the Mammoth Internal Improvement Act in the Senate debate, his chief cohorts being Dennis Pennington, Calvin Fletcher and John Durmont.

[2][5] Whitcomb was appointed by President Andrew Jackson to serve as the Commissioner of the General Land Office in Washington, D.C., from 1836 until 1841.

Upon resigning from the Land Office in 1841, Whitcomb moved to Terre Haute, where he eventually launched his campaign as the Democratic gubernatorial candidate.

[2][5] In 1843 he authored a pamphlet entitled "Facts for the People" in which he made a case against the federal government's adoption of protective tariffs.

[6][7] Upon his election, he found the government coffers empty, as the state had exhausted itself in an attempt to recover from overspending on internal improvements during the 1830s.

Those cuts, along with steadily improving state revenues, enabled the government to manage its debt during his first term in office.

Touting the success of current measures to resolve the debt situation, Whitcomb won reelection with 64,104 votes to 60,138 to Whig Joseph G. Marshall, and 2,301 going to Liberty candidate Stephen Stevens.

The creditors agreed to refinance the debt, which enabled the state to lower the interest rates that it paid on its bonds.

Although the debt still consumed nearly half of the government budget, it had reached a level which the growing state could accommodate.

His daughter grew up to marry a prominent Terre Haute lawyer, Claude Matthews, who was elected governor of Indiana in 1896.

The militia system had been abandoned once the threat of Indian raids had ceased, and the state arsenal was nearly devoid of weapons.

On May 26, Whitcomb took a personal loan, on his own credit, for $10,000 from the Bank of Indiana's Madison branch, which he used to purchase arms for the state's regiments.

[10][11][12] Whitcomb's most unpopular act as governor was his refusal to reappoint Indiana Supreme Court Justices Sullivan and Dewey.

In addition to the matter of appointing justices, another issue was the removal of the state's authorization to take loans, and there were other needed governmental reforms, as well.

In his will, Whitcomb left his large private library and part of his estate to the Methodist Indiana Asbury College (now known as DePauw University).