In 1913, he resigned his seat and became Governor-General of Crete, a post he held during the island's official union with Greece in December 1913 and until April 1915.

Despite his friendship with Eleftherios Venizelos, he sided with King Constantine I during the National Schism.

In 1922 he served twice briefly as Minister for National Economy, in March–April and from May until the outbreak of the 1922 Revolution in September.

In between, he headed the Greek delegation to the talks at Genoa aimed at resolving the ongoing Greco-Turkish War.

He was married to Eleni Papageorgakopoulou and had a son, the diplomat and writer Rodis Kanakaris-Roufos.