Question: Who was initially offered the position of president of the newly established Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas in 1875?
Answer: Jefferson Davis, the former president of the Confederate States of America. Davis fought in Texas during the war against Mexico under Gen. Zachary Taylor in 1847. After Reconstruction, some Dallas residents offered to purchase a home for Davis if he moved to Texas. In declining the invitation to become the president of Texas A&M, Davis recommended Thomas Sanford Gathright, who served in that role from 1876 to 1879.
