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1st President of the Confederate States | |
| Predecessor | Position Established |
| Successor | Robert E. Lee |
| Vice President | Alexander H. Stephens |
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United States Senator from Mississippi | |
| Predecessor | Stephen Adams |
| Successor | Position Abolished |
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United States Senator from Mississippi | |
| Predecessor | Jesse Speight |
| Successor | John J. McRae |
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23rd United States Secretary of War | |
| Predecessor | Charles Conrad |
| Successor | John B. Floyd |
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U.S. Representative from Mississippi's at-large district | |
| Predecessor | Tilghman Tucker |
| Successor | Henry T. Ellett |
| Born | June 3, 1808 Fairview, Kentucky, US |
| Died | December 6, 1889 (aged 81) Davis Bend, Mississippi, CS |
| Spouse | Sarah Knox Taylor, Varina Howell |
| Political Party | Democratic (until 1861), Confederate (1884-89) |
Jefferson Finis Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889) was an American and Confederate politician who served as the first President of the Confederate States. He played a large part in winning the Southern War of Independence and guiding the Confederate States through their early years. He is remembered as one of the great Confederate Presidents and a national hero of the Confederacy.
Early Life[]
U.S. Politician[]
President of the Confederate States[]
Davis resigned his senate seat upon hearing of Mississippi's secession ordinance. He told the Confederate government to place him in whatever position they wished, hoping that they would make him a general. To Davis's disappointment, he was instead named provisional president. He led the early war effort as president, getting mixed results.
President Davis ran for a legitimate term in the 1861 presidential election, winning unanimously. From that point on he oversaw the rest of the Southern War of Independence. Success began coming in 1863 with several major battle victories. This led France to enter the war on the Confederates' side. Their fleet managed to break up the Union blockade of the South.
The war ended with the Battle of Alexandria in 1865. President Davis became an extremely popular figure in his new country.
After the war, the work of setting up the rest of the Confederate government had to be carried out. Davis appointed five justices to the Supreme Court, which so far remains a record. He signed into law many bills establishing new procedures and regulations in the Confederacy. He was not universally popular- privately, Vice President Alexander H. Stephens challenged him on many things. Stephens believed that Davis was continually overstepping the authority of his office and was not establishing a truly free government structured around states' rights and the preservation of slavery. Publicly, at least after the war, Stephens supported the beloved president. Most of the public strongly supported the idea of Southern political unity, and Stephens knew that becoming an oppositional figure wouldn't help his reputation or future political prospects.
Davis aimed to be a unifying figure and supported policy that was broadly popular in the Confederacy. He worked towards demobilizing the military, supporting states in their rebuilding efforts, catching up on late payments to troops, getting the government's finances in order, securing international legitimacy as an independent state, and securing trade agreements to bolster the economy. War bonds and Confederate greyback notes had to be paid out in gold now that the war was over. This forced the government to take out loans from European financiers, many based on shipments of discounted cotton. The government was forced to go back on its word to avoid paying out all notes at once, with Congress setting up a plan to pay everything back over the course of ten years. Each year, 5% of notes could be traded for gold at face value. All other notes could be redeemed at any time, but they would only be paid back at their true worth in gold, which was much less. Any notes still held at the end of the ten years would be paid back at face value plus interest. Some advocated for the continued existence of greybacks after the war, in reduced numbers, but Davis believed that it was important to stabilize the money supply. Excess cotton stockpiled during the war began to leave the country en masse, paying out loans taken during the war and jump starting the postwar economy. However, the flood of cotton onto the market also drove prices down over time.
Despite the physical damage to the countryside and the government's disordered funding, the Confederacy saw a period of prosperity after the war. The populace was jubilant and eager to help build their newly independent nation. Exportation of cash crops increased and poor whites were able to find employment rebuilding infrastructure in war torn areas. Davis encouraged the building of railroads across the South. While the government was constitutionally barred from promoting industrialization, Davis used his connections outside of the government to encourage it. Southern industrialists funded promotional campaigns aimed at attracting more industrial capital to the Confederacy. They promoted the free labor provided by slaves, providing unbeatable profits compared to the North. Most Northern companies refused to move to the slave holding state on moral and reputational grounds, however.
Near the end of his term, Davis endorsed Robert E. Lee to succeed him as president. He made the personal recommendation of Judah P. Benjamin to be Lee's running mate, and the general accepted the idea. Davis handed off the presidency to Lee in a jubilant ceremony in Richmond.
Post-Presidency[]
Davis was exhausted from the extensive work of running the war effort and then trying to get the federal government in line. He took a period of rest and then went on a tour of the country, where he received huge ovations in every state. He then returned home to his Mississippi plantation and lived there for the rest of his life.
Davis supported the idea of a war with Mexico and advised President Lee to accept France's offer to join the Mexican Civil War. When the Mexican-Confederate War began, Davis requested a position in the military. He was commissioned a general and went to war at age 62, finally getting his wish to serve as a Confederate general.
General Davis mainly led the Baja California campaign, where his army attacked from Arizona and worked its way down the Baja California Peninsula. Resistance was relatively light and Davis made quick work of his adversaries. After the peninsula was secure, he moved into Northern/Central Mexico, where he fought alongside General Stonewall Jackson in the campaign to take Mexico City. By 1871, both warring factions in Mexico had surrendered. Davis returned to Mississippi to big celebrations.
After the war, Davis remained at home and wished to stay out of politics. The unexpected death of Lee and the ascension of Vice President Benjamin to the presidency changed his plans. He became an active supporter of Benjamin as president, defending him against attacks on his ethnic and religious background, proclaiming that he was a true Confederate patriot just like himself. Benjamin's success as president was greatly bolstered by Davis' support, and from that point on Davis would go on to be a pivotal figure in the group of politicians who wished to keep parties out of Confederate politics. He supported Stonewall Jackson in the 1873 election and did some groundwork to help him secure victory in Mississippi. This work proved to be vital, as Jackson narrowly won the state over Alexander H. Stephens.
Davis supported Jackson through the early stages of his presidency, but was unsettled by the president's attempts to court the United States government. He strongly advised against working with the Union in any capacity. Davis believed that cooperation with the North would be possible and even desirable at some point in the future, but he knew that it was still much too soon for the general public to appreciate such a thing. Jackson ignored Davis's warnings, leading to public outrage and the formation of the Southern Party.
Davis opposed the concept of political parties in the Confederacy. He especially opposed the Southern Party in particular. The Southern Party was made up of politicians who had harshly criticized Davis during his time as president, mostly behind closed doors, and now they were running a campaign based on reversing his policies. He worked hard to get James Longstreet elected in the 1879 election. His efforts were almost successful, as Mississippi was the closest race out of all the states Stephens won. In the end, though, the attempt was futile. Stephens' administration worked to end the policies of the previous three presidents, and Davis felt as if his reputation was being personally damaged.
Despite his previous opposition to political parties, Davis eventually accepted that they would be an inevitability moving forward. He joined the Confederate Party in 1884, a move that was widely publicized by the party. He supported the successful Confederate campaign in 1885.
Davis began writing his memoirs in 1886 and got them published in 1888. The memoirs became a best-selling book in the Confederacy and remained popular well into the 20th Century. Davis went on another speaking tour in 1888 to promote his book. One year later, he died on his plantation from bronchitis complicated by malaria at age 81. His funeral was a massive event, drawing visitors from far and wide. Many foreign dignitaries attended, as well as some of Davis's old military friends from the U.S. His body lied in state at the Confederate Capitol and was then buried in Richmond.
Legacy[]
Jefferson Davis is recognized as a founder of the Confederacy and one of its great presidents. In historical rankings, he is usually ranked in the top 5 Confederate Presidents of all-time, known for providing steady leadership during the war and laying the groundwork for a successful government moving forward. His memoirs make up one of the best selling books ever in the Confederacy and sold many copies all throughout the 20th Century. The Confederate government wished to honor him with a memorial similar to the Washington Memorial of the United States, but they were chronically underfunded and the project didn't get off the ground until the 1940's. The Davis Monument, a giant statue of Davis under an ornate arch facing north, was finally completed in 1956.
In the North, he was seen as the leader of a terrible rebellion and oppressive society. His image softened some upon the rise of the Southern Party as Northerners saw that he was actually fairly moderate in his governance. For a short time his book even sold well in the U.S. That all changed during World War I, when his image as the leader of traitors was restored. He retained this image throughout the turbulent 20th Century, and is now seen as a complicated figure to talk about in the North. Some acknowledge his leadership while others blame him for the issues that plagued the continent since the rise of the Confederacy.
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