|
| |
|
2nd President of the Confederate States | |
| Predecessor | Jefferson Davis |
| Successor | Judah P. Benjamin |
| Vice President | Judah P. Benjamin |
| Born | January 19, 1807 Stratford Hall, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | October 12, 1870 (aged 63) Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
| Spouse | Mary Anna Randolph Custis |
| Political Party | None |
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general who served as the 2nd President of the Confederate States. He largely led the successful Southern War of Independence and later went on to run for president. He has gone down in Southern mythology as one of the greatest figures of the Confederacy.
Early Life[]
Military Career[]
Southern War of Independence[]
General Lee was credited with leading the Eastern Theater of the Southern War of Independence. He was the commander of several major victories for the South, including the final battle at Alexandria.
Lee fought in his native Virginia and in Pennsylvania for the majority of the war. His invasion of the North tried to demoralize the Union and force a surrender, and in many respects he succeeded in this. The final battle at Alexandria crippled the remaining Union forces and forced a surrender. He negotiated the final surrender of the Union army there in Alexandria, a few miles outside of Washington.
Lee returned home to a hero's welcome. He took up residence in Virginia after the war and was called upon by many to run for president in 1867. Lee wasn't enthusiastic about the idea of entering politics and was still grappling with how to feel about his new nation compared to the old United States. A few factors influenced him to run. First, President Davis strongly encouraged him to run. Second, Lee was weary of the angry populist politicians who had drug his state into the war and created a Confederacy rabidly based on slavery. He felt that the government needed moderating influences like himself if the nation was to be successful. Last, Lee, like many Southerners, wished to see a Confederacy free of the bitter political factionalism that had plagued the United States in the years leading up to the war. He knew that there would be no major opposition to his campaign if he ran, which would maintain unity.
President of the Confederate States[]
Lee announced his candidacy and was immediately endorsed by President Davis. Running unopposed, he won a unanimous victory to become the Confederacy's second president. His inauguration was the first true inaugural ceremony in Confederate history, and it was attended by a large and enthusiastic crowd.
Lee as President
Lee started off his presidency by promising simply to maintain Davis's status quo and return the Confederacy to normal life. While Davis had focused on setting up the foundation of the federal government, Lee wanted to secure economic and logistical stability for the nation. He had seen first hand how hard it was to keep his troops fed without the staple foods grown by the North. He wished to diversify the Confederacy's agriculture to focus more on growing food over growing cotton to be sold abroad. However, he knew that any attempt to do this to established plantations in already existing states would be seen as a vast overreach of federal power.
The Confederacy now controlled the Indian Territory, which it administered directly and which was largely unsettled. Lee saw an opportunity and proclaimed his desire to turn the Indian Territory into the breadbasket of the Confederacy. Whatever land that wasn't already occupied by Native Americans would be opened for white settlement, with the stipulation that only staple crops could be farmed on the land there.
The plan was received well among most of the population. Anti-administration politicians quietly grumbled, wondering how the federal government could have the power to tell farmers what to farm on their own land. The bill easily passed Congress, though, and Lee signed it.
Lee hoped to eventually warm relations with the Union, believing it would be beneficial for both nations. He knew that the current mood in the Confederacy would not allow for such a rapprochement- instead, he thought it to be a potential project for later in his term or for his successor. During his time in office, he did not make any changes to the existing Confederate policy towards the North, that policy being to interact with their government as little as possible.
He worked with Congress on several other issues over the next few years, but there wasn't much that excited him. He struggled a bit to settle into his role as a politician in a stuffy office in Richmond. In late 1869, he received correspondence from the French government asking for the Confederacy to intervene in the Mexican Civil War in support of their struggling monarchist regime. Lee knew that his nation was expected to return the favor of France helping to win their independence. He personally, however, was not eager to send even more young men into war. On the other hand, he found that most of those around him, from military officers to political leaders, were keen on the idea of potentially expanding Confederate influence into Mexico. Even if they didn't gain any land, the monarchist regime would be indebted to them and forced to maintain close ties, building up a Confederate power base in the Americas that could begin to rival that of the United States. Lee decided that he was left with little choice- declining would mean alienating the country's only major European ally. He proposed the war to Congress and it was easily voted through- the Mexican-Confederate War was on.
President Lee led the war effort from Richmond. He greatly missed being out on the battlefield, but leading another war was enough to satisfy whatever nostalgic urges he had left. Lee appointed his close associate Stonewall Jackson to lead the war effort and appointed former president Davis as a general at his request. He believed that there was no better man to lead and felt secure with the war in Jackson's hands. The Confederacy made quick work of Mexico, its highly experienced armies rolling through disjointed opposition. Some time through the war, the French Empire fell and was replaced by the French Republic. The new republic had no interest in maintaining the monarchist regime- the Confederacy, unwilling to have fought for no gain, continued the war effort by taking down both factions and winning control of Mexico as a whole. Some advocated for the annexation of the entire country, the vital first step towards the dream of the Golden Circle. Lee disagreed and felt that there wasn't much need. The country annexed the northern portion of Mexico and made peace. The war was highly popular in the Confederacy and won even more admiration for Lee as a leader.
Tragedy struck for the nation just eleven days after the war's end- Lee suffered a debilitating stroke. He lost almost all of his ability to speak and was totally unable to lead the country during this time. His cabinet tried to keep the illness secret from the public and did not try to remove Lee from office, in hopes that he might make a recovery. He did not recover, however, dying on October 12.
The Confederate populace was heartbroken. It felt almost unbearable for such a huge tragedy to immediately follow such a huge victory, taking one of their country's foremost leaders from them. The memorial services were attended by huge crowds of emotional mourners. Vice President Judah P. Benjamin ascended to the presidency to serve out Lee's term.
Legacy[]
Lee is remembered as the man who won the Confederacy's independence and then guided the country through its young post-war years. He is remembered fondly for winning two major wars and shaping the modern Confederate States. Among presidents, he often ranks among the top ten, praised for how much he was able to accomplish in only two years at the helm. He was considered to be somewhat weak on domestic policy, not offering many new ideas, but this did not bring his legacy down any. His sudden early death only grew his legend.
A popular rumor suggests that Lee planned to begin promoting gradual abolition of slavery in the Confederacy in the latter half of his term. There is no evidence of this, and experts consider it to be unlikely. Lee likely realized what a political disaster such a move would be.
Overall, General and President Lee is known as a hero of the C.S.A. and is the face of the first golden era of the Confederacy.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
