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{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Jefferson Davis
| image = President-Jefferson-Davis.jpg
| office = [[President of the Confederate States of America|President of the Confederate States]]
| vicepresident = [[Alexander H. Stephens]]
| term_start = February 22, 1862
| term_end = May 10, 1865<br><small>Provisional: February 18, 1861 &ndash; February 22, 1862</small>
| predecessor = Position established
| successor = Position abolished
| office1 = 23rd [[United States Secretary of War]]
| president1 = [[Franklin Pierce]]
| term_start1 = March 7, 1853
| term_end1 = March 4, 1857
| predecessor1 = [[Charles Magill Conrad]]
| successor1 = [[John B. Floyd]]
| jr/sr2 = United States Senator
| state2 = [[Mississippi]]
| term_start2 = March 4, 1857
| term_end2 = January 21, 1861
| predecessor2 = [[Stephen Adams (politician)|Stephen Adams]]
| successor2 = [[Adelbert Ames]] <br><small>(Vacant until 1870)</small>
| term_start3 = August 10, 1847
| term_end3 = September 23, 1851
| predecessor3 = [[Jesse Speight]]
| successor3 = [[John J. McRae|John McRae]]
| state4 = [[Mississippi]]
| district4 = {{ushr|Mississippi|AL|At-large}}
| term_start4 = December 8, 1845
| term_end4 = June 1, 1846
| predecessor4 = [[Tilghman Tucker]]
| successor4 = [[Henry T. Ellett]]
| birth_name = Jefferson Finis Davis
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1808|6|3}}
| birth_place = [[Christian County, Kentucky]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1889|12|6|1808|6|3}}
| death_place = [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]], U.S.
| restingplace = [[Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia)|Hollywood Cemetery]]<br>[[Richmond, Virginia]], U.S.
| party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse = [[Sarah Knox Taylor]]<br><small>(m. 1835; her death 1835)</small><br>[[Varina Davis|Varina Howell]]<br><small>(m. 1845; his death 1889)</small>
| alma_mater = [[Transylvania University]],<br>[[United States Military Academy|U.S. Military Academy]]
| religion = [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal]]
| signature = Jefferson Davis Signature.svg
| signature_alt = Cursive signature in ink
| allegiance = {{flag|United States|1848}}
| branch = [[United States Army]]<br>[[United States Volunteers]]
| serviceyears = 1825–1835<br>1846–1847
| rank = [[File:Union army 1st lt rank insignia.jpg|30px]] [[First lieutenant#United States|First Lieutenant]]<br/>[[File:Union Army colonel rank insignia.png|30px]] [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]]
| unit = [[1st Cavalry Regiment (United States)|First Dragoons]]
| commands = [[155th Infantry Regiment (United States)|First Mississippi]]
| battles = '''[[American Indian Wars|Indian Wars]]'''
* [[Black Hawk War|Black Hawk]]
'''[[Mexican–American War|Mexican War]]'''
* [[Battle of Monterrey|Monterrey]]
* [[Battle of Buena Vista|Buena Vista]]
| footnotes = 
}}
'''Jefferson Finis Davis'''<ref name="Britannica|152783">{{Britannica|152783}}</ref> (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889) was an American politician who was U.S. Representative and Senator from Mississippi, U.S. Secretary of War, and the [[President of the Confederate States of America]] during the [[American Civil War]]. He took personal charge of the Confederate war plans but was unable to find a strategy to defeat the more populous and industrialized [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]. His diplomatic efforts failed to gain [[Diplomatic recognition|recognition]] from any foreign country, and at home, the collapsing Confederate economy forced his government to print more and more paper money to cover the war's expenses, leading to runaway inflation and devaluation of the [[Confederate dollar]].

Davis was born in [[Kentucky]] to a moderately prosperous farmer, and grew up on his older brother [[Joseph Emory Davis|Joseph]]'s large cotton plantations in [[Mississippi]] and [[Louisiana]]. Joseph Davis also secured his appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at [[West Point]].  After graduating, Jefferson Davis served six years as a lieutenant in the [[United States Army]]. He fought in the [[Mexican–American War]] (1846–1848), as the colonel of a volunteer regiment. He served as the [[United States Secretary of War|U.S. Secretary of War]] from 1853 to 1857 under [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin Pierce]], and as a Democratic U.S. senator from Mississippi.

Before the war, he operated a large cotton plantation in Mississippi and owned more than 100 slaves. After the war, he remained a proud apologist for the [[Treatment of slaves in the United States|slavery]] for which he had fought.<ref>[http://www.confederatepastpresent.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=131:jefferson-daviss-white-supremacy-and-pro-slavery-in-his-memoirs-published-in-1881&catid=38:reconstruction-and-fusion Jefferson Davis on race and slavery in his memoirs, no lessons learned.]</ref>

Although Davis argued against [[Secession in the United States|secession]] in 1858,<ref>{{cite web|publisher=National Park Service|url=http://www.nps.gov/bost/the-anti-secessionist-jefferson-davis.htm|title=The Anti-Secessionist Jefferson Davis|accessdate=2015-07-27}}</ref> he believed that each state was sovereign and had an unquestionable right to secede from the [[United States|Union]].

Davis' first wife, [[Sarah Knox Taylor]], died of [[malaria]] after three months of marriage, and he also struggled with recurring bouts of the disease.<ref name="Cooper 2000, pp. 70–71">Cooper 2000, pp. 70–71.</ref> He was unhealthy for much of his life. At the age of 36 Davis married again, to 18-year-old [[Varina Howell Davis|Varina Howell]], a native of Natchez who had been educated in [[Philadelphia]] and had some family ties in the North. They had six children. Only two survived him, and only one married and had children.

Many historians attribute the Confederacy's weaknesses to the leadership of President Davis.<ref>Cooper 2008, pp.&nbsp;3–4.</ref> His preoccupation with detail, reluctance to delegate responsibility, lack of popular appeal, feuds with powerful state governors, favoritism toward old friends, inability to get along with people who disagreed with him, neglect of civil matters in favor of military ones, and resistance to public opinion all worked against him.<ref>{{cite journal
 |first=Bell I.
 |last=Wiley
 |title=Jefferson Davis: An Appraisal
 |journal=Civil War Times Illustrated
 |date=January 1967
 |volume=6
 |issue=1
 |pages=4–17}}</ref><ref>Escott 1978, pp. 197, 256–274.</ref> Historians agree he was a much less effective war leader than his Union counterpart [[Abraham Lincoln]].

After Davis was captured in 1865, he was accused of [[Treason#United States|treason]]. He was never tried and was released after two years. While not disgraced, Davis had been displaced in ex-Confederate affection after the war by his leading general, [[Robert E. Lee]]. Davis wrote a memoir entitled ''[[The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government]]'', which he completed in 1881. By the late 1880s, he began to encourage reconciliation, telling Southerners to be loyal to the Union. Ex-Confederates came to appreciate his role as a Southern patriot, and he became a hero of the [[Lost Cause]] in the New South.<ref name="strawbridge">{{cite journal
 |first=Wilm K.
 |last=Strawbridge
 |title=A Monument Better Than Marble: Jefferson Davis and the New South
 |journal=Journal of Mississippi History
 |date=December 2007
 |volume=69
 |issue=4
 |pages=325–347}}</ref>

==Early life and first military career==
Davis' paternal grandparents each immigrated separately to North America from the region of [[Snowdonia]] in [[North Wales]] in the early 18th century. The rest of his ancestry was English. After arriving in Philadelphia, Davis' paternal grandfather Evan settled in the colony of Georgia, which was developed chiefly along the coast. He married the widow Lydia Emory Williams, who had two sons from a previous marriage.

Their son Samuel Emory Davis was born in 1756. He served in the [[Continental Army]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]], along with his two older half-brothers. In 1783, after the war, he married Jane Cook. She was born in 1759 to William Cook and his wife Sarah Simpson in what is now [[Christian County, Kentucky]]. In 1793, the Samuel Davis family relocated to Kentucky, establishing what is now the community of [[Fairview, Kentucky|Fairview]] on the border of Christian and [[Todd County, Kentucky|Todd]] counties. Samuel and Jane Davis had ten children; Joseph was the oldest son, born in 1784; Jefferson was the last and was born on June 3, 1807 or 1808, on the Davis homestead in Fairview.<ref name=Rennick>{{cite book
 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3Lac2FUSj_oC&lpg=PA49&dq=cannon%20ky&pg=PA97#v=onepage&q=cannon%20ky&f=false
 |title=Kentucky Place Names
 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky
 |year=1987
 |author=Rennick, Robert M.
 |pages=97–98
 |isbn=0813126312}}</ref> The year of his birth is uncertain; Davis gave both 1807 and 1808, at different points in his life.<ref>Davis 1996, p. 709.</ref> Samuel had been a young man when [[Thomas Jefferson]] wrote the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] in 1776. Jefferson was the third [[President of the United States]], and Samuel, admiring him greatly, named his last son after the president.<ref>Strode 1955, p. 3.</ref> Abraham Lincoln was born a year or two later, less than {{convert|100|mi}} to the northeast in [[Hodgenville, Kentucky]]. In the early 20th century, the [[Jefferson Davis State Historic Site]] was established  near the site of Davis' birth.<ref name=JDSHS>{{cite web
 |url=http://parks.ky.gov/parks/historicsites/jefferson-davis/default.aspx
 |title=Jefferson Davis State Historic Site
 |publisher=Kentucky State Parks
 |accessdate=2013-06-14}}</ref>

During Davis' youth, his family moved twice: in 1811 to [[St. Mary Parish, Louisiana]], and less than a year later to [[Wilkinson County, Mississippi]]. The international slave trade was prohibited in 1808, and planters used the domestic slave trade to procure laborers for developing cotton culture in the Deep South. Three of Davis' older brothers served in the [[War of 1812]]. In 1813, Davis began his education at the Wilkinson Academy in the small town of [[Woodville, Mississippi|Woodville]], near the family cotton [[Plantations in the American South|plantation]].

His brother Joseph, who was 24 years older, acted as a surrogate father and encouraged Jefferson in his education. Two years later, Davis entered the Catholic school of Saint Thomas at [[St. Rose Priory]], a school operated by the [[Dominican Order]] in [[Washington County, Kentucky]]. At the time, he was the only Protestant student at the school. In 1818 Davis returned to Mississippi, studying at [[Jefferson College (Mississippi)|Jefferson College]] at [[Washington, Mississippi|Washington]]. Three years later in 1821, he returned to Kentucky, where he studied at [[Transylvania University]] in [[Lexington, Kentucky|Lexington]]. (At the time, these colleges were like academies, roughly equivalent to high schools.)<ref>Strode, 1955, pp. 11–27.</ref> His father Samuel died on July 4, 1824, when Jefferson was 16 years old.<ref>Strode 1955, pp. 4–5.</ref>

Joseph arranged for Davis to get an appointment and attend the [[United States Military Academy]] (West Point) starting in late 1824.<ref name=hamilton>{{cite book
 |last=Hamilton
 |first=Holman
 |title=The Three Kentucky Presidents
 |chapter=Jefferson Davis Before His Presidency
 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky
 |location=Lexington
 |year=1978
 |isbn=9780813102467}}</ref> While there, he was placed under house arrest for his role in the [[Eggnog Riot]] during Christmas 1826. Cadets smuggled whiskey into the academy to make eggnog, and more than one-third of the cadets were involved in the incident. In June 1828, Davis graduated 23rd in a class of 33.<ref>U.S. Military Academy, ''Register of Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy from March 16 to January 1, 1850''. Compiled by Capt. George W. Cullum. West Point, N.Y.: 1850, p. 148.</ref>

Following graduation, Second Lieutenant Davis was assigned to the [[1st Infantry Regiment (United States)|1st Infantry Regiment]] and was stationed at [[Fort Crawford]], [[Prairie du Chien]], [[Michigan Territory]]. [[Zachary Taylor]], a future [[president of the United States]], had assumed command shortly before Davis arrived in early 1829. In March 1832, Davis returned to Mississippi on furlough, having had no leave since he first arrived at Fort Crawford. He was still in Mississippi during the [[Black Hawk War]] but returned to the fort in August. At the conclusion of the war, Colonel Taylor assigned him to escort [[Black Hawk (Sauk leader)|Black Hawk]] to prison. Davis made an effort to shield Black Hawk from curiosity seekers, and the chief noted in his autobiography that Davis treated him "with much kindness" and showed empathy for the leader's situation as a prisoner.<ref>Strode 1955, p. 76. Cooper 2000, pp. 53–55.</ref>

==First marriage and early career==
Davis fell in love with [[Sarah Knox Taylor]], daughter of his commanding officer; future president Zachary Taylor. Both Sarah and Davis sought Taylor's permission to marry. Taylor refused, as he did not wish his daughter to have the difficult life of a military wife on frontier army posts.<ref>Cooper 2000, p. 65.</ref> Davis' own experience led him to appreciate Taylor's objection. He consulted with his older brother [[Joseph Emory Davis|Joseph]], and they both began to question the value of an Army career. Davis hesitated to leave, but his desire for Sarah overcame this, and he resigned his commission in a letter dated April 20, 1835.<ref>Strode 1955, pp. 86–94.</ref> He had arranged for the letter to be sent to the War Department for him on May 12 when he did not return from leave;<ref>Davis 1996, pp. 70–71.</ref> he had made no mention to Taylor of his intention to resign.<ref>Davis 1996, p. 69.</ref> Against his former commander's wishes, on June 17, he married Sarah in [[Louisville, Kentucky]]. His resignation became effective June 30.<ref>Davis 1996, pp. 69, 72.</ref>

Davis' older brother Joseph had been very successful and owned [[Hurricane Plantation]] and {{convert|1800|acre}}<ref>Strode 1955, p. 94.</ref> of adjoining land along the [[Mississippi River]] on a peninsula 20 miles south of [[Vicksburg, Mississippi]]. The adjoining land was known as Brierfield since it was largely covered with brush and briers. Wanting to have his youngest brother and his wife nearby, Joseph gave use of Brierfield to Jefferson, who eventually developed [[Brierfield Plantation]] there. Joseph retained the title.<ref name="cooper-2000-75-79">Cooper 2000, pp. 81-83, 616.</ref>

In August 1835, Jefferson and Sarah traveled south to his sister Anna's home in [[West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana]]; the plantation was known as Locust Grove. Their goal was to spend the hot summer months in the countryside away from the river floodplain, for their health, but both of them contracted either [[malaria]] or [[yellow fever]].<ref name="Cooper 2000, pp. 70–71"/> Sarah died at the age of 21 on September 15, 1835, after just three months of marriage.<ref>Davis 1996, 74–75.</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.la-cemeteries.com/Notables/Others/Davis,SarahKnox/Davis,SarahKnox.shtml
 |title=Sarah Knox Taylor Davis 1814–1835, Wife of Jefferson Davis
 |publisher=la-cemeteries.com
 |accessdate=2013-01-25}}</ref> Davis was also severely ill,<ref>Davis 1996, pp. 74–75.</ref> and his family feared for his life. In the month following Sarah's death, he slowly improved, although he remained weak.<ref name="Davis75">Davis 1996, p. 75.</ref>

In late 1835, Davis sailed from New Orleans to [[Havana, Cuba]], to help restore his health. He was accompanied by James Pemberton, his only slave at that time.<ref name="Davis7576">Davis 1996, pp.&nbsp;75–76.</ref> Davis observed the Spanish military and sketched fortifications. Although no evidence points to his having any motive beyond general interest, the authorities knew that Davis was a former army officer and warned him to stop his observations. Bored and feeling somewhat better, Davis booked passage on a ship to New York, then continued to Washington, D.C., where he visited his old schoolmate [[George W. Jones|George Wallace Jones]]. He soon returned with Pemberton to Mississippi.<ref>Davis 1996, p. 76. Strode 1955, p. 108–109.</ref>

For several years following Sarah's death, Davis was reclusive and honored her memory. He spent time clearing Brierfield and developing his plantation, studied government and history, and had private political discussions with his brother Joseph.<ref>Strode 1955, pp. 105, 109–111.</ref> By early 1836, Davis had purchased 16 slaves; he held 40 slaves by 1840, and 74 by 1845. Davis promoted Pemberton to be overseer of the field teams. In 1860, he owned 113 slaves.<ref>Cooper 2000, pp.&nbsp;75–79, 229. Davis 1996, p. 89.</ref>

In 1840, Davis first became involved in politics when he attended a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] meeting in Vicksburg and, to his surprise, was chosen as a delegate to the party's state convention in [[Jackson, Mississippi|Jackson]]. In 1842, he attended the Democratic convention, and, in 1843, became a Democratic candidate for the state House of Representatives from the [[Warren County, Mississippi|Warren County]]-Vicksburg district; he lost his first election.<ref>Strode 1955, pp. 121–123.</ref> In 1844, Davis was sent to the party convention for a third time, and his interest in politics deepened. He was selected as one of six presidential electors for the [[United States presidential election, 1844|1844 presidential election]] and campaigned effectively throughout Mississippi for the Democratic candidate [[James K. Polk]].<ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 84–88, 98–100.</ref>

==Second marriage and family==
[[Image:Varina Davis.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Wedding photograph of Jefferson Davis and Varina Howell, 1845]]
In 1844, Davis met [[Varina Davis|Varina Banks Howell]], then 17 years old, whom his brother Joseph had invited for the Christmas season at Hurricane Plantation. She was a granddaughter of New Jersey Governor [[Richard Howell]]; her mother's family was from the South and included successful Scots-Irish planters. Within a month of their meeting, the 35-year-old widower Davis had asked Varina to marry him, and they became engaged despite her parents' initial concerns about his age and politics. They were married on February 26, 1845.<ref>Strode 1955, pp. 125, 136.</ref>

During this time, Davis was persuaded to become a candidate for the United States House of Representatives and began canvassing for the election. In early October 1845 he traveled to [[Woodville, Mississippi|Woodville]] to give a speech. He arrived a day early to visit his mother there, only to find that she had died the day before. After the funeral, he rode the {{convert|40|miles}} back to Natchez to deliver the news, then returned to Woodville again to deliver his speech. He won the election.<ref>Strode 1955, pp. 140–141.</ref>

Jefferson and Varina had six children; three died before reaching adulthood. Samuel Emory, born July 30, 1852, was named after his grandfather; he died June 30, 1854, of an undiagnosed disease.<ref>Strode 1955, pp. 242, 268.</ref> Margaret Howell was born February 25, 1855,<ref>Strode 1955, p. 273.</ref> and was the only child to marry and raise a family. She married Joel Addison Hayes, Jr. (1848–1919), and they had five children.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://jeffersondavis.rice.edu/MargaretDavisHayes.aspx
 |title=Margaret Howell Davis Hayes
 |publisher=The Papers of Jefferson Davis
 |accessdate=2013-07-21}}</ref> They were married in [[Grace-St. Luke's Episcopal Church#History|St. Lazarus Church]], nicknamed "The Confederate Officers' Church", in [[Memphis, Tennessee]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
 |last=Harkins
 |first=John E.
 |title=Memphis
 |encyclopedia=The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
 |url=http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=889
 |date=December 25, 2009
 |publisher=Tennessee Historical Society
 |accessdate=2013-01-20}}</ref><ref name="Allen">Allen 1999, pp. 197–198.</ref> In the late 19th century, they moved from Memphis to [[Colorado Springs, Colorado]]. She died on July 18, 1909, at the age of 54.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.geocities.ws/coloradoudc/
 |title=Margaret Howell Davis Hayes Chapter No. 2652
 |publisher=Colorado United Daughters of the Confederacy
 |accessdate=2011-07-20}}</ref>

Jefferson Davis, Jr., was born January 16, 1857. He died of [[yellow fever]] at age 21 on October 16, 1878, during an [[History of yellow fever#Lower Mississippi Valley: 1878|epidemic]] in the Mississippi River Valley that caused 20,000 deaths.<ref>Strode 1964, p. 436.</ref> Joseph Evan, born on April 18, 1859, died at the age of five due to an accidental fall on April 30, 1864.<ref>Cooper 2000, p. 480.</ref> William Howell, born on December 6, 1861, was named for Varina's father; he died of [[diphtheria]] at age 10 on October 16, 1872.<ref>Cooper 2000, p. 595.</ref> [[Varina Anne Davis|Varina Anne]], known as "Winnie", was born on June 27, 1864, several months after her brother Joseph's death. She was known as the Daughter of the Confederacy as she was born during the war. After her parents refused to let her marry into a northern abolitionist family, she never married.<ref>Strode 1964, pp. 527–528.</ref> She died years after Jefferson, on September 18, 1898, at age 34.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://jeffersondavis.rice.edu/VarinaAnneDavis.aspx
 |title=Varina Anne Davis
 |publisher=The Papers of Jefferson Davis
 |accessdate=2013-07-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://encyclopediavirginia.org/Davis_Varina_1826-1906
 |title=Varina Howell Davis
 |publisher=Encyclopedia Virginia
 |accessdate=2013-07-21}}</ref>

Davis had poor health for most of his life, including repeated bouts of malaria, battle wounds from fighting in the [[Mexican–American War]] and a chronic eye infection that made bright light painful. He also had [[trigeminal neuralgia]], a nerve disorder that causes severe pain in the face; it has been called one of the most painful known ailments.<ref name="Allen" /><ref>{{cite book
 |last=Potter
 |first=Robert
 |title=Jefferson Davis: Confederate President
 |year=1994
 |publisher=Steck-Vaughn Company
 |page=74}}</ref>

==Wartime colonel==
In 1846 the Mexican–American War began. Davis resigned his House seat in early June and raised a volunteer regiment, the [[155th Infantry Regiment (United States)|155th Infantry Regiment]], becoming its colonel under the command of his former father-in-law, General Zachary Taylor.<ref>Strode 1955, p. 157.</ref> On July 21 the regiment sailed from New Orleans for Texas. Colonel Davis sought to arm his regiment with the [[M1841 Mississippi rifle]]. At this time, [[smoothbore]] muskets were still the primary infantry weapon, and any unit with rifles was considered special and designated as such. President [[James K. Polk]] had promised Davis the weapons if he would remain in Congress long enough for an important vote on the [[Walker tariff]]. General [[Winfield Scott]] objected on the basis that the weapons were insufficiently tested. Davis insisted and called in his promise from Polk, and his regiment was armed with the rifles, making it particularly effective in combat.<ref>Allen 1999, pp. 135–136.</ref> The regiment became known as the Mississippi Rifles because it was the first to be fully armed with these new weapons.<ref>Strode 1955, pp. 157–162.</ref> The incident was the start of a lifelong feud between Davis and Scott.<ref>{{cite book
 |last=Taylor
 |first=John M.
 |title=While Cannons Roared
 |year=1997
 |publisher=Brasseys Inc.
 |page=2}}</ref>

In September, Davis participated in the [[Battle of Monterrey]], during which he led a successful charge on the La Teneria fort.<ref name="strode-1955-164-167">Strode 1955, pp. 164–167.</ref> On February 22, 1847, Davis fought bravely at the [[Battle of Buena Vista]] and was shot in the foot, being carried to safety by [[Robert H. Chilton]]. In recognition of Davis' bravery and initiative, Taylor is reputed to have said, "My daughter, sir, was a better judge of men than I was."<ref name=hamilton/> On May 17, President Polk offered Davis a federal commission as a [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] and command of a [[brigade]] of militia. Davis declined the appointment, arguing that the [[U.S. Constitution|Constitution]] gives the power of appointing militia officers to the states, not the federal government.<ref>Strode 1955, p. 188.</ref>

==Return to politics==

===Senator===
[[File:Jefferson Davis 1847.jpg|thumb|right|Jefferson Davis around age 39, c. 1847]]
Honoring Davis' war service, [[Albert G. Brown|Governor Brown]] of Mississippi appointed him to the vacant position of United States Senator [[Jesse Speight]], who had died on May 1, 1847. Davis took his temporary seat on December 5, and in January 1848 he was elected by the state legislature to serve the remaining two years of the term.<ref>Dodd 1907, pp. 12, 93. Cooper 2000, pp. 165–166.</ref> In December, during the [[30th United States Congress]], Davis was made a regent of the [[Smithsonian Institution]] and began serving on the Committee on Military Affairs and the Library Committee.<ref>Strode 1955, p. 195.</ref>

In 1848, Senator Davis proposed and introduced an amendment (the first of several) to the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]] that would have annexed most of [[northeastern Mexico]], but it failed on a vote of 11 to 44.<ref>{{cite book
 |title=The United States and Mexico, 1821–1848
 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=vfhAAAAAIAAJ
 |first=George Lockhart
 |last=Rives
 |year=1913
 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons
 |location=New York
 |pages=634–636}}</ref> Southerners wanted to increase territory held in Mexico as an area for the expansion of slavery. Regarding [[Cuba]], Davis declared that it "must be ours" to "increase the number of slaveholding constituencies."<ref>McPherson 1989, p. 104.</ref> He also was concerned about the security implications of a Spanish holding lying relatively close to the coast of [[Florida]].<ref>Strode 1955, p. 210.</ref>

A group of Cuban revolutionaries led by Venezuelan adventurer [[Narciso López]] intended to forcibly liberate Cuba from Spanish rule. Searching for a military leader for a [[filibuster (military)|filibuster]] expedition, they first offered command of the Cuban forces to General [[William J. Worth]], but he died before making his decision.<ref>Strode 1955, p. 211.</ref> In the summer of 1849, López visited Davis and asked him to lead the expedition. He offered an immediate payment of $100,000 (worth more than $2,000,000 in 2013<ref name="Williamson">Williamson, Samuel H. (2011). ''Seven Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount, 1774 to present''. [http://www.measuringworth.com MeasuringWorth]</ref>), plus the same amount when Cuba was liberated. Davis turned down the offer, stating that it was inconsistent with his duty as a senator. When asked to recommend someone else, Davis suggested [[Robert E. Lee]], then an army major in [[Baltimore]]; López approached Lee, who also declined on the grounds of his duty.<ref>{{cite book
 |last=Thomson
 |first=Janice E.
 |year=1996
 |title=Mercenaries, Pirates and Sovereigns
 |publisher=Princeton University Press
 |page=121}}</ref><ref>Strode 1955, pp. 211–212.</ref>

The Senate made Davis chairman of the [[United States Senate Committee on Armed Services|Committee on Military Affairs]] on December 3, 1849, during the first session of the [[31st United States Congress]]. On December 29 he was elected to a full six-year term (by the Mississippi legislature, as the constitution mandated at the time). Davis had not served a year when he resigned (in September 1851) to run for the governorship of Mississippi on the issue of the [[Compromise of 1850]], which he opposed. He was defeated by fellow Senator [[Henry Stuart Foote]] by 999 votes.<ref>{{cite book
 |title=The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi
 |last=Rowland
 |first=Dunbar
 |year=1912
 |series=Mississippi Department of Archives and History
 |publisher=Press of Brandon Printing Company
 |location=Nashville, Tennessee
 |page=111
 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=-MoGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA111&vq=foote&dq=henry+s+foote+1851
 |accessdate=2009-03-26}}</ref> Left without political office, Davis continued his political activity. He took part in a convention on [[states' rights]], held at [[Jackson, Mississippi]], in January 1852. In the weeks leading up to the [[United States presidential election, 1852|presidential election of 1852]], he campaigned in numerous Southern states for Democratic candidates [[Franklin Pierce]] and [[William R. King]].<ref>Dodd 1907, pp. 130–131.</ref>

===Secretary of War===
[[File:Jefferson Davis 1853 daguerreotype-restored.png|thumb|Jefferson Davis around age 45, 1853]]
Franklin Pierce won the presidential election, and in 1853 made Davis his Secretary of War.<ref name=kye>{{cite book
 |editor=Kleber, John E.
 |others=Associate editors: [[Thomas D. Clark]], Lowell H. Harrison, and James C. Klotter
 |title=The Kentucky Encyclopedia
 |year=1992
 |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky
 |location=Lexington, Kentucky
 |isbn=9780813117720
 |chapter=Davis, Jefferson}}</ref> In this capacity, Davis began the [[Pacific Railroad Surveys]] in order to determine various possible routes for the proposed [[First Transcontinental Railroad|Transcontinental Railroad]]. He promoted the [[Gadsden Purchase]] of today's southern [[Arizona]] from Mexico, partly because it would provide an easier southern route for the new railroad; the Pierce administration agreed, and the land was purchased in December 1853.<ref>Cooper 2000, p. 257.</ref> He saw the size of the regular army as insufficient to fulfill its mission, and maintained that salaries would have to be increased, something which had not occurred for 25 years. Congress agreed and increased the pay scale, and added four regiments which increased the army's size from about 11,000 to about 15,000.<ref>Cooper 2000, p. 251.</ref> Davis also introduced general usage of the rifles that he had used successfully during the Mexican–American War.<ref>Dodd 1907, pp. 80, 133–135.</ref> As a result, both the morale and capability of the army was improved. He became involved in public works when Pierce gave him responsibility for construction of the [[Washington Aqueduct]] and an expansion of the U.S. Capitol, both of which he managed closely.<ref>Cooper 2000, p. 259.</ref> The Pierce administration ended in 1857 after Pierce's loss of the Democratic nomination to [[James Buchanan]]. Davis' term was to end with Pierce's, so he ran for the Senate, was elected, and re-entered it on March 4, 1857.<ref>Dodd 1907, pp. 152–153.</ref>

===Return to Senate===
In the 1840s, tensions were growing between the North and South over various issues including slavery. The [[Wilmot Proviso]], introduced in 1846, contributed to these tensions; if passed, it would have banned slavery in any land acquired from Mexico. The [[Compromise of 1850]] brought a temporary respite, but the [[Dred Scott v. Sandford|Dred Scott]] case, decided by the [[United States Supreme Court]] in 1857, spurred public debate. Justice Taney ruled that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional and that African Americans had no standing as citizens under the constitution. Northerners were outraged and there was increasing talk in the South of secession from the Union.<ref>Dodd 1909, pp. 122–129.</ref>

Davis' renewed service in the Senate was interrupted in early 1858 by an illness that began as a severe cold and which threatened him with the loss of his left eye. He was forced to remain in a darkened room for four weeks.<ref>Allen 1999, p. 232.</ref> He spent the summer of 1858 in [[Portland, Maine]]. On the [[Independence Day (United States)|Fourth of July]], Davis delivered an anti-secessionist speech on board a ship near [[Boston]]. He again urged the preservation of the Union on October 11 in [[Faneuil Hall]], Boston, and returned to the Senate soon after.<ref>Dodd 1907, pp. 12, 171–172.</ref>

As he explained in his memoir ''The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government'', Davis believed that each state was sovereign and had an unquestionable right to secede from the Union. At the same time, he counseled delay among his fellow Southerners, because he did not think that the North would permit the peaceable exercise of the right to secession. Having served as secretary of war under President Pierce, he also knew that the South lacked the military and naval resources necessary for defense in a war. Following the election of [[Abraham Lincoln]] in [[United States presidential election, 1860|1860]], however, events accelerated. [[South Carolina]] adopted an ordinance of secession on December 20, 1860, and Mississippi did so on January 9, 1861. Davis had expected this but waited until he received official notification. On January 21, the day Davis called "the saddest day of my life",<ref>Cooper 2000, p. 3.</ref> he delivered a farewell address to the United States Senate, resigned and returned to Mississippi.<ref name="jeffdavissenatefarewell">{{cite web
 |url=http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Jefferson_Davis_Farewell.htm
 |publisher=United States Senate
 |title=Jefferson Davis' Farewell
 |accessdate=2011-06-09
}}</ref>

==President of the Confederate States of America==
[[File:1861 Davis Inaugural.jpg|thumb|left|Jefferson Davis is sworn in as President of the Confederate States of America on February 18, 1861, on the steps of the [[Alabama State Capitol]].]]

Anticipating a call for his services since Mississippi had seceded, Davis had sent a telegraph message to Governor [[John J. Pettus]] saying, "Judge what Mississippi requires of me and place me accordingly."<ref>Cooper 2000, p. 322.</ref> On January 23, 1861, Pettus made Davis a major general of the [[Army of Mississippi]].<ref name=hamilton/> On February 9, a constitutional convention met at [[Montgomery, Alabama]] and considered Davis and [[Robert Toombs]] of Georgia as a possible president. Davis, who had widespread support from six of the seven states, easily won. He was seen as the "champion of a slave society and embodied the values of the planter class," and was elected provisional Confederate President by acclamation.<ref>{{cite book
 |first=Joan E.
 |last=Cashin
 |title=First Lady of the Confederacy: Varina Davis's Civil War
 |publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
 |pages=102–103
 |year=2006}}</ref><ref>Coulter 1950, p. 25.</ref> He was inaugurated on February 18, 1861.<ref>Strode 1955, pp. 402–403.</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.archive.org/stream/inauguraladdress00conf#page/n1/mode/2up
 |title=Inaugural Address of President Davis
 |date=February 18, 1861
 |publisher=Shorter and Reid, Printers
 |location=Montgomery, Alabama
 |accessdate=2011-07-17
}}</ref> [[Alexander Stephens]] was chosen as Vice President, but he and Davis feuded constantly.<ref>Dodd 1907, p. 221.</ref>

Davis was the first choice because of his strong political and military credentials. He wanted to serve as commander in chief of the Confederate armies but said he would serve wherever directed.<ref>Coulter 1950, p. 24.</ref> His wife [[Varina Davis]] later wrote that when he received word that he had been chosen as president, "Reading that telegram he looked so grieved that I feared some evil had befallen our family."<ref>Cooper 2000, p. 352.</ref>

Several forts in Confederate territory remained in Union hands. Davis sent a commission to Washington with an offer to pay for any federal property on Southern soil, as well as the Southern portion of the national debt, but Lincoln refused to meet with the commissioners. Brief informal discussions did take place with Secretary of State [[William H. Seward|William Seward]] through [[Supreme Court Justice]] [[John Archibald Campbell|John A. Campbell]]. From Alabama, he later resigned from the federal government. Seward hinted that [[Fort Sumter]] would be evacuated, but gave no assurance.<ref>Cooper 2000, pp.&nbsp;361–362.</ref>

On March 1, 1861, Davis appointed General [[P. G. T. Beauregard]] to command all [[Confederate States Army|Confederate troops]] in the vicinity of [[Charleston, South Carolina]], where state officials prepared to take possession of Fort Sumter. Beauregard was to prepare his forces but avoid an attack on the fort. Lincoln dispatched a small fleet of warships, troops, and transports from the navy yard in New York to resupply and re-enforce Fort Pickens and Fort Sumter, although he told Davis they would not fire unless fired upon. They did arrive but were unable to help and just watched the action from 10 miles out.<ref>McPherson 1989, pp. 271–273.</ref>

Davis faced the most important decision of his career: to prevent reinforcement at Fort Sumter or to let it take place. He and his cabinet decided to demand that the Federal garrison surrender and, if this was refused, to use military force to prevent reinforcement before the fleet arrived. [[Robert Anderson (Civil War)|Major Anderson]] did not surrender. Beauregard [[Battle of Fort Sumter|bombarded the fort]] on April 12. The Confederates launched an artillery attack on Fort Sumter until it surrendered. No one was killed in the artillery duel, but the attack on the U.S. fortress meant the fighting had started. President Lincoln called up state militia to march south to recapture Federal property. In the North and South, massive rallies were held to demand immediate war. The Civil War had begun.<ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 337–340.</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=David Herbert|last=Donald|title=Lincoln|publisher=Simon and Schuster|location=New York|year=1995|pages=285–299}}</ref><ref>Strode 1959, pp. 24–66.</ref><ref>McPherson 1989, pp. 273–275.</ref>

At the start of the war, nearly 21 million people lived in the North compared to 9 million in the South. The North had vastly greater industrial capacity, built nearly all of the locomotives, steamships, and industrial machinery, and had a much larger and more integrated railroad system. Nearly all of the munitions facilities were in the North, while critical ingredients for gunpowder were in very short supply in the South. The Union had a large navy, whereas the new Confederacy had only a few captured warships—the handful it built were failures. The Union blockade made imports via blockade runners difficult and expensive.<ref>McPherson 1989, pp. 313–319.</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=James M.|last=McPherson|title=War on the Waters: The Union and Confederate Navies, 1861-1865|year=2012|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|location=Chapel Hill|isbn=9780807835883}}</ref>

When [[Virginia in the American Civil War|Virginia]] joined the Confederacy, Davis moved his government to [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]] in May 1861. He and his family took up his residence there at the [[White House of the Confederacy]] later that month.<ref>Strode 1959, pp. 90–94.</ref> Having served since February as the provisional president, Davis was [[Confederate States presidential election, 1861|elected]] to a full six-year term on November 6, 1861 and was inaugurated on February 22, 1862.<ref>Dodd 1907, p. 263.</ref>

In June 1862, in his most successful action, Davis assigned General [[Robert E. Lee]] to replace the wounded [[Joseph E. Johnston]] in command of the [[Army of Northern Virginia]], the main Confederate army in the [[Eastern Theater of the American Civil War|Eastern Theater]]. That December he made a tour of Confederate armies in the [[Western Theater of the American Civil War|west of the country]]. Davis had a very small circle of military advisers. He largely made the main strategic decisions on his own, though he had special respect for Lee's views. Given the Confederacy's limited resources compared with the Union, Davis decided that the Confederacy would have to fight mostly on the strategic defensive. He maintained a mostly defensive outlook throughout the war, paying special attention to the defense of his national capital at Richmond. He attempted strategic offensives when he felt that military success would both shake Northern self-confidence and strengthen the peace movements there. The campaigns met defeat at [[Battle of Antietam|Antietam]] in Maryland (1862) and [[Battle of Gettysburg|Gettysburg]] in Pennsylvania (1863),<ref>{{cite journal
 |first=Joseph G. III
 |last=Dawson
 |title=Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy's "Offensive-Defensive" Strategy in the U.S. Civil War
 |journal=Journal of Military History
 |date=April 2009
 |volume=73
 |issue=2
 |pages=591–607
 |doi=10.1353/jmh.0.0262}}</ref> as well as in Kentucky during the [[Confederate Heartland Offensive]] (1862).<ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 401–402.</ref>

===Administration and cabinet===
[[File:ConfederateCabinet.jpg|thumb|left|The original [[Confederate States of America#Executive|Confederate Cabinet]]. L-R: [[Judah P. Benjamin]], [[Stephen Mallory]], [[Christopher Memminger]], [[Alexander Stephens]], [[LeRoy Pope Walker]], Jefferson Davis, [[John H. Reagan]] and [[Robert Toombs]]]]

As provisional president in 1861, Davis formed his first cabinet. Robert Toombs of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] was the first Secretary of State and [[Christopher Memminger]] of [[South Carolina]] became Secretary of the Treasury. [[LeRoy Pope Walker]] of Alabama was made Secretary of War, after being recommended for this post by [[Clement Claiborne Clay|Clement Clay]] and [[William Lowndes Yancey|William Yancey]] (both of whom declined to accept cabinet positions themselves). [[John Henninger Reagan|John Reagan]] of [[Texas]] became Postmaster General. [[Judah P. Benjamin]] of [[Louisiana]] became Attorney General. Although [[Stephen Mallory]] was not put forward by the delegation from his state of [[Florida]], Davis insisted that he was the best man for the job of Secretary of the Navy, and he was eventually confirmed.<ref>Patrick 1944, p. 51.</ref>

Since the Confederacy was founded, among other things, on states' rights, one important factor in Davis' choice of cabinet members was representation from the various states. He depended partly upon recommendations from congressmen and other prominent people. This helped maintain good relations between the executive and legislative branches. This also led to complaints as more states joined the Confederacy, however, because there were more states than cabinet positions.<ref>Patrick 1944, pp. 49–50, 56.</ref>

As the war progressed, this dissatisfaction increased and there were frequent changes to the cabinet. Toombs, who had wished to be president himself, was frustrated as an advisor and resigned within a few months of his appointment to join the army. [[Robert M. T. Hunter|Robert Hunter]] of Virginia replaced him as Secretary of State on July 25, 1861.<ref>Patrick 1944, pp. 53, 89.</ref> On September 17, Walker resigned as Secretary of War due to a conflict with Davis, who had questioned his management of the War Department and had suggested he consider a different position. Walker requested, and was given, command of the troops in Alabama. Benjamin left the Attorney General position to replace him, and [[Thomas Bragg]] of North Carolina (brother of General [[Braxton Bragg]]) took Benjamin's place as Attorney General.<ref>Patrick 1944, p. 53, 116–117.</ref>
[[File:CSA-T16-$50-1862.jpg|thumb|Davis was first depicted on the 1862 $50 [[Confederate States dollar|CSA note]] issued between April and December of 1862.]]
Following the November 1861 election, Davis announced the permanent cabinet in March 1862. Benjamin moved again, to Secretary of State. [[George W. Randolph]] of Virginia had been made the Secretary of War. Mallory continued as Secretary of the Navy and Reagan as Postmaster General. Both kept their positions throughout the war. Memminger remained Secretary of the Treasury, while [[Thomas Hill Watts]] of Alabama was made Attorney General.<ref>Patrick 1944, pp. 55–57.</ref>

In 1862 Randolph resigned from the War Department, and [[James Seddon]] of Virginia was appointed to replace him. In late 1863, Watts resigned as Attorney General to take office as the Governor of Alabama, and [[George Davis (politician)|George Davis]] of North Carolina took his place. In 1864, Memminger withdrew from the Treasury post due to congressional opposition, and was replaced by [[George Trenholm]] of South Carolina. In 1865, congressional opposition likewise caused Seddon to withdraw, and he was replaced by [[John C. Breckinridge]] of [[Kentucky]].<ref>Patrick 1944, p. 57.</ref>

Cotton was the South's primary export and the basis of its economy, and the system of production the South used was dependent upon slave labor. At the outset of the Civil War, Davis realized that intervention from European powers would be vital if the Confederacy was to stand against the Union. The administration sent repeated delegations to European nations, but several factors prevented Southern success in terms of foreign diplomacy. The [[Union blockade]] of the Confederacy led European powers to remain neutral, contrary to the Southern belief that a blockade would cut off the supply of cotton to Britain and other European nations and prompt them to intervene on behalf of the South. Many European countries objected to slavery. Britain had abolished it in the 1830s, and Lincoln's [[Emancipation Proclamation]] of 1863 made support for the South even less appealing in Europe. Finally, as the war progressed and the South failed to win enough battles, foreign powers were not convinced that the Confederacy had the strength to become independent. In the end, not a single foreign nation recognized the Confederate States of America.<ref name="USDoS">{{cite web
 |url=http://history.state.gov/milestones/1861-1865/Confederacy
 |title=Preventing Diplomatic Recognition of the Confederacy, 1861–1865
 |publisher=[[United States Department of State]]
 |accessdate=2013-08-12}}</ref>

==Strategic failures==
Most historians sharply criticize Davis for his flawed military strategy, his selection of friends for military commands, and his neglect of homefront crises.<ref>Beringer, Richard E., Hattaway, Herman, Jones, Archer, and Still, William N., Jr. (1986). ''Why the South Lost the Civil War''. Athens: University of Georgia Press.</ref><ref>Woodworth 1990, p. 309.</ref> Until late in the war, he resisted efforts to appoint a general-in-chief, essentially handling those duties himself. On January 31, 1865, Lee assumed this role, but it was far too late. Davis insisted on a strategy of trying to defend all Southern territory with ostensibly equal effort. This diluted the limited resources of the South and made it vulnerable to coordinated strategic thrusts by the Union into the vital Western Theater (e.g., the capture of [[New Orleans]] in early 1862). He made other controversial strategic choices, such as allowing Lee to invade the North in 1862 and 1863 while the Western armies were under very heavy pressure. Lee lost at Gettysburg, [[Siege of Vicksburg|Vicksburg]] simultaneously fell, and the Union took control of the [[Mississippi River]], splitting the Confederacy. At Vicksburg, the failure to coordinate multiple forces on both sides of the Mississippi River rested primarily on Davis' inability to create a harmonious departmental arrangement or to force such commanders as generals [[Edmund Kirby Smith]], [[Earl Van Dorn]], and [[Theophilus H. Holmes]] to work together.<ref>{{cite journal
 |first=Steven E.
 |last=Woodworth
 |title=Dismembering the Confederacy: Jefferson Davis and the Trans-Mississippi West
 |journal=Military History of the Southwest
 |year=1990
 |volume=20
 |issue=1
 |pages=1–22}}</ref>

Davis has been faulted for poor coordination and management of his generals. This includes his reluctance to resolve a dispute between [[Leonidas Polk]], a personal friend, and [[Braxton Bragg]], who was defeated in important battles and distrusted by his subordinates.<ref>Woodworth 1990, pp. 92–93.</ref> He was similarly reluctant to relieve the capable but overly-cautious [[Joseph E. Johnston]] until, after numerous frustrations which he detailed in a March 1, 1865 letter to Col. James Phelan of Mississippi, he replaced him with [[John Bell Hood]].<ref>Hattaway and Beringer 2002, pp. 338–344.</ref><ref>Jefferson Davis to Col. James Phelan, March 1, 1865, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office,1895), Vol. 47, pt. 2, pp.1303-1312.</ref>

Davis gave speeches to soldiers and politicians but largely ignored the [[Plain Folk of the Old South|common people]], who came to resent the favoritism shown the rich and powerful; Davis thus failed to harness Confederate nationalism.<ref>Escott 1978, pp. 269–270.</ref> One historian speaks of "the heavy-handed intervention of the Confederate government." Economic intervention, regulation, and state control of manpower, production and transport were much greater in the Confederacy than in the Union.<ref>{{cite book
 |last=Barney
 |first=William L.
 |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Civil War
 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=16nCrElDpCAC&pg=PA341
 |year=2011
 |publisher=Oxford University Press
 |page=341
 |isbn=9780199782017}}</ref> Davis did not use his presidential pulpit to rally the people with stirring rhetoric; he called instead for people to be fatalistic and to die for their new country.<ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 475, 496.</ref> Apart from two month-long trips across the country where he met a few hundred people, Davis stayed in Richmond where few people saw him; newspapers had limited circulation, and most Confederates had little favorable information about him.<ref>{{cite journal
 |first=J. Cutler
 |last=Andrews
 |title=The Confederate Press and Public Morale
 |journal=Journal of Southern History
 |volume=32
 |year=1966
 |doi=10.2307/2204925
 |issue=4
 |pages=445|jstor=2204925
 }}</ref>

To finance the war, the Confederate government initially issued bonds, but investment from the public never met the demands. Taxes were lower than in the Union and were collected with less efficiency, and European investment was insufficient. As the war proceeded, both the Confederate government and the individual states printed more and more paper money. Inflation increased from 60% in 1861 to 300% in 1863 and 600% in 1864. Davis did not seem to grasp the enormity of the problem.<ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 351–352.</ref><ref>Escott 1978, pp. 146, 269.</ref>

In April 1863, food shortages led to rioting in Richmond, as poor people robbed and looted numerous stores for food until Davis cracked down and restored order.<ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 447, 480, 496.</ref> Davis feuded bitterly with his vice president. Perhaps even more seriously, he clashed with powerful state governors who used states' rights arguments to withhold their militia units from national service and otherwise blocked mobilization plans.<ref>Cooper 2000, p. 511.</ref>

Davis is widely evaluated as a less effective war leader than Lincoln, even though Davis had extensive military experience and Lincoln had little. Davis would have preferred to be an army general, and as president tended to manage military matters himself, delegating poorly. Lincoln and Davis led in very different ways. According to one historian,

{{quotation|Lincoln was flexible; Davis was rigid. Lincoln wanted to win; Davis wanted to be right. Lincoln had a broad strategic vision of Union goals; Davis could never enlarge his narrow view. Lincoln searched for the right general, then let him fight the war; Davis continuously played favorites and interfered unduly with his generals, even with Robert E. Lee. Lincoln led his nation; Davis failed to rally the South.|William J. Cooper, Jr.}}

There were many factors that led to Union victory over the Confederacy, and Davis recognized from the start that the South was at a distinct disadvantage; but in the end, Lincoln helped to achieve victory, whereas Davis contributed to defeat.<ref name="reassessment">{{Citation
 |first=William J.
 |last=Cooper, Jr.
 |contribution=A Reassessment of Jefferson Davis as War Leader
 |editor1-first=Lawrence Lee
 |editor1-last=Hewitt
 |editor2-first=Arthur W.
 |editor2-last=Bergeron, Jr.
 |title=Confederate Generals in the Western Theater, Volume 1: Classic Essays on America's Civil War
 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=vnP-VOs7jKUC&pg=PA161
 |year=2010
 |publisher=University of Tennessee Press
 |location=Knoxville
 |page=161
 |isbn=9781572337008}}</ref>

===Final days of the Confederacy===
[[File:William T Sutherlin Mansion Danville Virginia.JPG|thumb|[[William T. Sutherlin]] Mansion, [[Danville, Virginia]], temporary residence of Jefferson Davis and dubbed Last Capitol of the Confederacy]]

In March 1865, General Order 14 provided for enlisting slaves into the army, with a promise of freedom for service. The idea had been suggested years earlier, but Davis did not act upon it until late in the war, and very few slaves were enlisted.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.civilwaronthewesternborder.org/timeline/general-orders-no-14
 |title=General Orders No. 14
 |publisher=The Kansas City Public Library
 |accessdate=2013-10-06}}</ref>

On April 3, with [[Union Army|Union troops]] under [[Ulysses S. Grant]] poised to capture Richmond, Davis escaped to [[Danville, Virginia]], together with the Confederate Cabinet, leaving on the [[Richmond and Danville Railroad]]. Lincoln sat in Davis's Richmond office just 40 hours later. [[William T. Sutherlin]] turned over [[Danville Public Library (Danville, Virginia)|his mansion]], which served as Davis's temporary residence from April 3 to April 10, 1865.<ref name=VAnom>{{cite web|url=http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Danville/108-0006_Sutherlin_House_1969_Final_Nomination.pdf|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Danville Public Library |author=Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff |date=June 1969 |publisher=Virginia Department of Historic Resources}}</ref> On about April 12, Davis received [[Conclusion of the American Civil War|Robert E. Lee's letter announcing surrender]].<ref name="keegan2009">{{cite book
 |title=The American Civil War: A Military History
 |publisher=Vintage Books
 |last=Keegan
 |first=John
 |authorlink=John Keegan
 |year=2009
 |pages=375–376
 |isbn=9780307273147}}</ref> He issued his last official proclamation as president of the Confederacy, and then went south to [[Greensboro, North Carolina]].<ref>Dodd 1907, pp. 353–357.</ref>

After Lee's surrender, a public meeting was held in [[Shreveport, Louisiana]], at which many speakers supported continuation of the war. Plans were developed for the Davis government to flee to [[Havana]], Cuba. There, the leaders would regroup and head to the Confederate-controlled Trans-Mississippi area by way of the [[Rio Grande]].<ref>{{cite book
 |first=John D.
 |last=Winters
 |year=1963
 |title=The Civil War in Louisiana
 |location=Baton Rouge
 |publisher=Louisiana State University Press
 |isbn=9780807117255
 |page=419}}</ref> None of these plans was put into practice.

On April 14, Lincoln was shot, dying the next day. Davis expressed regret at his death. He later said that he believed Lincoln would have been less harsh with the South than his successor, [[Andrew Johnson]].<ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 528–529.</ref> In the aftermath, Johnson issued a $100,000 reward for the capture of Davis and accused him of helping to plan the assassination. As the Confederate military structure fell into disarray, the search for Davis by Union forces intensified.<ref>Cooper 2000, p. 533.</ref>

President Davis met with his Confederate Cabinet for the last time on May 5, 1865, in [[Washington, Georgia]], and officially dissolved the Confederate government. The meeting took place at the Heard house, the Georgia Branch Bank Building, with 14 officials present. Along with their hand-picked escort led by [[Given Campbell]], Davis and his wife were captured by Union forces on May 10 at [[Irwinville, Georgia|Irwinville]] in [[Irwin County, Georgia]].<ref name="Jefferson_Davis">{{cite web
 |url=http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/civil/jb_civil_jeffdav_1.html
 |title=Jefferson Davis Was Captured
 |publisher=[[USA.gov]]
 |year=2007
 |accessdate=2010-02-04
}}</ref>

[[File:Capture of Jefferson Davis New York Daily News May 15 1865.jpg|thumbnail|Capture of Jefferson Davis - Illustration in New York Daily News May 15, 1865]]

It was reported that Davis put his wife's overcoat over his shoulders while fleeing. This led to the persistent rumor that he attempted to flee in women's clothes, inspiring caricatures that portrayed him as such.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-640
 |title=Capture of Jefferson Davis
 |publisher=The New Georgia Encyclopedia
 |accessdate=2011-06-08
}}</ref> Over 40 years later, an article in the Washington Herald claimed that Mrs. Davis' heavy [[shawl]] had been placed on him to protect him from the "chilly atmosphere of the early hour of the morning" by the slave James H. Johnson, Davis' [[valet]] who served Davis during the Civil War.<ref>"People of Note. Davis' Old Servant," ''The Washington Herald'', 4 November 1906: 6, col. 5.</ref> Meanwhile, Davis' belongings continued on the train bound for [[Cedar Key, Florida]]. They were first hidden at Senator [[David Levy Yulee]]'s plantation in Florida, then placed in the care of a railroad agent in [[Waldo, Florida|Waldo]]. On June 15, 1865, Union soldiers seized Davis' personal baggage from the agent, together with some of the Confederate government's records. A historical marker was erected at this site.<ref name=FL_HistoricalMarkers>{{cite book
 |last=Boone
 |first=Floyd E.
 |year=1988
 |title=Florida Historical Markers & Sites: A Guide to More Than 700 Historic Sites
 |publisher=Gulf Publishing Company
 |location=Houston, Texas
 |isbn=9780872015586
 |page=15}}</ref><ref name=ALACHUA>{{cite web
 |url=http://Growth-Management.Alachua.FL.US/historic/historic_commission/historical_markers/jeffdavistext.htm
|title=Historical Markers in Alachua County, Florida&nbsp;— DICKISON AND HIS MEN / JEFFERSON DAVIS' BAGGAGE
 |publisher=Alachua County Historical Commission
 |accessdate=2011-08-04}}</ref><ref name=LAT34>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.lat34north.com/HistoricMarkersFL/MarkerDetail.cfm?KeyID=001-1&MarkerTitle=Dickison%20and%20his%20men%20/%20Jefferson%20Davis%27%20baggage
 |title=Historic Markers Across Florida&nbsp;— Dickison and his men / Jefferson Davis' baggage
 |publisher=Latitude 34 North
 |accessdate=2011-08-04}}</ref>

==Imprisonment==
[[File:1866 Jeff Davies Prisoner Illus.jpg|thumb|Early illustration of Jefferson Davis in prison]]

On May 19, 1865, Davis was imprisoned in a [[casemate]] at [[Fort Monroe|Fortress Monroe]] on the coast of Virginia. Irons were riveted to his ankles at the order of General [[Nelson Miles]] who was in charge of the fort. Davis was allowed no visitors, and no books except the Bible. He became sicker, and the attending physician warned that his life was in danger, but this treatment continued for some months until late autumn when he was finally given better quarters. General Miles was transferred in mid-1866, and Davis' treatment continued to improve.<ref>Dodd 1907, pp. 366–368.</ref>

[[Pope Pius IX]] (see [[Pope Pius IX and the United States#Political involvement during the Civil War|Pope Pius IX and the United States]]), seeing himself a prisoner in the Vatican, after learning that Davis was a prisoner, sent him a portrait inscribed with the Latin words "''Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis, et ego reficiam vos, dicit Dominus''", which correspond to {{nasb|Matthew|11:28|Matthew 11:28}},<ref>{{YouTube|mxAO6xkimhg|TR Media: Sir Charles Coulombe, America 1861-1865, with Stephen Heiner, 2011}} (5:45 - 10:00). Retrieved: 27 March 2014.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://catholicknight.blogspot.com/2009/02/pope-pius-ix-and-confederacy.html |title=Pope Pius IX and the Confederacy |publisher=The Catholic Knight |first= |last= |date=2 February 2009 |accessdate=2014-03-27}}</ref> "Come to me, all you that labor, and are burdened, and I will refresh you, sayeth the Lord". A hand-woven [[crown of thorns]] associated with the portrait is often said to have been made by the Pope<ref>Strode 1964, p. 302.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://catholicism.org/blessed-pius-ix-and-jefferson-davis.html |title=Blessed Pius IX and Jefferson Davis |publisher=Catholicism.org |first=Brian |last=Kelly |date=30 October 2008 |accessdate=2014-03-27}}</ref> but may have been woven by Davis' wife Varina.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cwmemory.com/2009/09/27/update-on-jefferson-daviss-crown-of-thorns/ |title=Update on Jefferson Davis's Crown of Thorns |publisher=Civil War Memory |first=Kevin |last=Levin |date=27 September 2009 |accessdate=2011-08-21}}</ref>

Varina and their young daughter Winnie were allowed to join Davis, and the family was eventually given an apartment in the officers' quarters. Davis was indicted for treason while imprisoned; one of his attorneys was ex-Governor [[Thomas Pratt (Maryland politician)|Thomas Pratt]] of [[Maryland]].<ref>[[Charles Minor Blackford|Blackford, Charles M.]] ''The Trials and Trial of Jefferson Davis''. Vol. XXIX, in Southern Historical Society, edited by R. A. Brock, 45–81. Richmond, VA: William Ellis Jones, 1901, p. 62.</ref> There was a great deal of discussion in 1865 about bringing treason trials, especially against Jefferson Davis, and there was no consensus in President Johnson's cabinet to do so. There were no treason trials against anyone, as it was felt they would probably would not succeed and would impede reconciliation.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jefferson Davis|title=The Papers of Jefferson Davis: June 1865-December 1870|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=tCFFUrkgy60C&pg=PA96|year=2008|publisher=Louisiana State UP|page=96|isbn=9780807133415}}</ref><ref name="Nichols">{{cite journal|first=Roy Franklin|last=Nichols|title=United States vs. Jefferson Davis, 1865-1869|journal=American Historical Review|year=1926|volume=31|issue=2|pages=266–284|jstor=1838262}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Eberhard P.|last=Deutsch|title=United States v. Jefferson Davis: Constitutional Issues in the Trial for Treason|journal=American Bar Association Journal|date=February 1966|volume=52|issue=2|pages=139–145|jstor=25723506}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Eberhard P.|last=Deutsch|title=United States v. Jefferson Davis: Constitutional Issues in the Trial for Treason|journal=American Bar Association Journal|date=March 1966|volume=52|issue=3|pages=263–268|jstor=25723552}}</ref> After two years of imprisonment, Davis was released on bail of $100,000, which was posted by prominent citizens including [[Horace Greeley]], [[Cornelius Vanderbilt]] and [[Gerrit Smith]].<ref>Strode 1955, p. 305.</ref> (Smith was a former member of the [[Secret Six]] who had supported abolitionist [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]].) Davis went to [[Montreal, Canada]] to join his family which had fled there earlier, and lived in [[Lennoxville, Quebec]] until 1868<ref>{{cite news
|url = http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/25/freshly-defeated-in-the-u-s-civil-war-confederate-leader-jefferson-davis-came-to-canada-to-give-the-newly-founded-country-defence-tips/ 
|title = Freshly defeated in the U.S. Civil War, Confederate leader Jefferson Davis came to Canada to give the newly founded country defence tips 
|date = 2014-07-25 
|accessdate = 2014-07-26 
|last = Hopper 
|first = Tristin 
|newspaper = National Post
}}</ref> also visiting Cuba, and Europe in search of work.<ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 568–584.</ref> Davis remained under indictment until he was released from all liability by the presidential amnesty issued by Johnson on December 25, 1868.<ref name="Nichols"/><ref>{{cite book|first=David W.|last=Blight|title=Race and Reunion|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3R-yvmpYaqAC&pg=PA57|year=2009|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674022096|page=57}}</ref>

==Later years==
[[File:1885JeffersonDavis.jpg|thumb|left|Jefferson Davis at his home, c. 1885]]

In 1869, Davis became president of the Carolina Life Insurance Company in [[Memphis, Tennessee]], where he resided at the [[Peabody Hotel]]. Upon General Lee's death in 1870, Davis presided over the memorial meeting in Richmond. Elected to the U.S. Senate again, he was refused the office in 1875, having been barred from Federal office by [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution#Text|Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]]. He turned down the opportunity to become the first president of the [[History of Texas A&M University#Early years|Agriculture and Mechanical College of Texas]] (now Texas A&M University).<ref>Strode 1964, pp. 402–404.</ref>

During [[Reconstruction Era|Reconstruction]], Davis publicly remained silent on his opinions; but privately he expressed opinions that federal military rule and Republican authority over former Confederate states was unjustified. He considered "Yankee and Negroe" rule in the South oppressive. Like most of his white contemporaries, Davis held the belief that blacks were inferior to whites.<ref>Cooper 2000, p.&nbsp;702.</ref> The historian William J. Cooper has stated that Davis believed in a [[Treatment of slaves in the United States|Southern social order]] that included "a democratic white polity based firmly on dominance of a controlled and excluded black caste."<ref>Cooper 2000, pp.&nbsp;574–575, 602–603.</ref>

Ownership of the Brierfield plantation was embroiled in court cases, with the politics of the state judges playing a key role. Only after the Democrats took control of the state supreme court in 1881 did Davis, for the first time in his life, gain legal title.<ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 675–676.</ref>

In 1876, Davis promoted a society for the stimulation of US trade with South America. He visited England the next year. In 1877, [[Sarah Anne Ellis Dorsey]], a wealthy widow who had heard of his difficulties, invited him to stay at her estate and plantation house of "[[Beauvoir (Biloxi, Mississippi)|Beauvoir]]" on the Gulf Coast (facing the [[Gulf of Mexico]]) in [[Biloxi, Mississippi]]. She provided him with a cabin for his own use and helped him with his writing through organization, dictation, editing, and encouragement. Knowing she was severely ill, in 1878 Dorsey made over her will, leaving Beauvoir and her financial assets of $50,000 ({{Inflation|US|50,000|1878|2014|r=-3|fmt=eq}}) to Jefferson Davis and, in the case of his death, to his only surviving child, Winnie Davis.<ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 676–678.</ref><ref>{{cite book
 |first=Bertram
 |last=Wyatt-Brown
 |authorlink=Bertram Wyatt-Brown
 |title=The House of Percy: Honor, Melancholy and Imagination in a Southern Family
 |location=New York
 |publisher=Oxford University Press
 |year=1994
 |pages=165–166}}</ref> Dorsey died in 1879, by which time both the Davises and Winnie were living at Beauvoir. Over the next two years, Davis completed ''The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government'' (1881).<ref>Strode 1964, pp. 439–441, 448–449.</ref>

Davis' reputation among ex-Confederates was restored by the book and by his warm reception on his tour of the region in 1886 and 1887. In numerous stops, he attended [[Lost Cause of the Confederacy|Lost Cause]] ceremonies, where large crowds showered him with affection and local leaders presented emotional speeches honoring his sacrifices to the would-be nation. Such events helped the South come to terms with their defeat and continued for decades after the war.<ref>{{cite book
 |title=Baptized in Blood: The Religion of the Lost Cause, 1865–1920
 |last=Wilson
 |first=Charles Reagan
 |year=2009
 |publisher=University of Georgia Press
 |isbn=9780820340722
 |pages=18–24}}</ref> The ''Meriden Daily Journal'' stated that Davis, at a reception held in New Orleans in May 1887, urged southerners to be loyal to the nation. He said, "United you are now, and if the Union is ever to be broken, let the other side break it." Davis stated that men in the Confederacy had successfully fought for their own rights with inferior numbers during the Civil War and that the northern historians ignored this view.<ref name="Meriden">{{cite news
 |title=Jefferson Davis' Loyalty
 |newspaper=The Meriden Daily Journal
 |date=May 14, 1887
 |page=1}}</ref> Davis firmly believed that Confederate secession was constitutional. The former Confederate president was optimistic concerning American prosperity and the next generation.<ref>Cooper 2000, p. 658.</ref>

Davis completed ''[[A Short History of the Confederate States of America]]'' in October 1889. On November 6, he left Beauvoir to visit his plantation at Brierfield. While in New Orleans, he was caught in a sleety rain, and on the steamboat trip upriver, he had a severe cold; on November 13 he left Brierfield to return to New Orleans. Varina Davis, who had taken another boat to Brierfield, met him on the river, and he finally received some medical care; two doctors came aboard further south and found he had acute bronchitis complicated by malaria.<ref>Strode 1964, p. 505–507.</ref> They arrived in New Orleans three days later, and he was taken to the home of Charles Erasmus Fenner, an Associate Justice of the [[Louisiana Supreme Court]]. Davis remained in bed but was stable for the next two weeks; however, he took a turn for the worse in early December. Just when he appeared to be improving, he lost consciousness on the evening of December 5 and died at 12:45&nbsp;a.m. on Friday, December 6, 1889, in the presence of several friends and with his hand in Varina's.<ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 652–654.</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://leearchive.wlu.edu/reference/misc/fenner/index.html
 |title=Eulogy of Robert E. Lee
 |first=Charles E.
 |last=Fenner
 |publisher=[[Washington and Lee University]]}}</ref>

[[File:JeffDavisFuneralOnCampStreet1889.jpg|thumb|Funeral procession of Jefferson Davis in New Orleans]]
His funeral was one of the largest in the South. Davis was first entombed at the Army of Northern Virginia tomb at [[Metairie Cemetery]] in New Orleans. In 1893, Mrs. Davis decided to have his remains reinterred at [[Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia)|Hollywood Cemetery]] in Richmond.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.hollywoodcemetery.org/history.html
 |title=History Slideshow, slide 22
 |publisher=Hollywood Cemetery
 |year=2013
 |accessdate=2013-06-12}}</ref> After the remains were exhumed in New Orleans, they lay for a day at Memorial Hall of the newly organized [[Louisiana Historical Association]], with many mourners passing by the casket, including [[Governor of Louisiana|Governor]] [[Murphy J. Foster|Murphy J. Foster, Sr.]] The body was placed on a [[Louisville and Nashville Railroad]] car and transported to Richmond, Virginia.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.lahistory.org/uploads/UrquhartLHAHistoryFinal.pdf
 |first=Kenneth Trist
 |last=Urquhart
 |title=Seventy Years of the Louisiana Historical Association
 |date=March 21, 1959
 |location=Alexandria, Louisiana
 |publisher=Louisiana Historical Association
 |format=PDF
 |accessdate=2010-07-21}}</ref> A continuous cortège, day and night, accompanied his body from New Orleans to Richmond.<ref>Collins 2005.</ref> He is interred at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/richmond/HollywoodCemetery.html
 |title=Hollywood Cemetery and James Monroe Tomb
 |publisher=National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior
 |accessdate=2013-10-19}}</ref>[[File:Jefferson Davis Grave.JPG|thumb|left|Jefferson Davis burial site at [[Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia)|Hollywood Cemetery]] in [[Richmond, Virginia]], beneath a life-sized statue]]

==Legacy==
[[File:Jefferson Davis portrait.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Postwar portrait of Jefferson Davis by [[Daniel Huntington]]]]

Jefferson Davis served in many roles. As a soldier, he was brave and resourceful.<ref name="strode-1955-164-167"/> As a politician, he served as a United States senator and a Mississippi congressman and was active and accomplished, although he never completed a full term in any elected position. As a plantation owner, he employed slave labor as did most of his peers in the South, and supported [[Treatment of slaves in the United States|slavery]].<ref name="cooper-2000-75-79"/> As president of the Confederate States of America, he is widely viewed as an ineffective wartime leader; although the task of defending the Confederacy against the much stronger Union would have been a great challenge for any leader, Davis' performance in this role is considered poor.<ref name="reassessment"/> After the war, he contributed to reconciliation of the South with the North, but remained a symbol for Southern pride.<ref name="strawbridge"/>

Some portions of his legacy were created not as memorials, but as contemporary recognition of his service at the time. [[Fort Davis National Historic Site]] began as a frontier military post in October 1854, in the mountains of western Texas. It was named after then-United States Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. That fort gave its name to the surrounding [[Davis Mountains]] range, and the town of [[Fort Davis, Texas|Fort Davis]]. The surrounding area was designated [[Jeff Davis County, Texas|Jeff Davis County]] in 1887, with the town of Fort Davis as the county seat.  Other states containing a Jeff Davis County or Parish include [[Louisiana]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] and [[Mississippi]].

Numerous [[List of memorials to Jefferson Davis|memorials to Jefferson Davis]] were created. The largest is the {{convert|351|foot|adj=on}} concrete [[obelisk]] located at the [[Jefferson Davis State Historic Site]] in [[Fairview, Kentucky]], marking his birthplace. Construction of the monument began in 1917 and finished in 1924 at a cost of about $200,000.<ref name=JDSHS/>

In 1913, the [[United Daughters of the Confederacy]] conceived the [[Jefferson Davis Highway|Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway]], a transcontinental highway to be built through the South.<ref name=highway>{{cite web| last=Weingroff| first=Richard F.| url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/jdavis.cfm| title=Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway| work=[http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/history.cfm Highway History]|publisher=[[Federal Highway Administration]], [[United States Department of Transportation]]| date=April 7, 2011| accessdate=2011-09-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11535/
 |title=Map of the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway
 |publisher=[[World Digital Library]]
 |accessdate=2013-07-25}}</ref> Portions of the highway's route in Virginia, Alabama and other states still bear the name of Jefferson Davis.<ref name=highway/>

{{multiple image|align=right|image1=J Davis 1861-5c.jpg|width1=110|image2=Stone Mountain Memorial 6c 1970 issue.JPG|width2=220|caption1=Jefferson Davis<br />5-cent CSA|caption2=J. Davis on Stone Mountain<br />1970 issue|caption_align=center}}

Davis appeared on several [[Postage stamps and postal history of the Confederate States#Confederate postage|postage stamps issued by the Confederacy]], including its first postage stamp (issued in 1861). In 1995, his portrait appeared on a United States postage stamp, part of a series of 20 stamps commemorating the 130th anniversary of end of the Civil War.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.usapostagestamps.com/top_rated/overall/2425/130th+Anniversary+of+End+of+American+Civil+War+1995/
 |title=130th Anniversary of End of American Civil War 1995
 |publisher=USA Stamps
 |accessdate=2013-06-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=2&cmd=1&id=192343&pg=1&mode=1&tid=2043413
 |title=32c Jefferson Davis single
 |publisher=Smithsonian National Postal Museum
 |accessdate=2014-04-28}}</ref> Davis was also celebrated on the 6-cent Stone Mountain Memorial Carving commemorative on September 19, 1970, at Stone Mountain, Georgia. The stamp portrayed Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson on horseback. It depicts a replica of the actual memorial, carved into the side of [[Stone Mountain]] at {{convert|400|ft}} above ground level, the largest high relief sculpture in the world.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&tid=2029483
 |title=Stone Mountain Memorial Issue
 |publisher=Smithsonian National Postal Museum
 |accessdate=2014-04-28}}</ref>
[[Image:Jefferson Davis Monument, Richmond, VA IMG 4066.JPG|thumb|Large Davis memorial on [[Monument Avenue]] in [[Richmond, Virginia]]]]
[[File:Jeferson Davis bust.JPG|right|upright|thumb|Bust of Davis at the [[Jefferson Davis Memorial Historic Site]] ]]

The [[Jefferson Davis Presidential Library]] was established at Beauvoir in 1998. For some years, the white-columned Biloxi mansion that was Davis' final home had served as a Confederate Veterans Home. The house and library were damaged by [[Hurricane Katrina]] in 2005; the house reopened in 2008.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.beauvoir.org
 |title=Beauvoir&nbsp;– The Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library
 |publisher=Mississippi Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans
 |accessdate=2011-07-17}}</ref> Bertram Hayes-Davis, Davis' great-great grandson, is the executive director of Beauvoir, which is owned by the Mississippi Division of the [[Sons of Confederate Veterans]].<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/history-in-the-field/Bertram-Hayes-Davis-interview.html
 |title=An Interview with Bertram Hayes-Davis
 |publisher=Civil War Trust
 |date=October 2012
 |accessdate=2013-07-21}}</ref>

Based at [[Rice University]] in [[Houston]], Texas, ''The Papers of Jefferson Davis'' is an editing project to publish documents related to Davis. Since the early 1960s, it has published 13 volumes, the first in 1971 and the most recent in 2012; two more volumes are planned. The project has roughly 100,000 documents in its archives.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://jeffersondavis.rice.edu
 |title=The Papers of Jefferson Davis
 |publisher=Rice University
 |accessdate=2011-07-17}}</ref>

{{Anchor|holidays}}
The birthday of Jefferson Davis is commemorated in several states. His actual birthday, June 3, is celebrated in Florida,<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0600-0699/0683/Sections/0683.01.html
 |title=The 2010 Florida Statutes (including Special Session A)
 |publisher=The Florida Legislature
 |accessdate=2011-07-25}}</ref> Kentucky,<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.lrc.ky.gov/statutes/statute.aspx?id=46
 |title=2.110 Public holidays
 |publisher=Kentucky Legislative Research Commission
 |accessdate=2013-10-16}}</ref> Louisiana<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?doc=74097
 |title=Days of public rest, legal holidays, and half-holidays
 |publisher=The Louisiana State Legislature
 |accessdate=2011-07-25}}</ref> and [[Tennessee]];<ref name=DEPT_VA>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/history.asp
 |title=Memorial Day History
 |publisher=United States Department of Veterans Affairs
 |accessdate=2011-07-25}}</ref> in Alabama, it is celebrated on the first Monday in June.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://media.alabama.gov/calendar.aspx
 |title=Official State of Alabama Calendar
 |publisher=Alabama State Government
 |accessdate=2011-07-25}}</ref> In Mississippi, the last Monday of May ([[Memorial Day]]) is celebrated as "National Memorial Day and Jefferson Davis' Birthday".<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.mscode.com/free/statutes/03/003/0007.htm
 |title=Mississippi Code of 1972&nbsp;– SEC. 3-3-7. Legal holiday
 |publisher=LawNetCom, Inc.
 |accessdate=2011-07-25}}</ref> In Texas, "Confederate Heroes Day" is celebrated on January 19, the birthday of Robert E. Lee;<ref name=DEPT_VA/> Jefferson Davis' birthday had been officially celebrated on June 3 but was combined with Lee's birthday in 1973.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ref/abouttx/holidays.html
 |title=State holidays
 |publisher=Texas State Library
 |accessdate=2011-07-25}}</ref>

Some memorials to Davis have become controversial. [[Washington State Route 99]] bears the name of Jefferson Davis Highway. In 2002, the [[Washington House of Representatives|state's House of Representatives]] unanimously approved a bill that would have removed Davis' name from the road. However, a committee of the [[Washington State Senate|state's Senate]] subsequently killed the proposal.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/14/us/road-named-for-jefferson-davis-stirs-spirited-debate.html
 |title=Road Named for Jefferson Davis Stirs Spirited Debate
 |newspaper=The New York Times
 |last=Verhovek
 |first=Sam Howe
 |date=February 14, 2002
 |accessdate=2013-10-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
 |url=http://www.komonews.com/news/archive/4035226.html
 |title=Senate Committee Kills Plan To Rename Jefferson Davis Highway
 |work=[http://www.komonews.com KOMOnews.com]
 |publisher=Sinclair Interactive Media
 |location=Seattle, Washington
 |date=2006-08-30
 |accessdate=2013-11-08}}</ref>

In the former Confederate capitol of Richmond, Virginia, the [[Museum of the Confederacy]] was involved in a controversy regarding a statue of Davis donated by the [[Sons of Confederate Veterans]] in 2008. Likewise, a statue of Abraham Lincoln, donated to the Civil War Visitor Center in Richmond in 2003, resulted in protests.<ref>{{cite news
 |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/arts/design/03civi.html?pagewanted=all
 |title=Away Down South, 2 Museums Grapple With the Civil War Story
 |newspaper=The New York Times
 |last=Rothstein
 |first=Edward
 |authorlink=Edward Rothstein
 |date=September 2, 2008
 |accessdate=2013-10-13}}</ref>

In 2011, the County Board of [[Arlington County, Virginia]], voted to change the name of Old Jefferson Davis Highway, the original route of Jefferson Davis Highway in the county, after the Board's chairman made disparaging remarks about Davis. However, the name of Jefferson Davis Highway itself, a portion of [[U.S. Route 1 in Virginia|U.S. 1]] that only the [[Virginia General Assembly]] could rename, remained unchanged.<ref>{{cite web
 |title=Old Jefferson Davis Highway to be Renamed 'Long Bridge Drive'
 |work=Newsroom
 |publisher=[[Arlington County, Virginia]] government
 |date=September 21, 2011
 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/69un7fJsy
 |archivedate=August 14, 2012
 |url=http://news.arlingtonva.us/pr/ava/old-jefferson-davis-highway-to-215795.aspx
 |accessdate=2012-08-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |last=McCaffrey
 |first=Scott
 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/69umctsRU
 |archivedate=August 14, 2012
 |url=http://www.sungazette.net/arlington/politics/road-renaming-proves-another-chance-to-re-fight-the-civil/article_22798c8c-e9c5-11e0-a526-001cc4c002e0.html
 |title=Road Renaming Proves Another Chance to Re-Fight the Civil War
 |work=Arlington Sun Gazette
 |location=Springfield, Virginia
 |publisher=Sun Gazette Newspapers
 |date=September 28, 2011
 |accessdate=2012-08-14}}</ref>

In May 2015, the student government at the [[University of Texas at Austin]] voted almost unanimously to remove a statue of Jefferson Davis that had been erected on the campus South Mall.<ref>http://kxan.com/2015/03/25/ut-student-government-votes-to-remove-jefferson-davis-statue/</ref><ref>Tom McCarthy, "Drive to call time on Confederate flag sweeps south – 150 years after civil war", ''[[The Guardian]]'', 23 June 2015.</ref> Beginning shortly after the [[Charleston church shooting]] of 2015.<ref>"Confederate monuments tagged with anti-racist messages", ''[[The Guardian]]'', June 26, 2016, http://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2015/jun/26/confederate-monuments-racist-black-lives-matter-pictures.</ref> "[[black lives matter]]" had been written repeatedly in bold red letters on the base of the Davis statue. Previous messages had included "Davis must fall" and "Liberate [[the University of Texas|U.T.]]"<ref>Associated Press, "'Emancipate UT': Confederate statue defaced at University of Texas", ''[[The Guardian]]'', May 9, 2015.</ref>

The University of Texas officials convened a task force to determine whether to honor the students petition for removal of the statue. Acting on the strong recommendation of the task force, UT's President Gregory Fenves announced on August 13, 2015 that the statue would be relocated to serve as an educational exhibit in the university's Dolph Briscoe Center for American History museum.<ref>http://news.utexas.edu/2015/08/13/jefferson-davis-statue-to-be-relocated-to-briscoe-center</ref> The statue was removed on August 30, 2015.<ref>Associated Press, "Texas university removes Confederate president statue from campus," ''[[The Guardian]]'', August 30, 2015.</ref>

Robert E. Lee's [[United States citizenship]] was posthumously restored in 1975. Jefferson Davis had been specifically excluded from earlier resolutions restoring rights to other Confederate officials, and a movement arose to restore Davis' citizenship as well. This was accomplished with the passing of Senate [[Joint resolution|Joint Resolution]] 16 on October 17, 1978. In signing the law, President [[Jimmy Carter]] referred to this as the last act of reconciliation in the Civil War.<ref>
{{cite web
 |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=29993/
 |title=Jimmy Carter: Restoration of Citizenship Rights to Jefferson F. Davis Statement on Signing S. J. Res. 16 into Law
 |publisher=American Presidency Project
 |accessdate=2013-02-06}}</ref>

{{clear}}

==See also==
* [[List of memorials to Jefferson Davis]]
* [[Jefferson Davis Memorial Historic Site]]
* [[Jefferson Davis Presidential Library|Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and Museum]]
{{portal bar|Biography|Mississippi|Politics|American Civil War}}

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Bibliography==
* Allen, Felicity (1999). ''[http://www.questia.com/read/106229784/jefferson-davis-unconquerable-heart Jefferson Davis: Unconquerable Heart]''. Columbia: The University of Missouri Press. ISBN 9780826212191.
* Ballard, Michael B. (1986). ''[http://www.questia.com/read/14023352/a-long-shadow-jefferson-davis-and-the-final-days A Long Shadow: Jefferson Davis and the Final Days of the Confederacy]''. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9780820319414.
* Collins, Donald E. (2005). ''The Death and Resurrection of Jefferson Davis''. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 9780742543041.
* Cooper, William J. (2000). ''Jefferson Davis, American''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 9780307772640.
* Cooper, William J. (2008). ''Jefferson Davis and the Civil War Era''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 9780807153116.
* [[Richard N. Current|Current, Richard]], ''et al.'' (1993). ''Encyclopedia of the Confederacy''. New York: Simon & Schuster.
* {{cite book
 |last=Coulter
 |first=Ellis Merton
 |authorlink=E. Merton Coulter
 |title=The Confederate States of America, 1861–1865, Volume 7
 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Z2_ZM0dWVrsC
 |year=1950
 |publisher=Louisiana State University Press
 |location=Baton Rouge
 |isbn=9780807100073}}
* [[William C. Davis (historian)|Davis, William C.]] (1996). ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=NbFWl1zXnr0C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour]''. Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 9780807120798.
* [[William Dodd (ambassador)|Dodd, William E.]] (1907). ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=xtJ2AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false Jefferson Davis]''. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs and Company.
* [[Clement Eaton|Eaton, Clement]] (1977). ''Jefferson Davis''. New York: The Free Press.
* Escott, Paul (1978). ''After Secession: Jefferson Davis and the Failure of Confederate Nationalism''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 9780807118078.
* Hattaway, Herman and Beringer, Richard E. (2002). ''Jefferson Davis, Confederate President''. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 9780700611706.
* [[James M. McPherson|McPherson, James M.]] (1989). ''[[Battle Cry of Freedom (book)|Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era]]''. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 9780195038637.
* McPherson, James M. (2014). ''Embattled Rebel: Jefferson Davis as Commander in Chief''. New York: The Penguin Press.
* [[Mark E. Neely, Jr.|Neely Jr., Mark E.]] (1993). ''[http://www.questia.com/read/29306356/confederate-bastille-jefferson-davis-and-civil-liberties Confederate Bastille: Jefferson Davis and Civil Liberties]''. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press. ISBN 9780874623253.
* [[Rembert W. Patrick|Patrick, Rembert W.]] (1944). ''Jefferson Davis and His Cabinet''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
* [[George C. Rable|Rable, George C.]] (1994). ''[http://www.questia.com/read/10417084/the-confederate-republic-a-revolution-against-politics The Confederate Republic: A Revolution against Politics]''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9780807863961.
* Stoker, Donald, "There Was No Offensive-Defensive Confederate Strategy," ''Journal of Military History,'' 73 (April 2009), 571–90.
* [[Hudson Strode|Strode, Hudson]] (1955). ''Jefferson Davis, Volume I: American Patriot''. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company.
* Strode, Hudson (1959). ''Jefferson Davis, Volume II: Confederate President''. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company.
* Strode, Hudson (1964). ''Jefferson Davis, Volume III: Tragic Hero''. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company.
* Swanson, James L. (2010). ''Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln's Corpse''. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780061233791.
* [[Emory M. Thomas|Thomas, Emory M.]] (1979). ''The Confederate Nation, 1861–1865''. New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 9780062069467.
* {{cite book
 |last=Woodworth
 |first=Steven E.
 |year=1990
 |title=Jefferson Davis and His Generals: The Failure of Confederate Command in the West
 |location=Lawrence
 |publisher=University Press of Kansas
 |isbn=9780700604616}}

;Primary sources
* {{cite book
 |last=Davis
 |first=Jefferson
 |title=Jefferson Davis: The Essential Writings
 |editor-first=William J
 |editor-last=Cooper, Jr.
 |year=2003}}
* {{cite book
 |last=Davis
 |first=Jefferson
 |title=The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government
 |year=1881}}
* {{cite book
 |editor-first=Dunbar
 |editor-last=Rowland
 |title=Jefferson Davis, Constitutionalist: His Letters, Papers, and Speeches
 |location=Jackson
 |publisher=Mississippi Department of Archives and History
 |year=1923}}
* {{cite book
 |editor1-last=Monroe, Jr.
 |editor1-first=Haskell M.
 |editor2-last=McIntosh
 |editor2-first=James T.
 |editor3-last=Crist
 |editor3-first=Lynda L.
 |title=The Papers of Jefferson Davis
 |year=1971–2012
 |publisher=Louisiana State University Press}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Jefferson Davis}}
{{Sister project links|s=Author:Jefferson Davis|wikt=non|n=no|b=Confederate States Government/Jefferson Davis}}
* {{Find a Grave|260}}
* {{CongBio|D000113}}
* [http://encyclopediavirginia.org/Davis_Jefferson_1808-1889 Jefferson Davis in ''Encyclopedia Virginia'']
* [http://beauvoir.org/ Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and Museum]
* {{Librivox author |id=6019}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=Davis,+Jefferson | name=Jefferson Davis}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Jefferson Davis |sopt=t}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Tilghman Tucker]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States Representatives from Mississippi|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br />from [[Mississippi's At-large congressional district]]<br />(Seat D)|years=1845–1846}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Henry T. Ellett|Henry Ellett]]}}
|-
{{s-par|us-sen}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Jesse Speight]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of United States Senators from Mississippi|United States Senator (Class 1) from Mississippi]]|years=1847–1851|alongside=[[Henry S. Foote|Henry Foote]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John J. McRae|John McRae]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Stephen Adams (politician)|Stephen Adams]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of United States Senators from Mississippi|United States Senator (Class 1) from Mississippi]]|years=1857–1861|alongside=[[Albert G. Brown|Albert Brown]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Adelbert Ames]]<sup>(1)</sup>}}
|-
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles Magill Conrad|Charles Conrad]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[United States Secretary of War]]|years=1853–1857}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John B. Floyd|John Floyd]]}}
|-
{{s-new|office}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[President of the Confederate States of America]]|years=1862–1865 <br><small>Provisional 1861-62</small>}}
{{s-non|reason=Position abolished}}
{{s-ref|Because of Mississippi's secession, the Senate seat was vacant for nine years before Ames succeeded Davis.}}

{{CSCabinet}}
{{American Civil War}}
{{Black Hawk War (1832)}}
{{SenArmedServiceCommitteeChairs}}
{{USSenMS}}
{{Pierce cabinet}}
{{USSecWar}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Persondata
| NAME              = Davis, Jefferson
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Davis, Jeff; Davis, Jefferson Finis (real name)
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = President of the Confederate States
| DATE OF BIRTH     = June 3, 1808
| PLACE OF BIRTH    = Christian County, Kentucky
| DATE OF DEATH     = December 6, 1889
| PLACE OF DEATH    = New Orleans, Louisiana
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Jefferson}}
[[Category:1800s births]]
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[[Category:19th-century American Episcopalians]]
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[[Category:Heads of state of unrecognized or largely unrecognized states]]
[[Category:Historians of the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Jefferson College (Mississippi) alumni]]
[[Category:Jefferson Davis family|*]]
[[Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Mississippi]]
[[Category:Mississippi Democrats]]
[[Category:People from Christian County, Kentucky]]
[[Category:People of Mississippi in the American Civil War]]
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[[Category:United States Senators from Mississippi]]
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[[Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives]]