Jefferson Davis
The West Point graduate and former U.S. Senator who became the defiant, doomed president of the secessionist Confederate States.
1808–1889 (age 81)·President of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865·Birthday: June 3
Biography
Jefferson Davis's life is a story of unwavering principle colliding with catastrophic consequence. A Mississippi cotton planter, decorated Mexican-American War veteran, and forceful U.S. Senator, he was a formidable political voice for Southern interests and states' rights. His appointment as president of the breakaway Confederate States in 1861 transformed him from an advocate into a commander-in-chief, tasked with building a nation while waging a war he did not initially seek. His leadership was marked by administrative struggle and a stubborn devotion to a cause that ultimately collapsed. Captured in 1865, imprisoned for two years, and never granted a pardon, he lived out his days as an unrepentant symbol of the Lost Cause, his legacy forever entangled with the defense of slavery and secession.
#1 When Jefferson Was Born
The biggest hits of 1808
Jefferson's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1808Born
1813Started school
1821Became a teenager
1824Could drive
1826Could vote
1829Turned 21
1838Turned 30
1848Turned 40
1858Turned 50
1868Turned 60
President: Andrew Johnson
1878Turned 70
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1888Turned 80
President: Grover Cleveland
1889Died at 81
Eiffel Tower opens in Paris
President: Benjamin Harrison
Key Achievements
- Served as the only President of the Confederate States of America from 1861 to its dissolution in 1865.
- Previously served as U.S. Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce, modernizing the army and advocating for a transcontinental railroad.
- Represented Mississippi as a U.S. Senator, becoming a leading voice for Southern sovereignty and the expansion of slavery.
- Commanded a volunteer regiment, the Mississippi Rifles, with distinction at the Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican-American War.
Did You Know?
He was married to Sarah Knox Taylor, daughter of future U.S. President Zachary Taylor, who died of malaria just three months after their wedding.
He was imprisoned at Fort Monroe in Virginia for two years after the Civil War, at times shackled in irons.
He authored a two-volume memoir, *The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government*, published in 1881.
His citizenship was posthumously restored by an act of Congress signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1978.
“The principle for which we contend is bound to reassert itself, though it may be at another time and in another form.”
