Heads of State of the United States - Jefferson Davis, President of the Continental Congress, Sanford B. Dole (Paperback)

Chapters: Jefferson Davis, President of the Continental Congress, Sanford B. Dole. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 32. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Jefferson Finis Davis (June 3, 1808 December 6, 1889) was an American military officer, statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as the President of the Confederate States of America for its entire history, 1861 to 1865. A West Point graduate, Davis fought in the Mexican-American War as a colonel of a volunteer regiment, and was the United States Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. Both before and after his time in the Pierce Administration, he served as a U.S. Senator representing the State of Mississippi. As a Senator he argued against secession, but did agree that each state was sovereign and had an unquestionable right to secede from the Union. In February, 1861, after he resigned from the U.S. Senate, he was selected provisional President of the Confederate States of America; he was elected without opposition to a six-year term that November. During his presidency, Davis took charge of the Confederate war plans but was unable to find a strategy to stop the larger, more powerful and better organized Union. His diplomatic efforts failed to gain recognition from any foreign country, and he paid little attention to the collapsing Southern economy, printing more and more paper money to cover the war's expenses. Historians have criticized Davis for being a much less effective war leaders than his nemesis Abraham Lincoln, which they attribute to Davis being overbearing, over controlling, and overly meddlesome, as well as being out of touch with public opinion, and lacking support from a political party (the Confederacy had no political parties). According to historian Bell I. Wiley, ...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=1613