Jefferson Davis – military and political leader
Jefferson Davis was an American military and political leader, the first and only President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. He graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point; six years he served as a lieutenant in the army, and later returned there as a volunteer to participate in the US-Mexican War, where he commanded a regiment. He was Minister of War under President Pierce and Senator from Mississippi.
Davis, owner of a large cotton plantation and a large number of slaves, was well known as a supporter of slavery. He opposed separatism, but supported the idea of the sovereignty of states. On February 18, 1861 Davis took office as President of the Confederate States of America.
By 1881, he completed work on his memoirs entitled The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government.
Jefferson Finis Davis was born on June 3, 1808 in Kentucky in a farmer’s family.
In 1828 he graduated from the military academy at West Point and was sent to the 1st Infantry Regiment with the rank of second lieutenant.
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