Jefferson Davis

Davis, Jefferson (1808–89), president of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. U.S. Senator from Mississippi (1847–51, 1857–61) and secretary of War (1853–57), Davis resigned from the Senate after Mississippi's secession from the Union in 1861. In 1862 Davis was inaugurated president of the Confederacy. His war measures weakened states' rights and distanced him from his Congress. Davis served 2 years in federal prison after the surrender of the South in 1865, but was released without being prosecuted.

See also: Confederate States of America; Civil War, U.S.