ASIN: B01NCLG9BL
Publisher: Lume Books
Pages: 1138
“If the Confederacy falls, there should be written on its tombstone, ‘Died of a theory.’” As divisive a figure then as he is now, history remembers Jefferson Davis as the ill-fated President of the Confederate States of America. Like the Roman God Janus, he had two faces: considered cold, aloof, petty, obstinate and vindictive, he was also witty, intelligent, affectionate, impervious to fear and loyal to a fault. Raised in Mississippi, at his brother’s behest he entered West Point and began the first of two Army careers; in the 1850s he would be named Secretary of War by Franklin Pierce. A staunch defender of slavery, Davis was an unusual owner: he encouraged them to learn new skills, administer their own justice and provided them with a comfortable living. Yet Davis did not fully comprehend human nature. To him his logic was irrefutable, and he was never able to see how his remarks ...
