Jefferson Davis

“The man and the hour have met,” announced the Alabama secessionist William L. Yancey when Jefferson Davis was elected president of the Confederate States of America in February 1861. Davis, a former U.S. senator and secretary of war, was initially a reluctant secessionist, hoping that the South would remain loyal to the Union. But when the secession movement gained momentum in early 1861, he dedicated himself to its cause. As president of the South’s hastily formed government, Davis faced the twin difficulties of repelling invading Northern armies and appeasing Southern states- rights advocates, who challenged his efforts to build a unified Confederate nation.