Jefferson Davis Character Traits

Often when the Civil War is brought up, it strikes a particular image: Abraham Lincoln, brothers killing brothers, and a Northern victory the South will barely discuss to this day. However, the man who was Abraham Lincoln’s counterpart is often forgotten for the role (or lack of it) he played in the Civil War: Jefferson Davis. The Confederate president was faced with multiple issues that could have overwhelmed even the best of leaders. However, his overall flaws in character and leadership also contributed to the South’s fall. He was hastily thrown in a situation in which he had to put together an entire government and mobilize forces for the impending war with the North. Overall, Jefferson Davis’ shortcomings of character, mismanagement as

Davis attended the United States Military Academy in 1824, fresh off of graduation from Transylvania College in Kentucky. Davis would graduate in 1828 as a mundane 23rd in his class out of 34 (Civil War Trust). A fellow cadet described Davis as “distinguished in his corps for manly bearing and high-toned and lofty character” (Biography.com). These characteristics are not traditionally correlated with relating to a new rebellion that was made up of lower class individuals. Jefferson is also described as being “ill-tempered, brittle, and unwilling and unable to grow with responsibility,” ( Cooper 80). Someone trying to run a country who is ill-tempered and acts with a lofty attitude is not going to accomplish much when they inevitably encounter the raucous personas and egos associated with politics, and Jefferson was no exception. However, Davis’ lack of a quality personality also leads to questions regarding his dedication to the Presidency of the Confederate

Individual state’s governors opposed him openly, as did a few of his generals including P.G.T Beauregard who “claimed” Davis held him back from attacking Washington D.C. (Crews, 2004). The Confederate Congress could not get along, and when Davis’ asked for a three year conscription law, the Congress was incredibly short-sighted and agreed to only one year of conscription for troops (Strode, 2015). This limited the amount of cohesion that the Confederate Army could create and experience that troops would receive. Jefferson’s own appointed vice president, Alexander Stephens, opposed everything Jefferson did and criticized him harshly (Crews, 2004). Two men who were supposed to work together in coordination ended up barely managing to withstand the others presence (Crews, 2004). It is clear to see that Jefferson Davis was politically surrounded by people who refused to help him start a functioning government, and was incapable of identifying individuals that would allow Davis’ plans to have a chance of success by Davis’