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Jefferson Davis didn't want the job. He'd been a U.S. Senator, Secretary of War,
1861 Event

February 9

Jefferson Davis Elected Confederate President: The South Has Its Leader

Jefferson Davis didn't want the job. He'd been a U.S. Senator, Secretary of War, a decorated Mexican-American War veteran. When Mississippi seceded, he hoped for a military command. Instead, the Confederate convention in Montgomery chose him as provisional president — unanimously, while he was still traveling. His wife later wrote that he looked like a man receiving a sentence, not an honor. He took office February 18, 1861. The Confederacy would last exactly four years and two months.

February 9, 1861

165 years ago

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