ipl-logo

Jefferson Davis Character Traits

1700 Words7 Pages

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 …show more content…

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 …show more content…

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’

Show More
Related

  • Thomas Jefferson Quotes And Analysis

    853 Words  | 4 Pages

    Grant did his best to teach Jefferson that he had worth and it paid off. “If I ain’t nothing but a hog, how come they just don’t knock me in the head like a hog? Strab me like a hog? More erasing, then: Man walk on two foots; hogs on four hoofs” (220). This quote demonstrates how Grant made a difference in Jefferson’s life and taught him to be a man of self worth.

    Read More

  • Gideon Davis Set Up For Failure Essay

    1078 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Army of Tennessee was set up for failure from the beginning because of Confederate President Jefferson Davis’s decisions, when it came to allocating generals and resources. With Davis’s primary focus on the Army of Virginia, the Army of Tennessee fell on the back burner and ultimately led to the overall defeat of the Confederacy and the end of the Civil War. His poor choice in generals to lead the Army of Tennessee led to ineffective communication, poor planning, and lack of supplies amongst the army throughout the entire war. Gideon Pillows lack of respect for Davis was shown as he commanded the Army of Tennessee originally, as well as his lack to follow orders and communicate effectively to the capital on his whereabouts and problems

    Read More

  • How Did Jefferson Davis Change

    94 Words  | 1 Pages

    Jefferson Davis altered when he became the President of the Confederate States of America because he was the one who led the rebellion to a very brutal war in American history. He also was the one who started the war because he could have ordered the confederate troops to not fire on Fort Sumter, but he lets the soldiers fire on it and is the cause of the war and leads to many American deaths. He could have saved a lot of American lives by making a treaty, but that obviously did not happen.

    Read More

  • Civil War Dbq

    1510 Words  | 7 Pages

    Johnson, a southern Democrat who supported the Union, had been chosen as a running mate by Lincoln in 1860 to try and appease both sides of the slavery debate. Johnson had been a tailor by trade prior to entering politics and had none of Lincoln’s skills as orator or negotiator. From the state of Tennessee, he had sympathy for the South and supported Lincoln’s plan of “restoration.” After Lincoln’s death, Johnson implemented his own plan, based loosely on the desires of Lincoln to shepherd the South back into the Union, but with several distinct changes. Johnson chose not to allow military nor civil leaders of the Confederacy to participate in the new government.

    Read More

  • How Did Jefferson Davis Impact On American History

    1184 Words  | 5 Pages

    Throughout history, there have been a plethora of debatable individuals that have been studied profusely by historians. Each and every one has their own arguments for and against their beliefs, actions, and personal life. Possibly one of the most controversial figures of American history, Jefferson Davis had a tremendous impact on the United States of America and the short lived Confederate States of America before, during, and after the Civil War. Along with the majority of prominent dignitaries of the past, Jefferson Davis came from a relatively normal and conventional background.

    Read More

  • The Success And Failure Of The Reconstruction Movement After The Civil War

    689 Words  | 3 Pages

    President Abraham Lincoln was poised to have a solution, but he was assassinated before he could ever deliver. His Vice President, Andrew Johnson, became the new president and took a knife to the delicate procedure of southern reintegration. While he banned former Confederate officers and government officials from ever taking part in U.S. government, he turned around and pardoned them back into the country almost instantly. Congress was rightfully angry with the President’s betrayal of the Reconstruction Movement, crippling it before it even had a chance to begin. For the next few years, Congress was fighting against their own president to get reconstructive efforts passed, fighting veto after veto.

    Read More

  • Why Should The Southern States Secede?

    254 Words  | 2 Pages

    From November 1860 to May 1861 we have had 11 of our Southern states secede from the United States of America. They threatened to secede if our current president Abraham Lincoln was elected into office. The reason all 11 states seceded is because they believe that the government was becoming too strong, and they didn’t want them to tell them how they could live and how they couldn’t. In other words they didn’t want the government to tell them if they could have slaves and if they couldn’t. The Southerners felt that if they stayed with the United states that the Northern states would begin to control them.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Two Miserable Presidents By Steve Sheinkin

    861 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Civil War is one of the bloodiest wars in American history, but what started it? What did it lead to? In the book, “Two Miserable Presidents”, by Steve Sheinkin, the author explains events that led up to the civil war and how they were finally resolved through the leadership of Abraham Lincoln. Throughout the book, we learn about the causes of the Civil War through anecdotes and we learn “everything your schoolbooks didn’t tell you about the Civil War.” He gives a humorous 13 step guide in ripping a country in two and names each section of the book a with a captivating yet true title.

    Read More

  • Differences Between Lincoln And Jefferson Davis

    313 Words  | 2 Pages

    Also, Davis “trusted his own abilities far beyond those of others, and he found it difficult to admit that he was wrong” (Hillstrom and Collier 100). Another major issue Lincoln faced was “a deep-seated racial prejudice in the North” (Tindall and Shi 510). It took Lincoln a log time and a bloody war to finally decide to deal the real issue in the North—people did not want blacks in the United States. He finally resolved this issue with the Emancipation Proclamation. All in all, I believe that Jefferson Davis was a better leader than Abraham Lincoln, because of how they faced challenges.

    Read More

  • How Did The Civil War Change Americans And Their Ideals

    485 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American Civil War changed Americans and their ideals about freedom in many ways. Northern and Southern United states began to have simmering tensions for the states’ rights versus federal authority, plus westward expansion, and slavery had huge effects on the states. An election which made anti-slavery Republican Abraham Lincoln the president of the United States of America in 1860, caused seven of the southern states to concede from the Union to make The Confederate States Of America soon after four more joined afterwards. It changed Americans in many ways as neighbors fought each other through the 4 gruesome years of the war. Conflict between the sides were like fights between brother and brother instead with many deaths.

    Read More

  • Abraham Lincoln Moral Leadership Essay

    672 Words  | 3 Pages

    This historical study will define the moral leadership of Abraham Lincoln’s role as president during the Civil War. Lincoln’s role as an anti-Slavery supported in the north provided the necessary moral leadership to sustain a complex war involving the continued argument about the continued existence of the institution of slavery. In this context, Lincoln had not previously been a supporter of the northern abolitionist movements before becoming president, yet throughout the Civil War, he incrementally began to realize the political and moral implications of slavery as a dire threat to American freedoms. Lincoln’s opposition to slavery during his presidency defined a major change in U.S. history, which galvanized the North to challenge the dominance of pro-slavery in the South. This commitment to ending slavery formed the foundation of Lincoln’s role as a liberator of African-American slaves as a defining factor of the war.

    Read More

  • A Bad President: Abraham Lincoln: A Bad President

    745 Words  | 3 Pages

    Abraham Lincoln; a Bad President Intelligent, beloved, caring, motivated, honest. All words many Americans associate with our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln. Very few people are bold or valiant enough to openly speak out against the president. Their arguments consist mainly of the fact he “emancipated” the slaves. However, Lincoln did not do this.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Two Leaders On The Union Side Contributed To The Course Of The Civil War

    282 Words  | 2 Pages

    The two leaders I found for the Union side was Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln these two men were the leaders of the Union side. On the other hand two leaders of the confederacy army were Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis . The leaders on the Union side contributed to the course of the Civil War by training their army and making them stronger. Jefferson was someone that did not like to turn down his people and Lincoln was a man who was known for his hard work. Jefferson turned down when his mind wasn’t up to it.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Jefferson Davis And Robert E Lee

    210 Words  | 1 Pages

    Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee were Confederate leaders. Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant were Union leaders. Ulysses S. Grant contributed greatly to the outcome of the Civil War, mainly due to his strategy of total war. This destruction of equipment, food, and other essential items made it difficult for the South to keep fighting, and it was also difficult for the South to receive additional supplies because their ports were blockaded, the Union controlled the Mississippi, and they had cut off and lost the sympathy of Europe. Consequentially, this was the effect of Jefferson Davis.

    Read More

  • Advantages And Disadvantages Of The Civil War

    365 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are many advantages and disadvantages to the Civil war. First off, the differences between the presidential leadership will be discussed, and how different each had very different leaders, then I will discuss the transportation problems, and lastly I will discuss the industrial production between the North and South. The presidential leadership during the civil war wasn’t, as someone would expect. Abraham Lincoln was the North’s leader during this time period. Lincoln had very little war experience; some say Lincoln didn’t look the part as a military leader.

    Read More

More about Jefferson Davis Character Traits

Open Document