Should read “like all of us”
I have actually visited Fort Monroe where he was held after the armistice. The story told there is that he was a decent, restrained man, and the guards felt somewhat sheepish about confining him.
Maybe, maybe not. What history does show us is he wasn’t very good at the job, as it was detailed in the CSA constitution. He micromanaged way too much, gave in to political appointments for combat units with disasterous results (Polk, Bragg come to mind) and in the end was moving units that didn’t actually exist, as if they did, eerily reminiscent of Hitler in the last days of The Reich.
(disclaimer for you ‘Lost Cause’ types, I’m not comparing Jefferson Davis to Adolph Hitler, so don’t bother flaming me on that score).
Somebody once noted that ‘The Confederacy needed either a great stateman, or a great military leader. IN Jefferson Davis, they got neither.’
I think that about sums it up.
Good and decent yes, but his view of the Constitution was fatally flawed - as his heroic attempts to govern the South using his newfangled constitution proved to be doomed to failure.
"Died of a theory" was his own epitaph for the Confederacy.
Unfortunately, the history books tell us more of Pres. Lincoln, Gen. Grant and Gen. Lee and very little of Pres. Jefferson Davis.
I thought in the PPS special Civil War said while imprisoned at Fort monroe he was basically an outcast and died later after being released without many friends...
Perhaps I remember wrong..what is the proper histroy??? ...or has he become a hero after death???
I visited his home in Pass Christian (I think), Mississippi 20 years ago. It overlooked the Gulf of Mexico. I believe it was destroyed by Katrina.
He was a traitor to the union.
Was it sad in the south because he died young? Did he have a long life? I guess I don’t know what you mean by sad day. Was it worse then when Ronald Reagan Died? That was a pretty sad day. I am sure that the day John Kennedy died was a sad day. I was not born in 1889 or 1963 so I don’t have that experience but purhaps you could give some insight. Thanks.
How many of these “Save the Union” folks would fight for the Constitution today,if it was found that The Constitution was being undermined..?Dare to say,,not one..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq-cA1JZLQY
. . . Virgil quick come see, there goes the Robert E. Lee.
Didn’t he sell off part of his farm to his former slave? IIRC, they remained very close friends until he died.
Wonder how today’s traitors will be remembered in 40 years?
Neither side had a monopoly on morality, either. While I am inclined to agree with the South's right to secede from the union, it was absolutely wrong on slavery.
Yeah, but he LOST and took how many brave southerners with him on his little adventure. Being right doesn’t count for much when you’re dead.
Lee and Jackson were heroes. Jeff Davis was a guy with a flawed military vision.
Actually, Davis did all of the things that Lincoln is accused of. It was Davis who lost the war by refusing to remove incompetent Generals who were his friends. His draft act was sure “fair”. Draft all of the poor and middle class but leave the rich guys alone.
You lost the war. Get over it.