president of the south in the civil war
Jefferson Davis Jefferson Finis Davis[a] (June 3, 1808 â€“ December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. As a member of the Democratic Party, he represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives prior to switching allegiance to the Confederacy. He was appointed as the United States Secretary of War, serving from 1853 to 1857, under President Franklin Pierce.