Jefferson Davis, American [Hardcover]

William J. Cooper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 7, 2000

West Point graduate, secretary of war under President Pierce, U.S. senator from Mississippi-- how was it that this statesman and patriot came to be president of the Confederacy, leading the struggle to destroy the United States?

This is the question at the center of William Cooper's engrossing and authoritative biography of Jefferson Davis. Basing his account on the massive archival record left by Davis and his family and associates, Cooper delves not only into the events of Davis's public and personal life but also into the ideas that shaped and compelled him.

We see Davis as a devoted American, yet also as a wealthy plantation owner who believed slavery to be a moral and social good that could coexist with free labor in an undivided Union. We see how his initially reluctant support of secession ended in his absolute commitment to the Confederacy and his identification of it with the legacy of liberty handed down by the Founding Fathers. We see the chaos that attended the formation of the Confederate government while the Civil War was being fought, and the ever-present tension between the commitment to states' rights and the need for centralized authority. We see Davis's increasingly autocratic behavior, his involvement in military decision-making, and his desperation to save the Confederacy even at the expense of slavery. And we see Davis in defeat: imprisoned for two years, then, for the rest of his life, unrepentant about the South's attempt to break away, yet ultimately professing his faith in the restored Union.

This is the definitive life of one of the most complex and fascinating figures in our nation's history.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The title might seem odd, given that Jefferson Davis (1808-89) served as president of the Confederacy during the Civil War, and never once, in the 34 years between the end of the war and his death, expressed any remorse for his part in the conflict that tore America apart. Yet, as historian William J. Cooper Jr. reminds us in his sober, comprehensive biography, Davis "saw himself as a faithful American ... a true son of the American Revolution and the Founding Fathers." Indeed, Davis's own father had fought in the Revolution, and Davis himself was a West Point graduate and Mexican War veteran. He declared January 21, 1861, "the saddest day of my life," as he resigned his U.S. Senate seat to follow his native state of Mississippi out of the Union; yet he also unflinchingly defended secession as a constitutionally guaranteed right. Cooper's measured portrait neither glosses over Davis's lifelong belief that blacks were inferior nor vilifies him for it: "My goal," he writes, "is to understand Jefferson Davis as a man of his time, not condemn him for not being a man of my time." The chapters on the Civil War show Davis intimately involved in military decisions, as well as in diplomatic attempts to gain foreign support for the Confederacy. Cooper acknowledges the irony of his subject--who interpreted the Constitution as strictly limiting federal authority--being forced by the war's exigencies to create a powerful, centralized Confederate government. Yet, this depiction of a forceful, self-confident Davis makes it clear that he never could have been anything but "a vigorous and potent chief executive." The author also paints an attractive picture of a warm family man who was devoted to his strong-minded wife and their children. Neither hagiography nor hatchet job, this evenhanded work sees Jefferson Davis whole. --Wendy Smith

From Publishers Weekly

Much has been written about Jefferson Davis, claims Cooper (The American South, etc.), professor of history at Louisiana State University, and most of it is negative. Instead of viewing Davis strictly through a modern lens, Cooper has set out to understand Davis as "a man of his time who had a significant impact on his time, and thus on history" and to "not condemn him for not being a man of my time." Davis was born in Kentucky in 1808 and attended Transylvania University in Lexington. In 1824, he left the South for West Point, graduated in 1828 with a commission as Brevet Second Lieutenant and went on to a noteworthy career as a hero of the Mexican War and an able statesman. Davis served as secretary of war under President Pierce and then as a U.S. senator from Mississippi. Indeed, Cooper notes, many thought Davis would be president one day. Always believing himself a firm supporter of the Constitution and a true patriot, Davis trusted in the sovereign rights of states ("he looked to Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and John C. Calhoun as the great explicators of states' rights and strict construction, of the proper understanding of the nation and the Constitution"), which included the right to own slaves if a state so chose. Although Davis did not initially favor secession, he believed the Confederacy's goals to be consistent with the America he honored, and was proud to serve as the president of the Confederacy. Previous accounts of Davis's life have argued that he was basically an incompetent leader; some even have suggested that the failure of the Confederacy was, at the core, Davis's fault. But here Davis appears much like any other leader, possessing both strengths and weaknesses. In the already cluttered field of Civil War history, Cooper's is the definitive biography; readers will be particularly pleased to discover the compelling power of his narrative. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 784 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1st edition (November 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394569164
• ISBN-13: 978-0394569161
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #599,995 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid, first-rate biography, November 25, 2000

By 

SWAMP FOX "harvardhistorybuff" (OAKLAND, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jefferson Davis, American (Hardcover)

Cooper, who has written a number of fine books about the Civil War and the South, has produced what is certainly far and away the best available biography of Davis, an intelligent, extremely hard-working military leader and very successful Mississippi politician who will always suffer by comparison to the far greater lights of R.E. Lee and Lincoln. The author pulls no punches about Davis' weakness for certain favorite generals, his inability to exercise his critical faculties when dealing with inadequate generals such as John Pemberton of Vicksburg fame who were, he felt, strongly devoted to the cause, as well as his calamitous command decisions relating to the war in Tennessee and Georgia, involving the trio of Bragg, Joe Johnston, and Hood, but he puts a human face on the man and his family life, including, at times, difficulties with his independent-thinking wife, Varina, who was happiest in the 1850s when Davis was Secretary of War and U.S. Senator, and with his older brother, Joseph. Davis' longstanding health problems are also fairly addressed. Like his fellow Southerner Jimmie Carter, Davis was a micromanager, both in the War Department in Washington and in leading the Confederate military machine, but it is hard to see how a more inspiring, out-going leader than Davis could have made a difference in the ultimate lost cause of the Confederacy. Cooper also does an excellent job describing Davis' theories of constitutional government. Perhaps the high point of the book, however, is Oscar Wilde's visit to Davis towards the end of Davis' life; surely, Wilde was mocking when he said Davis was the person he most wanted to meet during his American lecture tour, but the two actually did meet. Given Davis' stuffy puritanism and lack of humor, and Wilde's dandyism and wit, the two were the ultimate Odd Couple. (Varina naturally loved Wilde's cosmopolitan wit.)

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible Bio - READ IT!, June 3, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Jefferson Davis, American (Hardcover)

William J. Cooper has taken one of the most confused and often misjudged figures in American history and written a very detailed and entertaining portrayal of the first and only President of the Confederate States. Many people would be surprised to find out that in the antebellum south, Jefferson Davis was a staunch Unionist and adamantly opposed secession until he had no other choice and was literally thrown into the presidency of the Confederate States of America, whether he liked it or not.

Cooper is careful not to glorify or demean Davis in any way. The Confederate president definitely had his flaws, the most prominent of which was his undying support of slavery.
Between all the positives and negatives, Jefferson Davis was a man of his time. If you are a civil war buff or just someone who wants to read a very well written piece of work on American history, Jefferson Davis, American is highly recommended.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wow!, November 20, 2001

By 

Dennis Phillips "The Book Friar" (Bulls Gap, Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jefferson Davis, American (Hardcover)

This book would be an easy five star choice except for the end. A little info about Mrs. Davis' life following Davis' death would have been nice. Otherwise I think Mr. Cooper has made a great contribution to the study of the Confederacy.

In our modern age Jefferson Davis' legacy has been tarnished by the rush to be politically correct. This book gets back to the real man. The man who got in boyish trouble in school and at West Point, the man who fathfully served his country, and the man who suffered through the loss of several of his children. This book shows us the Jefferson Davis who was the product of his times. This book also shows us a man who was deeply troubled by the storm he saw coming but who deep in his heart and soul believed secession was a legal right. No matter how his beliefs fair by today's standards he stood for his beliefs and gave up all that he had for the "cause".

Cooper has brought to us a true snapshot of Jefferson Davis and for that we owe him a great debt. This book should be required reading in all college courses dealing with the civil war or antibellum south.