14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fair presentation of a failed presidency, November 19, 1999
This review is from: A Long Shadow: Jefferson Davis and the Final Days of the Confederacy (Brown Thrasher Books) (Paperback)
A heavy drinker and trouble-maker while at West Point, Jefferson Davis went on to be a war hero, a U.S. Senator, a Secretary of War and finally first and only President of the Confederate States of America. Thin skinned, proud and convinced his position was the only correct one, he was unsuited to be in a political administrative position.
Davis' unsuitability did not prevent the founding CSA Congress from electing him to the Presidency. That was the only high point of his term in office. He fought with his generals (thinking he was better qualified than they), failed to get along with his Vice President and earned the hatred of many Southern papers. Then the war was lost. The South did not earn independence.
This was when the Davis weaknesses became his strengths. Convinced he was still right in his firm belief in Southern independence, he kept the fight and government alive long after most men would have given up. His retreat from Richmond was met by cheering and appreciative crowds of people who only months before would have jeered him. In defeat he was fearless, still dedicated and still passonate about the fight.
With out going into the long and troubled life of Mr. Davis, Ballard looks at the final days of the Confederacy in minute detail. He does not attempt to cover-up the Davis failures or chararter flaws. Instead, he shows how the stuborn leader turned those flaws to his advantage as he endured the retreat, capture and imprisonment. While in popular opinion today, General Lee is viewed as the Confederate war leader, President Davis becomes the leader of the aftermath. He never gave up on the Lost Cause, becoming the South's spiritual leader for nearly 20 years after the war's end.
Ballard's style takes us through those days smoothly, showing the transformation of Mr. Davis from revieled President to peace time leader of a nation that would exist only in the hearts of its inhabitants.
Unlike current historical works, Ballard does not write as if he is being paid by the word. Each word has a purpose. Details are not told and then retold several times. He tells the story, pure and simple, and tells it well. This is a most book for any student of the Civil War, the South, Jefferson Davis, or the Reconstruction period.
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