President of the Confederate States of America
The president of the Confederate States was the elected head of state and government of the Confederate States, a short-lived secessionist state that attempted to operate in autonomy of the United States of America. The president also headed the executive branch of government and was commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy, and of the militia of the several states when called into Confederate service.
Article II of the Confederate States Constitution vested the executive power of the Confederacy in the president. The power included the execution of law, alongside the responsibility of appointing executive, diplomatic, regulatory and judicial officers, and concluding treaties with foreign powers with the advice and consent of the senate. He was further empowered to grant reprieves and pardons, and convene and adjourn either or both houses of Congress under extraordinary circumstances.
The president was indirectly elected by the people through the Electoral College to a six-year term, and was one of only two nationally elected Confederate officers, the other being the vice president. On February 18, 1861, Jefferson Davis became president of the provisional government. On February 22, 1862, he became president of the permanent government and served in that capacity until being captured by elements of the United States Cavalry in 1865.
Powers and duties
The constitutional powers of the president of the Confederate States were similar to those of the president of the United States. The permanent Confederate States Constitution made him commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy, and of the militia of the confederated states when called into service of the Confederate States. He was also empowered to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the Confederate States. He was authorized to make treaties; to nominate and appoint diplomatic representatives, judges, and other officers of the Confederate States by and with the consent of the Confederate States Senate; and to remove such representatives and officers. He could fill vacancies during a recess of the Senate, but he could not reappoint, during a recess, persons previously rejected by it. He was to supply Congress with information, recommend legislation, receive ambassadors and other public ministers, see that the federal laws were faithfully executed, and commission all officers of the military and naval forces of the Confederate States.Election and oath
On February 9, 1861, the provisional congress at Montgomery unanimously elected Jefferson Davis president and Alexander H. Stephens vice president. Stephens, who was a delegate to Congress from Georgia, was inaugurated on February 11. Davis was inaugurated on February 18 upon his arrival from Mississippi, where he had gone upon his resignation from the U.S. Senate. Davis and Stephens were elected on Wednesday November 6, 1861, for six-years terms, as provided by the permanent constitution. The Capital had been moved in June 1861, to Richmond, and the inauguration took place at the statue of Washington, on the capitol square, on February 22, 1862.Before Davis entered on the execution of his office as President of the Confederate States, he was constitutionally required to take the following oath or affirmation:
Compensation
In 1861, the president of the Confederate States earned a CS$25,000 annual salary, along with an expense account, and a nontaxable travel account. The President's Office was located on the second floor of the Custom House on Main Street, a structure which also housed the Cabinet Room and the State and Treasury Department. The City of Richmond purchased the Brockenbrough house for presentation to the Confederate government for use as an executive mansion. Davis declined to accept the gift, but the mansion was leased for his use. Referred to as the "White House of the Confederacy" or the "Grey House," the mansion was used by President Davis throughout the existence of his presidency. Later it became a repository for documents, relics, and pictures, and in 1896 it was redesignated the Confederate Museum.Post-presidency
Late on the evening of April 2, 1865, President Davis, his aides, and members of the presidential Cabinet, except C.S. Secretary of War John C. Breckinridge, departed from the burning capital city of Richmond going southwest on the Richmond and Danville Railroad shortly before Union troops occupied it. The Confederate president Davis and his Cabinet stayed at Danville, southwest of Richmond, until April 10, when, hearing of General Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House further northeast, it continued its flight farther south.At Greensboro, North Carolina, on April 12 the Cabinet met with Generals Joseph E. Johnston and Pierre G. T. Beauregard and discussed surrender of Johnston's Army of Tennessee to Union General William Tecumseh Sherman then in nearby North Carolina moving north from Savannah through the Carolinas destroying, pillaging and burning everything in its path including Columbia the South Carolina state capital city.
As the railroad leading south out of Greensboro had already been destroyed, the flight from that location was changed to on horseback and in a train of additional wagons, ambulances, and carriages, also carrying some Confederate archives papers and the C.S.A. Treasury banknotes and remnants of gold/silver bullion. The last official Cabinet meetings of the presidential Cabinet of the Confederate States took place at Charlotte, on April 24, and 26, then later on May 4; when President Davis left Washington, Georgia, the party consisted only of his aides and Postmaster General Reagan. Elements of the United States Cavalry / Union Army captured Davis and his companions at an encampment near Irwinville, Georgia on May 10, 1865.
Jefferson Davis was imprisoned at Fort Monroe, by the Hampton Roads harbor of tidewater Virginia, until his release on bail on May 13, 1867. During his confinement, the United States federal government prepared to bring him to trial for treason and for complicity in the assassination of United States president Abraham Lincoln. He could not be tried in the Commonwealth of Virginia until the federal court was reestablished there, but by the time the U.S. Circuit Court judges were prepared in May 1867, the U.S. federal government decided the outcome of a trial before a local jury of citizens was far too uncertain and dropped the prosecution proceedings. In November 1868, Davis was brought to trial under a new indictment, but the federal lower court judges disagreed and the case was referred up to the Supreme Court. 17th president Andrew Johnson issued a general amnesty in December 1868 and the Supreme Court entered a nolle prosequi, thus freeing Davis.