TODAY'S TWD: JEFFERSON DAVIS

November 6, 1861 - American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected president of the Confederate States of America.

Here's a thumbnail biography of Jefferson Davis, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Jefferson Finis Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as President of the Confederate States of America for its entire history, 1861 to 1865, during the American Civil War.

A West Point graduate, Davis fought in the Mexican-American War as a colonel of a volunteer regiment, and was the United States Secretary of War under Franklin Pierce. As a senator he argued against secession but believed each state was sovereign and had an unquestionable right to secede from the Union.

During his presidency, Davis was not able to find a strategy to defeat the larger, more industrially developed Union. Davis' insistence on independence, even in the face of crushing defeat, prolonged the war.

After Davis was captured in 1865, he was charged with treason, though not convicted, and stripped of his eligibility to run for public office. This limitation was removed in 1978, 89 years after his death. While not disgraced, he was displaced in Southern affection after the war by its leading general, Robert E. Lee.

Although he's usually a shadowy figure in the grand scale view of the Civil War on television, Davis has been portrayed several times in TV series, movies, and mini-series.

Tom Aldredge
. . . Special Friendship, A (1987)

John Baragrey
. . . "Hallmark Hall of Fame" (1951) {Soldier's Bride}

Bob Bosler
. . . April 1865 (2003)

Lloyd Bridges
. . . "North and South, Book II" (1986)

Ross Ford
. . . "Cavalcade of America" (1952) {What Might Have Been (#1.9)}

Richard Gaines
. . . "Rebel, The" (1959) {Mission--Varina (#2.35)}

Charles McArthur
. . . "Adventures of Jim Bowie, The" (1956) {The Brothers (#2.31)}

Michael Rennie
. . . "Great Adventure, The" (1963) {The Treasure Train of Jefferson Davis (#1.8)}

Joseph Vance
. . . "You Are There" (1953) {The Gettysburg Address (#2.14)}

And several Toobworld characters have been named after him:

Lewis Arquette (Jefferson Davis 'J.D.' Pickett)
. . . "Waltons, The"

Sorrell Booke (Jefferson Davis "Boss" Hogg)
. . . "Dukes of Hazzard, The"

Allen Brenner (Brig. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis)
. . . Sherman's March

Don Johnson (Jefferson 'Jeff' Davis Prewitt)
. . . "From Here to Eternity"

BCnU!
Toby O'B