Having been the Secretary of War beforehand gave Davis the confidence to believe he knew what he was doing, and therefore didn't need anybody's advice. This, combined with his very real desire to be a general himself commanding troops in the field, made him a stubborn, overconfident, meddler in the details of the army.
This irrevocably crippled him as a President in a war.
Lincoln, on the other hand, knew his limitations.
__________________ "In this Constitution, the citizens of the United States appear dispensing a part of their original power in what manner and what proportion they think fit. They never part with the whole; and they retain the right of recalling what they part with." James Wilson of Pennsylvania, October 28th, 1787
Lincoln himself would have found it difficult, if not impossible, to pull the Confederate states into anything like a nation. The deck was stacked against a mediocre player.
Ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
Jefferson Davis: US Secretary of War/Confederate President
Much food for thought here. One suggestion sparked my interest. In an Ideal World, Alexander Stephens as President and Davis as Sec'y of War has much to recommend it.
If, as I believe, the Confederate gov't would have evolved, rather quickly into a carbon copy of the gov't in Washington D.C. without the countervailing requirements of slavery as the reason for strict observance of the State Rights theory. Then, Stephens as the exemplar of the strict constructionist school of State Rights would be needed to resist the temptation to sacrifice the very reason that the south was engaged in a bloody civil war in the first place (as Stephens suspected Davis would, if it came to a choice between slavery and independence).
Davis, as Sec'y of War would, IMO, be dilligent and much more innovative, when removed from the vagaries of political compromises, required for a President.
I do not believe, that such a combination would have won the War or made it any longer, the odds were just too great.
Lincoln himself would have found it difficult, if not impossible, to pull the Confederate states into anything like a nation. The deck was stacked against a mediocre player.
Ole
I should like you always to hold such opinions, and spew such WISDOM whenever the mood should strike.
That way, you may always be known by those who truly do know.
Lincoln is greater than Davis. Keep on alleging this. Don't ever stop.
Let the people know your complete and total knowledge of the CIVIL WAR.
Much food for thought here. One suggestion sparked my interest. In an Ideal World, Alexander Stephens as President and Davis as Sec'y of War has much to recommend it.
If, as I believe, the Confederate gov't would have evolved, rather quickly into a carbon copy of the gov't in Washington D.C. without the countervailing requirements of slavery as the reason for strict observance of the State Rights theory. Then, Stephens as the exemplar of the strict constructionist school of State Rights would be needed to resist the temptation to sacrifice the very reason that the south was engaged in a bloody civil war in the first place (as Stephens suspected Davis would, if it came to a choice between slavery and independence).
Davis, as Sec'y of War would, IMO, be dilligent and much more innovative, when removed from the vagaries of political compromises, required for a President.
I do not believe, that such a combination would have won the War or made it any longer, the odds were just too great.
Had the true Confederate South been in any way involved in Lincoln's murder, the guest list would have looked very different from those who actually were on it, and Lincoln would have been second on that list. SECOND.
Having been the Secretary of War beforehand gave Davis the confidence to believe he knew what he was doing, and therefore didn't need anybody's advice. This, combined with his very real desire to be a general himself commanding troops in the field, made him a stubborn, overconfident, meddler in the details of the army.
This irrevocably crippled him as a President in a war.
Lincoln, on the other hand, knew his limitations.
So you don't see Lincoln as a micro-manager, himself?
Davis wanted to HEAD the army. He had no desire to be president, but was APPOINTED.
"Your generosity has bestowed upon me an undeserved distinction... one which I neither sought, nor desired..." (office of the president).
That way, you may always be known by those who truly do know.
And those would be?
ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
I should like you always to hold such opinions, and spew such WISDOM whenever the mood should strike.
That way, you may always be known by those who truly do know.
Lincoln is greater than Davis. Keep on alleging this. Don't ever stop.
Let the people know your complete and total knowledge of the CIVIL WAR.
THANK YOU, ALWAYS.
SIR
BEOWULF
pot/kettle/black.
Unionblue
__________________ "The American people and the Government at Washington may refuse to recognize it for a time but the inexorable logic of events will force it upon them in the end; that the war now being waged in this land is a war for and against slavery." Frederick Douglass
"Loyalty to our ancestors does not include loyalty to their mistakes." George Santayana
So you don't see Lincoln as a micro-manager, himself?
Davis wanted to HEAD the army. He had no desire to be president, but was APPOINTED.
"Your generosity has bestowed upon me an undeserved distinction... one which I neither sought, nor desired..." (office of the president).
Beowulf
Beowulf,
One can only read history and see the results of such.
Davis lost.
Lincoln won.
Unionblue
__________________ "The American people and the Government at Washington may refuse to recognize it for a time but the inexorable logic of events will force it upon them in the end; that the war now being waged in this land is a war for and against slavery." Frederick Douglass
"Loyalty to our ancestors does not include loyalty to their mistakes." George Santayana
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