Davis was a recognized as a spokesman for the South. When Mississippi seceded, he resigned and accepted command of Mississippi's military forces. Later, he was elected president of the Confederate States. When the Confederacy surrendered, Davis was captured and imprisoned for two years, indicted for treason (but never brought to trial), and finally released on bond in 1867.
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis was elected to the House of Representatives in 1845 but resigned the following year to command the "Mississippi Rifles" in the Mexican War. From 1847 to 1851 he served as a US senator. He served as Secretary of War for President Pierce (1853-1857) and reentered the Senate in 1857.