Jefferson Davis and His Cabinet.

Louisiana State University Press, 1944. First Edition. Octavo, gray cloth (hardcover), gilt lettering, x, 401 pp. Fine in a Very Good, mylar protected dust jacket. From dust jacket: From the leaders of every state, from the classes of the planter aristocracy and the self-made immigrant, from the ranks of the wealthy easterner and the rugged frontiersman, from the folds of the Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish churches, Jefferson Davis invited men to enter the cabinet of the Southern Confederacy. As the war progressed, some resigned, others were forced out, and a few remained with Davis to the end. Fourteen men served in the Confederate Cabinet. Together with the President they set Confederate policy and directed its execution. Theirs was the task of winning Southern independence. They failed and, having failed, have not had the spotlight of history focused on them as it has been on the more heroic military leaders of the South. In Jefferson Davis and His Cabinet, all the members of the Confederate administration pass in review. Here are Toombs, Hunter, Walker, Randolph, Seddon, Breckinridge, Benjamin, Memminger, Trenholm, Mallory, Reagan, Bragg, Watts, and George Davis. They are portrayed not only as secretaries, but also as individuals in the war society of Montgomery and Richmond. The picture ends as the Cabinet members fly before the invaders, are captured one by one or escape to a foreign haven. This study of the Cabinet is based on manuscript collections, printed documents, reminiscences, and newspapers as well as the important secondary works...