Question

The president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, was an aloof, stubborn, and humorless leader who lacked the common touch of Abraham Lincoln. While he may have been able to wax elegant in the U.S. Senate, Davis failed to communicate the reasons and meaning of the Confederate war effort. What other failures in the Confederate war effort can be attributed to Jefferson Davis and the political leadership of the Confederacy?

Answer 1

Answer:

Two other failures of Jefferson Davis:

1. He did not delegate enough - During most of the civil war, Jefferson Davis was the general of the Confederate Army himself. While constitutionally, the president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, presidents delegate most military responsabilities to a chief general who better understands military matters.
2. He was a poor military strategist - He made poor military decisions during the war, had feuds with several military commanders, and in general terms, was a poor strategist. When the Confederation was in a weak position, Jefferson Davis insisted in trying to defend all the borders of the Confederation with equal force, instead of focusing the armies in a few chokepoints. This caused the confederate army to spread thin, and lead to its ultimate defeat.