1847    Jefferson Davis is elected to the US senate, his first political post.

1861    American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.

1861    American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Alabama.

1861    In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America.

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

1861    American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints Judah Benjamin secretary of war.

1862    Jefferson Davis is officially inaugurated for a six-year term as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia. He was previously inaugurated as a provisional president on February 18, 1861.

1863    American Civil War: following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (which is refused upon receipt).

1865    American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet flee the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.

1865    American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is captured by Union troops near Irwinville, Georgia.