Who would be the best Confederate President?

Who would be the best Confederate President?


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As is says in the title, who would be the best man for the job? Win the war or not, who would be the most effective candidate? Feel free to elaborate on your choice below.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
John C. Breckinridge. He was a uniter and consensus-builder, in stark contrast to Davis. He was a moderate on the issue of slavery, which would make it easier to win foreign recognition. He was a shrewd judge of character, again in contrast to Davis. He was a man of integrity, who wouldn't appoint or promote men to high positions based on personal friendships. Finally, his wartime experience IOTL shows that he had an intuitive grasp of military matters, but he would also have the self-awareness to know that he wasn't a military genius and would listen to the advice of his generals.

I have always thought that if Breckinridge had been appointed Secretary of War when he threw in his lot with the Confederacy in late 1861, the Confederacy's chances of victory would be much improved. But he was popular and charismatic and would never have been a creature of Jefferson Davis, which is why he did not get the position until it was far too late.
 

TFSmith121

Banned
John Tyler, oddly enough

He had actually served as chief executive (granted, in fairly atypical circumstances, but the rebellion was atypical as well); he had co-chaired the 1861 peace conference, and so - perhaps - might have been able to negotiate some sort of short of war situation; he had experience dealing with the British on a nation-to-nation level; etc.

Of course, he was a Virginian, and so presumably would not have been "available" at the same point Davis was in 1861; and he was elderly and in very poor health, dying in January, 1862.

Nonetheless, of the antebellum former presidents still alive in 1861, he was the only southerner...

Best,
 
Preston Brooks has the slight disadvantage of having been dead since 1857.

While I agree that Breckinridge would have been a good choice, he could not be the *provisional* Confederate president because the Confederacy did not yet claim Kentucky as a member. And it is unlikely that whoever was chosen as provisional president would not go on to be re-elected permanent president.
 
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