WI: Jefferson Davis' first wife lives

On 15 September 1835, Sarah Knox Taylor, wife of Jefferson Davis and daughter of Zachary Taylor, died of malaria three months after her marriage. Taylor did not approve of his daughter marrying then-Lieutenant Davis as he didn't want his daughter to be an army wife. Davis finally resigned to marry Sarah, and the couple married in June. In September, the couple visited Davis' sister in Louisiana, where they both contracted malaria or yellow fever, Sarah dying and Davis coming close to it.

Sarah's death left Davis and the Taylors devastated; it caused years of ill will between them, with Taylor and his wife feeling he should have known better than to go to Louisiana in the fever season. Davis remarried and returned to public life years later, and reconciled somewhat with the Taylors.

What if Davis decided not to make the visit? How does this change the careers of Davis and Zacharary Taylor? Does Davis enter politics at an earlier date, possibly as a Whig?
 
Given her short life, it probably isn't surprising there would be so little material on Sarah Davis, but from William C. Davis' biography of Jefferson Davis, she was intelligent and even-tempered. Could she have influenced her husband's choices in politics?
 
A couple of observations.

One, I'm with the Taylor family on this: who does go to Louisiana during the fever season?

Two, undoubtedly she would have influenced Davis, but I'm not sure by how much, because Davis was mule stubborn and one of those micro-managing drips who thinks they know everything. Also, and I am not trying to be mean here, but are we sure the first wife was, uh, an upgrade over the second one in terms of keeping him at an even keel? For all we know, the second wife was the one somehow the one preventing him from making even more disastrous (from various point of view) choices. I know that's hard to fathom, but considering what we know and what we don't, Davis was a dumpster fire either way. Maybe he would have been a less smelly and environmentally-damaging dumpster fire with the first wife there, or it actually could have gone way, way worse. One doesn't know about these things.
 
A couple of observations.

One, I'm with the Taylor family on this: who does go to Louisiana during the fever season?

Two, undoubtedly she would have influenced Davis, but I'm not sure by how much, because Davis was mule stubborn and one of those micro-managing drips who thinks they know everything. Also, and I am not trying to be mean here, but are we sure the first wife was, uh, an upgrade over the second one in terms of keeping him at an even keel? For all we know, the second wife was the one somehow the one preventing him from making even more disastrous (from various point of view) choices. I know that's hard to fathom, but considering what we know and what we don't, Davis was a dumpster fire either way. Maybe he would have been a less smelly and environmentally-damaging dumpster fire with the first wife there, or it actually could have gone way, way worse. One doesn't know about these things.
Perhaps he stays in the army longer. rising in rank, thanks to the fact his father-in-law was a Major General, and gets a late start into politics. If he has a later start, perhaps his influence is not as strong, and he plays a lesser role than he was destined to.
 
Sarah seemed to be able like empress Catherine I, with Peter the great to calm the great statesman. Varina seemed to play the mother wife to jd.
 
Perhaps he stays in the army longer. rising in rank, thanks to the fact his father-in-law was a Major General, and gets a late start into politics. If he has a later start, perhaps his influence is not as strong, and he plays a lesser role than he was destined to.
Davis resigned from the regular army in 1835, and returned as a colonel of volunteers in the Mexican-American War. Taylor's misgivings on the match probably boiled down to him not wanting his daughter to be an army wife, or just not liking Davis (or both). Had Davis not resigned, Taylor would have been even less likely to allow the marriage, making our POD impossible. With Davis not being devastated by grief, he may enter politics a little earlier ITTL.
 
Davis became involved in politics by accident when he attended a Democratic Party meeting - given different cirmcumstances, could he enter politics as a States' Rights Whig?

@David T
 
Perhaps. He may also with his brother Joseph be able to implement his let’s help our slaves get ready for freedom, modality sooner.
 
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