Jefferson Finis Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889) was an American politician, senator for Mississippi and served as the President of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865.

Although he was educated at the United States Military Academy, when the Southern states seceded from the United States and formed the Confederacy, to fight for the right to own slaves, Lee betrayed his country and joined the Confederate Army as a vocal supporter of Southern states’ initiative to secede from the United States. He also was a public champion for the unrestricted expansion of slavery into the territories of the United States where it wasn't already established. 

During his lifetime he owned as many as 113 slaves. In spite of relatively poor performance as a leader for the Confederacy, Davis ultimately became a hero of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy in the post-Reconstruction South. A period in which the reputations and personal histories of Confederate soldiers were sanitized in an effort to make them objects of admiration and respect. 

The restoration of Jefferson Davis’ reputation was a special focus of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Their organization to this day sponsors two awards named in his honor in the form of historical silver and gold medals. The product of these efforts are hundreds of monuments dedicated to Jefferson Davis and schools and roads throughout the south bearing his name.

Efforts are ongoing in several states to remove statues and monuments to Jefferson Davis. For example, in Richmond, Virginia Mayor Levar Stoney said in June of 2020 that he would propose an ordinance to remove all four Confederate monuments that the city controls along Monument Avenue including the Jefferson Davis statue.