INSIDE OF JEFF DAVIS' CABINET
Hesseltine, William B.
Inside Of Jeff Davis' Cabinet JEFFERSON DAVIS AND HIS CABINET, by Rembert W. Patrick. Louisiana State University Press. $3.75. Reviewed by William B. Hesseltine THE reputation of Jefferson...
...As a revolutionary government, attempting to create an administrative system in the midst of war, the Confederacy needed more than mere competence...
...Patrick has assembled data on the several cabinet officers, but he has made no effort to present an integrated study of Confederate administration...
...Judah P. Benjamin was undoubtedly brilliant, but the others were only competent mediocrities who were no better—and not much different—than the usual cabinet members of the United States...
...Reviewed by William B. Hesseltine THE reputation of Jefferson Davis, President of the Southern Confederacy, and of his associates in the government, has suffered from the collapse of the Confederacy...
...The list, however, is not impressive...
...In so doing, the author" sketches the activities of the 14 men who served in the 6 executive departments of the Confederate government...
...It needed imagination, courage, and genius, and Jefferson Davis and his cabinet were not equal to the task...
...It suffered, too, from the vigorous attacks of hostile newspaper critics in Richmond...
...Patrick attempts to demonstrate that Davis and his cabinet officers were men of ability who could compare favorably with Lincoln and his associates...
...In this book, Prof...
Vol. 9 • October 1945 • No. 43
