claim: Jefferson Davis grew up on 1970s disco.
evidence: Jefferson Finis Davis -LRB- June 3 , 1808 -- December 6 , 1889 -RRB- was an American politician who was a Democratic U.S. Representative and Senator from Mississippi , the 23rd U.S. Secretary of War , and the President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War .. President of the Confederate States. President of the Confederate States of America. Democratic. Democratic Party ( United States ). Mississippi. Mississippi. American. United States nationality. U.S. Secretary of War. United States Secretary of War. President of the Confederate States of America. President of the Confederate States of America. American Civil War. American Civil War. President. President of the United States. He took personal charge of the Confederate war plans but was unable to find a strategy to defeat the more populous and industrialized Union .. Union. United States. His diplomatic efforts failed to gain recognition from any foreign country , and at home , the collapsing Confederate economy forced his government to print more and more paper money to cover the war 's expenses , leading to runaway inflation and devaluation of the Confederate dollar .. recognition. Diplomatic recognition. Confederate dollar. Confederate dollar. Davis was born in Kentucky to a moderately prosperous farmer , and grew up on his older brother Joseph 's large cotton plantations in Mississippi and Louisiana .. Mississippi. Mississippi. Kentucky. Kentucky. Joseph. Joseph Emory Davis. Louisiana. Louisiana. Joseph Davis also secured his appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point .. Joseph. Joseph Emory Davis. West Point. West Point. After graduating , Jefferson Davis served six years as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army .. U.S. Army. United States Army. He fought in the Mexican -- American War -LRB- 1846 -- 1848 -RRB- , as the colonel of a volunteer regiment .. American. United States nationality. He served as the U.S. Secretary of War from 1853 to 1857 under President Franklin Pierce , and as a Democratic U.S. senator from Mississippi .. Democratic. Democratic Party ( United States ). Franklin Pierce. Franklin Pierce. Mississippi. Mississippi. U.S. Secretary of War. United States Secretary of War. President. President of the United States. Before the war , he operated a large cotton plantation in Mississippi but never owned more than 74 slaves .. Mississippi. Mississippi. After the war had ended , he remained a proud apologist for the cause of slavery for which he and the Confederacy had fought .. slavery. Treatment of slaves in the United States. Although Davis argued against secession in 1858 , he believed that each state was sovereign and had an unquestionable right to secede from the Union .. Union. United States. secession. Secession in the United States. Davis 's first wife , Sarah Knox Taylor , died of malaria after three months of marriage , and he also struggled with recurring bouts of the disease .. Sarah Knox Taylor. Sarah Knox Taylor. malaria. malaria. He was unhealthy for much of his life .. At the age of 36 , Davis married again , to 18-year-old Varina Howell , a native of Natchez who had been educated in Philadelphia and had some family ties in the North .. Varina Howell. Varina Howell Davis. Philadelphia. Philadelphia. They had six children .. Only two survived him , and only one married and had children .. Many historians attribute the Confederacy 's weaknesses to the poor leadership of President Davis .. President. President of the United States. His preoccupation with detail , reluctance to delegate responsibility , lack of popular appeal , feuds with powerful state governors and generals , favoritism toward old friends , inability to get along with people who disagreed with him , neglect of civil matters in favor of military ones , and resistance to public opinion all worked against him .. Historians agree he was a much less effective war leader than his Union counterpart Abraham Lincoln .. Union. United States. Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln. After Davis was captured in 1865 , he was accused of treason and imprisoned at Fort Monroe .. treason. Treason#United States. Fort Monroe. Fort Monroe. He was never tried and was released after two years .. While not disgraced , Davis had been displaced in ex-Confederate affection after the war by his leading general , Robert E. Lee .. Robert E. Lee. Robert E. Lee. Davis wrote a memoir entitled The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government , which he completed in 1881 .. The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. By the late 1880s , he began to encourage reconciliation , telling Southerners to be loyal to the Union .. Union. United States. Ex-Confederates came to appreciate his role in the war , seeing him as a Southern patriot , and he became a hero of the Lost Cause in the post-Reconstruction South .. Lost Cause. Lost Cause. Reconstruction. Reconstruction Era