Please answer the following question: Facts: - president: james buchanan - party: democratic constitutional union -lrb- 1851 -- 1853 -rrb- -lrb- before 1851 ; 1853 -- 1868 -rrb- - predecessor: position winthrop constituency established james meriwether established james guthrie junius hillyer george towns robert - birth date: 7 september 1815 - branch: confederate states of america confederate army 23px - death date: 9 october 1868 - office: president secretary of the treasury 40th governor of georgia speaker of of the united states house of representatives the provisional confederate states congress united states - district: georgia 6 6th georgia 6 6th georgia al at-large - term end: february 4 , 1857 november 9 , 1853 march 4 , 18 1851 march 4 , 1851 march 4 , 1845 , 1862 december 8 , 1860 march - serviceyears: 1861 -- 1865 - unit: flag of northern virginia of the army of northern virginia.svg 23px army - name: howell cobb - death place: new york city , new york , u.s. - birth place: jefferson county , georgia , u.s. - successor: thomas -rrb- robert hunter -lrb- president pro tempore of the senate bocock -rrb- philip thomas james jackson herschel johnson linn boyd junius -lrb- hillyer constituency abolished speaker of the house of representatives - state: georgia georgia georgia - alma mater: university of georgia - battles: american civil war - allegiance: confederate states of america confederate states 23px - term start: february 4 , 1855 november 5 , 1851 december 22 , 4 1849 march 4 , 1845 march 4 , 1843 , 1861 march 7 , 1857 march - image: howell cobb-crop . jpg - rank: 25px major general Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of howell cobb .
A:
thomas howell cobb -lrb- september 7 , 1815 -- october 9 , 1868 -rrb- was an american political figure .a southern democrat , cobb was a five-term member of the united states house of representatives and speaker of the house from 1849 to 1851 .he also served as a secretary of treasury under president james buchanan -lrb- 1857 -- 1860 -rrb- and the 40th governor of georgia -lrb- 1851 -- 1853 -rrb- .he is , however , probably best known as one of the founders of the confederate states of america , having served as the president of the provisional confederate congress , when delegates of the secessionist states issued creation of the confederacy .cobb served for two weeks between the foundation of the confederacy and the election of jefferson davis as first president .this made him , as the speaker of the congress , provisional head of state at this time .