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Article: TAKING THE MEASURE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- January 19, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2001 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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In a magazine article in 1885, Theodore Roosevelt employed an
easy, one-dimensional assessment of Jefferson Davis, labeling him a
traitor to rival Benedict Arnold. It prompted the aged former
president of the Confederate States of America to write a letter
vigorously defending his patriotism and attacking Roosevelt's
knowledge of history. Roosevelt responded that he was hardly
surprised Davis's view of himself should be so different - and that
no further communication was desired.
The exchange neatly illustrates the core belief that led Davis and
the Confederacy down the path to secession and, ultimately, Civil
War: an unwavering righteousness that Southern self-determination was
just, ...