The vice president of the Confederate States was the second highest executive officer of the government of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

and the deputy to the

president of the Confederate States The president of the Confederate States was the head of state and head of government of the Confederate States. The president was the chief executive of the federal government and was the commander-in-chief of the Confederate Army and the Conf ...

. The office was held by

Alexander H. Stephens Alexander Hamilton Stephens (February 11, 1812 – March 4, 1883) was an American politician who served as the vice president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865, and later as the 50th governor of Georgia from 1882 until his death in ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, who served under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

from February 18, 1861, until the dissolution of the Confederacy on May 5, 1865. Having first been elected by the

Provisional Confederate States Congress The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, also known as the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America, was a congress of deputies and delegates called together from the Southern States which became the governing body ...

, both were considered provisional office-holders until they won the presidential election of November 6, 1861 without opposition and inaugurated on February 22, 1862.

The office

According to the

Constitution of the Confederate States The Constitution of the Confederate States was the supreme law of the Confederate States of America. It was adopted on March 11, 1861, and was in effect from February 22, 1862, to the conclusion of the American Civil War (May 1865). The Confe ...

, the vice president's office was almost entirely identical to that of the

vice president of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice p ...

. The vice president was elected by an electoral college (closely modeled after the U.S. Electoral College) along with the president. Electors had to cast one of their votes for someone not from their State. If no candidate won a majority in the Electoral College, the Confederate Senate would elect the vice president from the top two vote-getters. Like the president, the vice president had to be a natural-born citizen of the Confederacy or a natural-born citizen of the U.S. born prior to December 20, 1860, and a resident in the Confederacy for over 14 years. The major difference between the U.S. and the C.S. vice presidencies was that the Confederate term in office was six years long. The president was explicitly forbidden from running for a second term by the constitution, but the vice president was not. It was unclear whether or not a vice president, if he succeeded to the presidency, in the middle of a term, could run for a full presidential term afterward.

Duties

The vice president's primary duty was presiding over the Confederate Senate and breaking tied votes, as the U.S. vice president presides and breaks ties in the U.S. Senate. He was also the first person in the line of succession. If the president died, resigned or was removed from office, the vice president would become the new president for the remainder of his term. This never happened. During his tenure in office, Vice President Stephens grew increasingly distant from President Davis and spent less and less time in Richmond, the Confederate capital. He eventually spent much of his time trying, without success, to maintain diplomatic channels with the USA and pushed for a negotiated end to the war. He was sent by Davis to represent the Confederate government at the

Hampton Roads peace conference The Hampton Roads Conference was a peace conference held between the United States and representatives of the unrecognized breakaway Confederate States on February 3, 1865, aboard the steamboat ''River Queen'' in Hampton Roads, Virginia, to discus ...

.New Georgia Encyclopedia
/ref>

List of vice-presidents

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vice President Of The Confederate States 1861 establishments in the Confederate States of America 1865 disestablishments in the Confederate States of America Government of the Confederate States of America

Confederate States The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...