Judah Benjamin - The Jewish Confederate

[Gene C]

(11-10-2014 03:00 PM)Jim Garrett Wrote:  I always thought the plot did not go higher than Benjamin. I kind of figured that Benjamin and Davis had the sort of relationship where Davis felt whatever Benjamin did was OK by him, he just didn't want to know what he was up to.

After reading this book, I have the impression that Benjamin was willing to do unpopular things that Davis sanctioned and take the heat for Davis, which he did on occasion. Davis was a little bit more hard core and not as willing to compromise or soften his position as Benjamin was.
Near the end of the war, Benjamin was in favor of freeing the slaves if they fought for the confederacy, Davis wasn't, until it was too late. While they were worked very close during the war, they had very little contact with each other after the war. Davis asked Benjamin for his assistance & recolections when he wrote "Rise and Fall of the Confederate Govenrment. Benjamin wanted to put it all behind him. As a result Davis only mentions him two or three times in the entire 2 volumes of over 1500 pages. Davis had difficulty finding a publisher and it didn't sell very well.