Cabinet of the Confederate States of America Congress, its membership was undistinguished—a contrast with Lincoln's Cabinet, which included highly talented men. Confederate President Jefferson Davis made many of his initial selections to the Cabinet on the basis of political considerations; his choices "Were dictated by the need to assure the various states that their interests were being represented in the government." Moreover, most Confederate talent went into the military rather than the government, and the cabinet suffered from frequent turnover and reshuffling. Sixteen different men serving as one of six Cabinet officers during the four years of the Confederacy's existence. The most talented—but also the most unpopular—member
Congress of the Confederate States 1861 and February 1862 in the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia. The Virginia secessionist convention was already in session, and after Lincoln's call up of 75,000 troops to secure federal property, on April 17 that convention voted 88 to 55 to seceded. North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas soon after called secessionist conventions that voted to leave the Union by overwhelming majorities. On May 6, 1861, the Confederate Congress officially declared war on the United States and authorized the President all land and naval force in pursuit of the war that had commenced. Arizona secessionists met in convention at La