President of the Confederate States of America States Senate; and to remove such representatives and officers. He could fill vacancies during a recess of the Senate, but he could not reappoint, during a recess, persons previously rejected by it. He was to supply Congress with information, recommend legislation, receive ambassadors and other public ministers, see that the federal laws were faithfully executed, and commission all officers of the military and naval forces of the Confederate States. On February 9, 1861, the provisional congress at Montgomery unanimously elected Jefferson Davis president and Alexander H. Stephens vice president. Stephens, who was a delegate to Congress from Georgia, was inaugurated
Congress of the Confederate States president’s messages were encouraging. Deputies from the first seven states convening in Montgomery, Alabama resolved themselves into the Confederate Provisional Congress. Delegations from Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas, met in the Alabama State Capitol in two sessions in February through May 1861. A committee of twelve drafted a proposal from Chairman Christopher G. Memminger from February 5-7. Receiving the committee report the following day, the convention of secession delegates assembled with one vote cast for each state delegation unanimously approved the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States on February 8. The Provisional Constitution was as Alexander