President of the Confederate States of America advice and consent of the senate. He was further empowered to grant reprieves and pardons, and convene and adjourn either or both houses of Congress under extraordinary circumstances. The president was indirectly elected by the people through the Electoral College to a six-year term, and was one of only two nationally elected Confederate officers, the other being the Vice President. On February 18, 1861, Jefferson Davis became president of the provisional government. On February 22, 1862, he became president of the permanent government and served in that capacity until being captured by elements of the United States Cavalry in 1865.
Congress of the Confederate States would sit as a Constitutional Convention, the Provisional Congress established the several executive departments, virtually mirroring those of the U.S. Government. The only major exception was the Confederate Post Office which was required to be financially self sustaining. On March 4, 1861, the Confederacy adopted its first flag used throughout the Confederacy on the battlefield and at government office buildings for the duration of the Civil War. Following the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861, the remaining six states admitted to the Confederate States of America with representation in its Congresses met in three additional sessions between July