The current troubles of President Donald Trump have caused some reporters and other news pundits to say that no other President has suffered under the law as he has. My reply is that it could be worse if you count Jefferson Davis' experiences.
Jefferson Davis (June 3, 1808 - Dec. 6, 1889,) was the first President of the Confederacy and served from 1861 to the dissolution of the Confederate government on May 5, 1865. Four days later, he was captured by Union forces as he was fleeing to General Kirby Smith's Army on May 9, 1865.
Word immediately spread that the Confederate president had been captured in his wife's clothes.“Jeff Davis Captured in Hoop Skirts” and “Jeff Davis in Petticoats” were two of the headlines in Northern newspapers. Cartoonists drew laughter for months with drawings of an effeminate-looking Davis mincing about in a shawl and dress. At least one of the Union soldiers on hand that day, Captain James H. Parker went out of his way to shoot down the absurd story. “I defy any person to find a single officer or soldier who was present at the capture who will say upon his honor that he was disguised in women's clothes. His wife behaved like a lady, and he as a gentleman, though manifestly chagrined at being taken into custody. I am a Yankee, full of Yankee prejudices, but I think it wicked to lie about him.” Still the story endured.
President Lincoln knew his claims about secession's illegality were not certain, and therefore he hoped Jefferson Davis would escape. He told General Sherman, “I'm bound to oppose the escape of Jeff Davis, but if you could manage to have him slip out unbeknownst-like, I guess it would't hurt me much!” (Sherman interview, New York Times, July 4, 1865).
Lincoln knew that trying Jefferson Davis for war crimes and getting a conviction was not a certainty and would be fraught with legal hurdles.
After his capture, Davis was blamed for Lincoln's assassination. He traveled under various military confinements until he was sent to Fortress Monroe on May 22. Inside the fortress walls, 30 feet high and 100 feet thick, a subterranean gunroom had been converted into a cell. Davis was locked into heavy manacles. The dank chamber was lit around the clock. His guards were changed every two hours. With no sun, little sleep and his chains wearing him down, Davis's health declined.
Over time, his treatment improved: due to public outcry, the chains were removed after five days; within two months, the guard was removed from his room, he could walk outside for exercise, and he was allowed to read newspapers and other books. In October, he was moved to better quarters. In April 1866, Varina was permitted to regularly visit him. In September, a new General was placed in charge and permitted Davis to live with Varina in a four-room apartment.
After two years of imprisonment, Davis was released at Richmond on May 13, 1867, on bail of $100,000, which was posted by prominent citizens including Horace Greeley, Cornelius Vanderbilt and Gerrit Smith. Davis and Varina went to Montreal, Quebec, to join their children who had been sent there while he was in prison. Davis remained under indictment until after President Johnson's Pardon Proclamation on 25 December 1868 granting amnesty and pardon to all participants in the rebellion. Davis's case never went to trial. In February 1869, Attorney General William Evarts informed the court that the federal government declared it was no longer prosecuting the charges against him.
After his release Jefferson Davis had a hard time making a living. He went from one financial failure to another. He managed to reclaim his old plantation, Brierfield, but he did not live there and it did not produce a steady income.
In January 1877, the author Sarah Dorsey invited him to live on her estate at Beauvoir, (located on the Gulf of Mexico near Biloxi, Mississippi,) and to begin writing his memoirs. He agreed, but insisted on paying board. When Varina came back to the United States, she initially refused to come to Beauvoir because she did not like Davis's close relationship with Dorsey, who was serving as his secretary. In the summer of 1878, Varina relented, moving to Beauvoir and taking over the role of Davis's assistant. Dorsey died in July 1879, and left Beauvoir to Davis in her will, and he lived there for most of his remaining years. He died of malaria and acute bronchitis while trying to visit Brierfield on Dec. 6, 1889.
President Trump may have his many trials and tribulations, but most citizens believe he will come out on top and may even be elected President again. His troubles pale in comparison to what President Davis endured.