Today in History

October 17, 1978
Jimmy Carter Lets Jefferson Davis Back in the Fold
To "clear away the guilts and enmities and recriminations of the past," President Jimmy Carter signs a bill restoring U.S. citizenship to Jefferson Davis, the first and only President of the Confederacy during the Civil War. Before Davis led the succession from the Union, he had been a member of the U.S. House and Senate and served as Secretary of War under Franklin Pierce. Davis died in 1889.



Today's Feature History Article

Smithsonian Castle

Smithsonian Perspectives

In its early days, the Smithsonian faced the Civil War, a disastrous fire and a vastly uncertain future





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