He was inaugurated President of the Confederate States on February 18, 1861 a few weeks before the breakout of the American Civil War.

Before the Civil War, he operated a large cotton plantation in Mississippi that enslaved as many as 113 people. Davis was imprisoned for two years and released on bail after his capture by Union forces on May 10, 1865 in Irwinville, Georgia. Davis and his family fled the country to avoid prosecution.