Howell Cobb was nearly president, then became a central architect of the Confederate cause.

Science · Published 20 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: A powerful Georgia politician who served as Speaker of the House and Treasury Secretary, Howell Cobb was once considered a presidential successor. Yet, he abandoned his Unionist roots to lead the secession movement, eventually commanding troops and initiating the creation of the infamous Andersonville prisoner-of-war camp during the Civil War.

Born in 1815, Howell Cobb rose rapidly through American politics. By 1849, at age 34, he became Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. His political ascent was so significant that in 1850, following the death of President Zachary Taylor, Cobb was briefly next in line for the presidency, though he was ineligible due to the constitutional age requirement of 35. He later served as Secretary of the Treasury under President James Buchanan from 1857 to 1860, and was even considered by Buchanan as a potential successor.

Cobb’s trajectory shifted dramatically in 1860 when he abandoned his previous Unionist stance to become a primary leader of the secession movement. As a major slaveholder who once owned 1,000 enslaved people, he presided over the convention that established the Confederacy and helped draft its constitution. During the Civil War, he transitioned to military life, rising to the rank of major general. He was instrumental in establishing Andersonville Prison in southern Georgia, a site intended to be secure from Union interference.

His commitment to the Confederate cause remained absolute until the end. In 1865, he vehemently opposed arming enslaved people, arguing that doing so would invalidate the entire theory of slavery. Despite his high-ranking status, he was eventually defeated at the Battle of Columbus in April 1865. Following the war, he returned to his law practice, eventually receiving a presidential pardon in 1868 before dying of a heart attack later that year. His legacy remains contentious; in 2020, his portrait was removed from the U.S. Capitol’s Speaker’s Lobby.

General information, not professional advice. Spotted an error? Flag the card or see corrections and complaints.

Intellect Plus is a visual educational discovery platform for exploring fascinating facts and ideas. Brain Food, Not Brain Rot. What is Intellect Plus?

Related

• The Confederate Vice President who tried to rewrite his own infamous legacy
• The youngest vice president in American history was a Confederate general who fled the country.
• The rise and fall of the man who led the Confederacy
• How a shoemaker from New Hampshire became the Union's most effective military organizer
• The Confederate Congress functioned as a wartime legislative body from 1861 until 1865.
• How a Burgundian monk became the most tactful thorn in the side of English kings.
• Why the way we live is shifting faster than our economic metrics can track.
• Why the father of applied psychology believed your memory is fundamentally unreliable
• How Puerto Rico’s lower house functions as a unique legislative powerhouse
• How Hugo Riemann turned the intuitive feeling of music into a rigorous mathematical science
• How an Anglo-Norman dynasty became the Gaelic-speaking lords of the Irish frontier
• Human services is a modern academic discipline born from a 1960s movement for reform.

More in Social scientists · More in Science · Latest · A–Z · All topics