indeed, many men of accomplishment took -- it is far more ironic that when jeff davis was imprisoned of a the war, did not criticize, but encouraged varina's bold, relentless, and by his own standards, thoroughly unfeminine efforts to secure his release. then it was ok. and she was amazing. she hired the lawyers, she wrote letters and demanded interviews with andrew johnson, she had an interview with grant, she persuaded abolitionists to put up money for his bail. she was just -- and she wrote letters to these men who she had never met, and that was absolutely against all the rules of genteel feminine it's in the 19 50's. from prison, jefferson davis wrote to her, letters that many male historians have called some of the great love letters of the 19th century. but i believe these letters reflect a selfish, rather than a generous love. i have read them. they contain long catalogs of things she did for him, but not a single word of appreciation for her as an individual. love letters indeed. after his release, jeff davis betrade his wife, if not physically, than emotionally, on several