The Jefferson Davis's Citizenship Restoration Story

For many years, this story lived in boxes.

Letters carefully folded. Official documents marked in red ink. Conversations preserved on paper between one determined citizen and the highest levels of the United States government.

It was never written for fame. It was written because it mattered.

Today, that story is finally available to you.

Unveiled Truths — Restoring Jefferson Davis’ Citizenshi...

On November 7, 1978, just weeks after President Carter signed Public Law 95-466, Senator James Eastland mailed Dr. Howard Edward Haller a clipping from The Washington Post with the headline:

“Carter: The Civil War is Over.”

For Howard — great-great-grandson of Jefferson Davis — those five words meant the long journey was complete. A promise made to his grandmother had been kept.

The Final Pun...

On October 17, 1978, in the midst of balancing Middle East peace talks and the daily responsibilities of the presidency, Jimmy Carter signed Public Law 95-466 — officially restoring the U.S. citizenship of Jefferson Davis.

It was the final act in a 13-year journey for Dr. Howard Edward Haller, great-great-grandson of Jefferson Davis, who had promised his grandmother he would see this through.

September 26, 1978, began like any other day in Washington, D.C. — but for Dr. Howard Edward Haller, it was the culmination of 13 years of work, hope, and determination.

By sundown, both the House of Representatives and the Senate would approve the resolution to restore Jefferson Davis’s U.S. citizenship.

A Long Year of Waiting

After the Senate passed the resolution in April 1977, it stalled ...

Some of the most important moments in history don’t happen in front of cameras or crowds. They happen behind closed doors — in quiet offices, on private phone calls, or across a well-worn desk in Washington, D.C.

For Dr. Howard Edward Haller, great-great-grandson of Jefferson Davis, these moments were the heartbeat of his 13-year mission to restore his ancestor’s U.S. citizenship.

A Meeting Th...

In the quiet of a family home, a young man made a pinky promise to his grandmother — a promise that would one day take him to the halls of Congress, the White House, and into the pages of American history.

That young man was Dr. Howard Edward Haller, great-great-grandson of Jefferson Davis. His mission? To restore the full rights of citizenship to his ancestor — a right that had been stripped awa...

Jefferson Davis, c. 1888. Platinum photographic print (14 × 10 cm). Public domain; Library of Congress LC-DIG-ppmsca-23864.

L.B. Northrup’s 1881 Letter to Jefferson Davis

Hudson Strode’s Jefferson Davis Private Letters gives us an intimate window into the thoughts and trials of America’s Civil War President—long after the guns fell silent. In this post, we turn to Commissioner General L.B. North...

Senator Orrin G. Hatch and Dr. Howard Haller

In the months that followed President Carter’s signature, the sense of closure deepened.

On November 7, 1978, Senator James Eastland mailed me a clipping from The Washington Post, headlined:
“Carter: The Civil War is Over.”
Those five words captured something bigger than just a bill—they marked the end of an era and the healing of a national wound.

A...

On October 17, 1978, the moment finally came.

It didn’t happen with television cameras flashing or with crowds gathered around. It happened quietly, in the White House, while the President of the United States was balancing peace in the Middle East with a personal request from a great-great-grandson of Jefferson Davis.

That great great grandson was me.

And I’ll never forget what it felt like w...

It all began with a promise to my grandmother. A pinky swear, really. But by 1977, that promise had carried me through more than a decade of intense research, lobbying, and prayer—and landed me on the steps of the United States Capitol.

The final two years of the journey to restore Jefferson Davis’s U.S. citizenship were a whirlwind of anticipation, action, and—at last—achievement.

It started on...

There are moments in life when the weight of history and the hope for justice collide in the most unexpected places. For me, one of those moments came as I sat across from Senator Strom Thurmond—one of the most senior and powerful members of the U.S. Senate—determined to fulfill a promise made to my grandmother: to restore the citizenship of our ancestor, Jefferson Davis.

Thanks to a personal int...

In the mid-1970s, I was juggling a career, raising a young family, and carrying a promise that weighed heavily on my shoulders: to restore the U.S. citizenship of my great-great-grandfather, Jefferson Davis. It wasn’t just a mission passed down from my grandmother—it was a personal calling. And slowly, piece by piece, the path began to open.

Some of the most pivotal steps came not through grand g...