Today is the birthday of President Jefferson Davis, a Warren County resident who was born in Fairview, Ky., 202 years ago.

Davis had an envious military career and was one of the great men in the American political arena, a role that began in Vicksburg on Court Square in 1843 when he made his entry into politics.

He lost that election, but he would later serve in Congress, the Senate, the Cabinet and as president of the Confederate States.

Davis was the political power behind the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution.

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The following incident occurred about 35 years ago in the Vicksburg National Military Park at the statue of Davis which was authorized and paid for by the federal government. It’s a lighter side of the many stories concerning the Southern statesman.

A set of cables held the huge bronze statue securely as it slowly swung through the air, and the crane operator began to carefully lower it toward the pedestal.

“Hold it right there,” Park Superintendent Dan Lee called out, felt in his pocket, and then turned to me.

“Got a penny?” Lee asked, and I pulled one from my pocket. I was there to photograph the event for the Vicksburg Evening Post.

The statue of the Confederate president had been located at the top of a steep incline with the road curving in front of it. There was no place to park, no place to safely position oneself to take a picture, so with the blessings of the Davis descendants and the United Daughters of Confederacy, the monument was moved to a better spot.

Lee took the penny, stepped forward and placed it on the pedestal, then ordered the crane operator to lower the statue into place.

With the Lincoln penny precisely under Davis’ right heel, Lee, who was a Kentuckian as were both Davis and Abraham Lincoln, laughed and said, “Now we’ve got Abe where we’ve always wanted him.”

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Gordon Cotton is an author and historian who lives in Vicksburg.