alexander hamilton stephens (february 11, 1812 – march 4, 1883) was an american and confederate politician. he was from georgia. stephens was short and sickly for much of his life. stephens owned a fair number of slaves. he served as a whig congressman from 1843 to 1859. later, he became a member of the constitutional union party and then a democrat. stephens was the vice-president of the confederacy from 1861 to 1865. while vice-president, he tried to end the war and did not get along with confederate president jefferson davis. after the war, stephens again was a u.s. congressman, and was governor of georgia for a short time.