Judah Philip Benjamin was born to Philip Benjamin and Rebecca de Mendes in Christiansted, St. Croix, in the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands), on 06 August 1811. Following a brief stay in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina, he spent the remainder of his childhood in Charleston, Charleston District, South Carolina. He was raised in the Jewish faith, did not actively practice it as an adult, but staunchly defended his religious ancestry. At 14, he entered Yale College (now Yale University) in New Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut, but left two years later under unclear circumstances. He then relocated to New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, worked as a clerk and notary, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1832. He married Natalie St. Martin on 12 February 1833, had one daughter, but the union shortly became estranged and they lived apart for most of his lifetime. In 1840, he formed a legal partnership with John Slidell (1793-29 July 1871) (later Confederate Foreign Minister to France) and Frederick Daniel Conrad (a prominent sugar planter).

     During the years that followed, he established a sugar plantation known as Belle Chasse in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana (before selling it in 1850), and worked to promote railroad expansion. He was elected to serve in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1842 to 1844, and was also a member of the State Constitutional Convention in 1845. In 1848, he was a presidential elector-at-large. He was only the second Jew to become a U.S. Senator, David Levy Yulee (12 June 1810-10 October 1886) of Florida being the first. Benjamin was elected as a Whig in 1853, and again as a Democrat in 1859. He served as Chairman of the Private Land Claims Committee, was known as an eloquent and persuasive speaker, and garnered great respect for his legal knowledge. U.S. President Franklin Pierce (23 November 1804-08 October 1869) offered him a U.S. Supreme Court nomination in 1854, but he declined. During this period, he also developed a friendship with fellow senator from Mississippi, Jefferson Davis (03 June 1808-06 December 1889). He resigned his seat in support of secession on 04 February 1861.

     Joining Davis in the formation of the Confederate Government, Benjamin became the first Jew to hold a cabinet level office. Remembered as the "Brains of the Confederacy," he served as Attorney General (25 February 1861-17 September 1861), Secretary of War (17 September 1861-23 March 1862), and Secretary of State (18 March 1862-03 May 1865). He performed his duties tirelessly, beginning promptly at 8 a.m. each day, and often remaining at his desk until 2 a.m. the next morning. As Secretary of War, he willingly withstood criticism and Congressional censure for military failures, to cover up the reality of the government's financial shortcomings in funding and supplying its armies. Like Davis, he was devoted to the cause of Southern Independence, regardless of the results, and was a strong advocate for the arming and use of blacks as soldiers.

     In the final days of the Confederacy, Benjamin escaped Federal capture, traveling to the Settlement of Manatee (now Ellenton), Manatee County, Florida. There, local Confederates assisted him with passage to Bimini, where a British ship then carried him to England. In the post-war years, he served as an esteemed member of the Queen's Council, and continued his career as a writer of the law. His Treatise On The Law Of Sale Of Personal Property (1868), is still regarded as a legal classic. He spent the last months of his life with his family in France. Benjamin died 06 May 1884, and is buried in Cimetière du Père-Lachaise in Paris.