Citizenship for General Robert E. Lee

President Ford signed Senate Joint Resolution 23 on August 5, 1975, posthumously restoring full rights of citizenship to General Robert E. Lee. The ceremony took place at the Lee Mansion in Arlington, Virginia.

General Lee had formally applied to President Andrew Johnson for the restoration of his citizenship on June 13, 1865. He was unaware at the time an Oath of Allegiance was required, which he executed later that year in October. Again his petition was not acted upon because the Oath of Allegiance was apparently lost. It was discovered in the National Archives in 1970, leading to this legislation.