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President Ford Signed Legislation Restoring Citizenship of General Lee
The Sons of Confederate Veterans joined the nation recently in mourning the passing of President Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States.
Commander in Chief Christopher M. Sullivan, speaking on behalf of more than 32,000 members of the SCV, said “Our deep condolence goes to the Ford family with sincere respect for the great service rendered throughout President Ford’s long, remarkable career.”
Commander Sullivan said “Perhaps our most memorable moment of sincere appreciation for President Ford, was when he signed the legislation restoring the citizenship of General Robert E. Lee, long after the general’s death.”
In 1975, the United States Congress restored General Robert E. Lee’s U. S. Citizenship. The legislation was signed by President Ford. At the signing, President Ford said, “General Lee’s character has been an example to succeeding generations, making the restoration of his citizenship an event in which every American can take pride.”
Robert E. Lee received an appointment to the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, and graduated second in the class of 1829 without a single demerit. He married Mary Ann Custis, the great-granddaughter of Martha Washington. The Lees enjoyed almost forty years of marriage and raised 7 children.
As an officer in the United States Army, Lee was cited for valor during the Mexican War, and served as superintendent at West Point. He led the assault that resulted in the capture of John Brown and his raiders after they seized the U.S. Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry.
Although he opposed secession, when Virginia moved to secede, Lee resigned from the union army and accepted command of Virginia’s military forces.
Explaining why he turned down the offer to command Northern forces in 1861, Lee stated: “I declined the offer... to take command of the army that was to be brought into the field, stating as candidly and as courteously as I could that, though opposed to secession and deprecating war, I could take no part in the invasion of the Southern states.... Virginia is my country, her I will obey, however lamentable the fate to which it may subject me.”
“When he concluded that his first duty lay with his state, he never faltered, and never for a moment regretted his decision, or doubted that he was treading the path of duty,” noted a wartime observer.
Mrs. Lee, in later years, recalled her husband’s priority of duty: “From the first commencement of our troubles he had decided that in the event of Virginia’s secession, duty ... would compel him to follow.”
In a prewar letter to his son, Lee had advised: “Duty ... is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things ... You cannot do more - you should never wish to do less.”
General Lee has been described as “a foe without hate, a friend without treachery, a soldier without cruelty, and a victim without murmuring. He was a public officer without vices, a private citizen without wrong, a neighbor without reproach, a Christian without hypocrisy, and a man without guile.”
On January 19th, 2007, the nation will celebrate the 200th birthday of Robert E. Lee with proclamations and ceremonies scheduled throughout the nation. The esteem in which Robert E. Lee has been held by generations is due not just to the competency of his command, but also to the quality of his character.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans has continuously operated in local camps throughout the world and is now in its 110th year perpetuating the factual history of their ancestors who followed Gen. Lee facing overwhelming opposing forces.
Membership is open to all who are descended directly or collaterally from a Confederate Veteran, regardless of race or creed.
For more factual information on the Sons of Confederate Veterans, visit www.scv.org.
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