Reading Room Document

Restoration of Full Civil Rights to the Late General Robert E. Lee

This opinion informed White House Counsel that an 1898 act removing the disabilities imposed by Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment did not restore the civil rights of Robert E. Lee, because the act only applied to persons living at the time of its enactment. It also advised that a presidential pardon could not restore Lee’s civil rights. (Lee’s civil rights were ultimately restored through a 1975 congressional resolution).

April 1, 1971