Abstract
The passage of the Lodge Act in 1950 enabled the United States to offer citizenship to foreign nationals in exchange for service in the U.S. Army. A chief objective was to further Cold War goals by enlisting Eastern European candidates to serve as special forces troops, linguists, cultural experts, and skilled technicians. The legislation sought to spread American values abroad and unify support at home. Its chief legacy, however, was to serve as a template for naturalizing those who served in the decades that followed. “Citizen Candidates” won first place in the 2021 VMI Adams Center Cold War Military history essay contest.
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Cite this article
Brad Hardy, “Citizen Candidates: Cold War Naturalization, Military Service, and the Lodge Act of 1950,” The Journal of Military History 87, no. 1 (January 2023): 169–188.