Winston Churchill was the first person to receive honorary US citizenship in 1963, praised for his courage and leadership during WWII. He watched the ceremony from his London home, and eight people have been granted honorary US citizenship, including Mother Teresa and six posthumous recipients.
In 1963, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill became the first person to officially obtain honorary US citizenship. In his proclamation, US President John F. Kennedy praised how “Churchill’s courage, charity and valor, both in war and in peace, have been a flame of inspiration in liberty’s darkest hour” . By that time, eight US states had already granted the 88-year-old statesman honorary citizenship, thanks to his firm alliance with the US and leadership during World War II.
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Churchill and his wife, Clementine, watched the ceremony from their London home on a satellite feed, while his son, Randolph, accepted the honour. Churchill received an honorary passport-like document.
Eight people have been granted honorary US citizenship. Two were honored while still alive – Churchill and Mother Teresa – and six were appointed posthumously.
The other winners were Raoul Wallenberg in 1981, William Penn and Hannah Callowhill Penn in 1984, the Marquis de Lafayette in 2002, Casimir Pulaski in 2009 and Bernardo de Galvez in 2014.
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