Editing Arlington County, Virginia (section)

===Arlington National Cemetery===
{{Main|Arlington National Cemetery}}
Arlington National Cemetery is an American [[military cemetery]] established during the [[American Civil War]] on the grounds of [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] General [[Robert E. Lee]]'s home, [[Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial|Arlington House]] (also known as the Custis-Lee Mansion). It is directly across the [[Potomac River]] from Washington, D.C., north of [[the Pentagon]]. With around 400,000 graves covering 639 acres, Arlington National Cemetery is the second-largest national cemetery in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Arlington National Cemetery |url=https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/History-of-Arlington-National-Cemetery |access-date=February 25, 2024 |website=Arlington National Cemetery}}</ref>

Arlington House was named after the Custis family's homestead on Virginia's Eastern Shore. It is associated with the families of Washington, Custis, and Lee. Begun in 1802 and completed in 1817, it was built by [[George Washington Parke Custis]]. After his father died, young Custis was raised by his grandmother and her second husband, the first [[President of the United States|US President]] [[George Washington]], at [[Mount Vernon]]. Custis, a far-sighted agricultural pioneer, painter, playwright, and orator, was interested in perpetuating the memory and principles of George Washington. His house became a "treasury" of Washington heirlooms.<ref>{{Cite web |title= Founders and Frontiersmen (Arlington House) |url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/founders/sitea30.htm |access-date=February 25, 2024 |website=National Park Service |date=August 29, 2005 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225172036/https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/founders/sitea30.htm |archive-date= February 25, 2024 }}</ref>

In 1804, Custis married [[Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis|Mary Lee Fitzhugh]]. Their only child to survive infancy was Mary Anna Randolph Custis, born in 1808. Young Robert E. Lee, whose mother was a cousin of Mrs. Custis, frequently visited Arlington. Two years after graduating from [[United States Military Academy|West Point]], Lieutenant Lee married Mary Custis at Arlington on June 30, 1831. For 30 years, Arlington House was home to the Lees. They spent much of their married life traveling between [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] duty stations and Arlington, where six of their seven children were born. They shared this home with Mary's parents, the Custis family.<ref>{{Citation |title=Arlington House |url=http://npshistory.com/brochures/arho/1987.pdf |journal=}}</ref>

When George Washington Parke Custis died in 1857, he left the Arlington estate to Mrs. Lee [[life estate|for her lifetime]] and afterward to the Lees' eldest son, [[George Washington Custis Lee]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial |url=https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/History-of-Arlington-National-Cemetery/Arlington-House |access-date=February 25, 2024 |website=Arlington National Cemetery}}</ref>

After the secession of Virginia towards the beginning of the Civil War, Mary Custis and Robert E. Lee left the estate permanently. Citing a failure to pay taxes, the U.S. government confiscated Arlington House and {{convert|200|acre|ha}} of property from the Lees on January 11, 1864. On June 15, 1864, the U.S. government and  [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[Edwin M. Stanton]] designated the grounds as a military cemetery. In 1882, after many years in the lower courts, the matter of the ownership of Arlington House and its land was brought before the [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court]] by George Washington Custis Lee. The Court decided that the property rightfully belonged to the Lee family. Shortly, the [[United States Congress]] appropriated the sum of $150,000 for the purchase of the property from the Lee family in March 1883.<ref name=":3" />

Veterans from all the nation's wars are buried in the cemetery, from the [[American Revolution]] through the military actions in [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|Afghanistan]] and [[2003 invasion of Iraq|Iraq]]. Pre-Civil War dead were re-interred after 1900.{{citation needed|date = March 2022}}

The [[Tomb of the Unknowns]], also known as the [[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier]], stands atop a hill overlooking Washington, DC. President [[John F. Kennedy]] is buried in Arlington National Cemetery with his wife [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis]] and some of their children. His grave is marked with an [[eternal flame]]. His brothers, Senators [[Robert F. Kennedy]] and [[Ted Kennedy|Edward M. Kennedy]], are also buried nearby. [[William Howard Taft]], who was also a [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] of the U.S. Supreme Court, is the only other [[President of the United States|President]] buried at Arlington.

Other frequently visited sites near the cemetery are the [[USMC War Memorial|U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial]], commonly known as the Iwo Jima Memorial, the [[United States Air Force Memorial|U.S. Air Force Memorial]], the [[Women in Military Service for America Memorial]], the [[Netherlands Carillon]] and the U.S. Army's [[Fort Myer]].{{citation needed|date = March 2022}}