NASSAU COUNTY CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC. "The government is us, we are the government, you and I." Teddy Roosevelt

Is the President a "natural born" citizen?

One of the most important corner stones of our democracy is our adherence to the constitution, specifically as it relates to the eligibility of America's federal office holders. The Constitution addresses five specific offices, the President, Vice-President, House of Representatives, Senate and the Judiciary. The criteria for each is set forth in the first three articles of the constitution. Only one in particular, that of the President requires that the office holder be a "natural born citizen" as opposed to a citizen of the United States. Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution states, "No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of the President.....1

A person can become an American citizen by birth while on American soil, certain American territories or by naturalization. The latter would include by definition any foreigner who meets the requirements set forth by Congress which regulates the naturalization process. A "natural born citizen" is generally defined as a citizen of the United States who's parents are both American citizen's at the time of the child's birth. In 2008, John McCain who was born to American citizen parents at the Coco Lolo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone was deemed a natural born citizen during a court challenge and by a non binding U.S. Senate resolution.   

This distinction is important. The Founding Fathers who exempted themselves wanted to ensure that any future President would have total allegiance to the United States and not be beholden to any foreign power. As it relates to President Obama, there are legitimate concerns regarding his status. While there is no valid reason to believe he was born outside the United States like Senator McCain, both of the President's parents were not American citizens at the time of his birth. In particular, his father was a foreign national of Kenya which was a British colony and governed by the British Neutrality Act of 1948. Another aspect of the debate is whether the President as a child renounced his United States citizenship as was required when attending school in Indonesia. Yet without any proof, this allegation is just as specious as the claim he was born in Kenya.

The President has fueled the speculation surrounding his status by refusing to disclose information that is normally divulged during the vetting process for Presidential candidates. His college records, birth certificate (not the certificate of live birth) and a host of other documents have been hidden from public review. The question is why? if there is nothing to hide, release the information and move on. Doing so will discredit his critics.

The President may not be eligible but his case was not the first. Back in 1881, Chester A Arthur, the 21st President was likely not a natural born citizen. Arthur was born to an American citizen mother and to a father who was an Irish national with British citizenship. Arthur was able to perpetrate his eligibility due to the limitation of news dissemination during the nineteenth century in which he lived. Considering the twenty four hour news cycle today and the technological ability to advance the news, the story has developed into a significant question mark surrounding the Obama presidency. What are the potential ramifications should the President be ineligible?  

If the President is ineligible to serve, it would call into question the legality of his actions. This would include his appointments to the United States Supreme Court and lower courts. If members of the judiciary have no legal authority, would the resulting decisions and court orders be invalid? If the President is ineligible, would all of the bills signed into law be invalid or unenforceable? If all of his executive appointments have no legal authority, are all of their acts on behalf of the federal government invalid. What about all of the federal rules and regulations which they promulgated?  

Considering the serious nature of this issue, numerous cases that have been brought to compel the President to prove his eligibility as a "natural born" citizen, however most were denied based on standing. That in of itself is an interesting question. If an American citizen doesn't  have standing, who does? Some legal scholars believe that the only time to question the President's eligibility was when the electors of the Electoral College meet to cast their votes for President approximately two weeks after the election. At that time, any elector could have raised an objection but did not. Was the issue waived? It's not clear.

Individual states have a right to set forth eligibility standards for candidates running for federal office as long as the statutes do not conflict with the Constitution. Arizona is one of many states that are poised to pass legislation requiring all presidential candidates to prove their eligibility for office. This may be the approach that finally brings closure to this issue. Unfortunately it has been mischaracterized by a politicized press who label proponents as "Birthers" who they claim believe the President was born in another country. As stated before, the concern is straight forward and specific, Is the President a natural born citizen consistent with the constitution?

To be clear, the NCCA believes that the President is a citizen and was born in the United States, however it is not unreasonable to ensure that any of our citizens who want to run for the highest office in America and most powerful office in the world to be compliant with our governing document, the Constitution. The question needs to be answered.

1-The twelfth amendment addresses the office of the Vice President, "No person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."