“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 President.”
Contrary to what most people think, it is not clear if children born to Americans living overseas qualify as “natural-born citizens” for the purpose of presidential eligibility. Some Constitution scholars are suggesting that McCain is ineligible to serve as president. The Constitution does not state that one must be “born a citizen” to be eligible for the presidency. It states that one must be a “natural-born citizen.” In 1787, the term “natural-born” meant a native-born citizen; such as person born within the territorial boundaries of the United States.
John McCain was born a U.S. citizen. At the time of his birth, his father was a U.S Navy officer assigned to Panama. Under U.S. law, because McCain’s parents were Americans, he became a natural-born citizen automatically at birth.
Barack Obama on the other hand is also a U.S. citizen because his mother was a citizen, but for the presidency, the constitution specifies not just nationality, but a “natural born citizen.” The state of Hawaii was admitted to the Union on August 1959, making it the 50th state. Obama was born August 4th, 1961.
The term “born a citizen” stem from the founding fathers fearing that immigrants and foreign-born U.S. citizens would harbored divided loyalties that could threaten the nation’s sovereignty. That is why they limited presidential eligibility to persons born in the United States.
The “natural born” provision is one of the many nebulous and unresolved issues in the Constitution. The fact that some citizens are excluded from the presidency simply because of their birthplace give the impression of the United States having a two-tiered citizenship system.
In April 2008, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) introduced a non-binding resolution expressing that McCain qualifies as a “natural born Citizen,” as specified in the Constitution and is therefore eligible for the highest office in the land. The resolution was co-sponsored by Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton.
Current State Department policy reads: “Despite widespread popular belief, U.S. military installations abroad and U.S. diplomatic or consular facilities are not part of the United States within the meaning of the 14th Amendment.
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