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cmiddleton, you guys on the non naturalized citizen theroy need to give it a rest. The qualifications to be President of the United States of American only require one parent to have been born in the US. (I disagree, see US Constitution cite below, with respect, you've misquoted it). His mom was, regardless of the country his dad was a citizen too doensn't matter.
Barack Obama’s biological mother, Ann Dunham
(Ann Dunham was from Kansas.)
If you're going to be involved in government in the United States, citizenship is a must. To be a Senator or Representative, you must be a citizen of the United States. To be President, not only must you be a citizen, but you must also be natural-born. Aside from participation in government, citizenship is an honor bestowed upon people by the citizenry of the United States when a non-citizen passes the required tests and submits to an oath.
Natural-born citizen
Who is a natural-born citizen? Who, in other words, is a citizen at birth, such that that person can be a President someday?
The 14th Amendment defines citizenship this way: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." But even this does not get specific enough. As usual, the Constitution provides the framework for the law, but it is the law that fills in the gaps.
Currently, Title 8 of the U.S. Code fills in those gaps. Section 1401 defines the following as people who are "citizens of the United States at birth:"
Anyone born inside the United States *
Any Indian or Eskimo born in the United States, provided being a citizen of the U.S. does not impair the person's status as a citizen of the tribe
Any one born outside the United States, both of whose parents are citizens of the U.S., as long as one parent has lived in the U.S.
Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year and the other parent is a U.S. national
Any one born in a U.S. possession, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year
Any one found in the U.S. under the age of five, whose parentage cannot be determined, as long as proof of non-citizenship is not provided by age 21
Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic service included in this time)
A final, historical condition: a person born before 5/24/1934 of an alien father and a U.S. citizen mother who has lived in the U.S. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
US Constitution, Article III, Sec. 1., Clause 5.:
"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; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."
If Obama was in fact born in Kenya he is not eligible, legally, to be POTUS. Even though his mother was from Kansas. Why? Because Obama, Sr. was a Kenyan and that would make little Barry a dual citizen and dual citizens are INELIGIBLE to be POTUS.
As if that is not bad enough, a few short years later his Communist mother relocated to Indonesia, married and Indonesian national, thus naturalizing both herself and little Barry as Indonesians. (On school records of the time his mother declared his nationality as Indonesian AND he was adopted by the Indonesian step-father).
I think it is highly likely that he is legally unqualified on both counts to be the POTUS, but, nothing will come of it.
He's the Messiah and laws are for us little people to obey.
Laws, tradition and fair play are mere antiquated relics that only interest stodgy old white males like me...