Foreign Born President? Congress Eyes Amendment

Mobile Register from the San Francisco Chronicle | August 13, 2003

[ClearBlueSky]

Austrian born Arnold Schwarzenegger is still a long way from being elected California's Governor, but proposed Constitutional amendments that would allow foreign born citizens such as the action movie star to become President will be debated in Congress this autumm.

One of the proposals, by Schwarzenegger political friend, Senator Orin Hatch, Republican Utah, would allow anyone who has been a US citizen for 20 years, and has resided in the country for 14 years, to be elected President. Schwarzenegger was naturalized in 1983.

The other proposal, by a bi-partisan group in the house, whose ranks include conservative Representative Darrell Issa, Republican California- who spent more than 1.5 million to put the recall election on the October 7th ballot- would allow anyone who has been a naturalized citizen for 35 years to be eligible to become President. The House legislation, whose co-sponsors include liberal Representative Barney Frank, Democrat Mass., was proposed long before the recall movement in California.

Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution, drafted in 1787, says that only natural-born Americans at least 35 years old who have lived in the country for 14 years can serve as President.

Proponents of a change say the rule long ago outlived its usefulness. Hatch said figures such as former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright or Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, the Canada native whom Democrats consider a rising star, couldn't be President. Nor could the 700 foreign born recipients of the Medal of Honor.

[Liberal Classic]

Anyone ever see a movie set in the near future called Demolition Man with Sly Stallone, Wesley Snipes and Sandra Bullock?

This wouldn't be important, but I'm starting to get disturbed by the real life foreshadowing. In the movie Bullock tells Stallone that Arnold is president. Stallone asks how is that possible, Schwarzenegger is foreign born? Bullock tells him the 30th amendment to the constitution allowed the practice.

Queue Twilight Zone music. Do do do do do do do do...

[Paleo Conservative]

Well Back to the Future predicted the World Series

Not according to Snopes.

[Paleo Conservative]

Oh, yeah ! Sure ! Why not let drug-addicted, AIDS infected teens run for Prez while we're at it ?? ...

Yes, the age limit of 35 must also be abolished.

[TheDon]

LOL! Didn't get your coffee yet? Didn't state Gorby was Muslim. :^)

[PhilipFreneau]

>>George Washington was born in 1741 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. No U.S. president has ever been foreign born, and God willing, never will be.

Amen! Note that Alexander Hamilton was foreign-born, and thus was ineligible to become president.

[RightWhale]

We should be able to elect anyone we wish to be president.

That's the problem. Everybody who says anything about it says Bush was selected, not elected, but truth is we don't elect the president. The people at large elect representatives to the Electoral College, etc. Anybody can be president, it's not important to find that particular one out of 100 million. The president's job is easy if he's good at running meetings. The president also has less power than any Senator. The only ones who shouldn't be president are those who want to be president.

[ZULU]

Hatch is an idiot. I'll never forget the look of amazement on his face at the DemocRats tactics in the Clinton Impeachement.

Hatch, like Nixon and other strange Republicans hatch out weird ideas - like lowering the voting age, eliminating the draft, affirmative action and "normal" relations with Red China.

If they are really considering changing this extremely important part of the Constitution, I hope Larry FLynt wins in Kaliforeigna. They deserve him, and we don't want Schwarzenegger to use that state as a springboard to the White House. We don't need a pro-homosexual, anti-gun, pro-abortionist married into the Kennedy Klan in Washington. California is fine, Washington is no good.

I repeat - Hatch is a naive idiot.

[Paleo Conservative]

Something that recently occured to me is this. The first nine presidents were not born in the United States, but Rather in the British colonies. It was not until John Taylor, born in 1790 that a president was born in the US. So how did they go about getting elected?

Obviously you are one of those Freepers who posts without reading other peoples comments first. Read posts #35, #52, and #75 All presidents of the United States were either born in the United States or territory that became a state prior to their becoming president. You are wrong about President Taylor being the first born in the United States. The United States existed from July 4, 1776 till 1787 under the Articles of Confederation. Martin Van Buren, the eighth president was born in 1782

[PhilipFreneau]

>> Note that Alexander Hamilton was foreign-born, and thus was ineligible to become president.

I just re-read the Constitution and it reads:

"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."


Hamilton arrived in New York (from St. Croix) in 1772, about fifteen years before the adoption of the constitution in 1787. Thus it appears he was eligible to become president, assuming he was a citizen at the time of the adoption.

[Paleo Conservative]

Washington was not foreign born, no president has even been. Thats why Hamilton was never able to seek the office

Amen! Note that Alexander Hamilton was foreign-born, and thus was ineligible to become president.

Wrong
Other than myself only dvjr is correct about Hamilton. Read dvwjr's comment, and then read the relevant text of the US Constitution (what a novel idea actually reading the Contitution before pontificating on it).

Doesn't anyone get their History right from High School. The Constitution was specifically written to allow Alexander Hamilton to pursue the Presidency. That is why is was worded such that only at the time of the adoption of the Constitution could a foreign born US citizen be elected.

Of course, Arron Burr ended that possibility...

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.

[gcruse]

The only ones who shouldn't be president are those who want to be president.

LOL  And that's the truth.

[petitfour]

Yep. I'm real slow today. So, I just ate lunch, and now I can comprehend better. Well, sort of.

[Barry Goldwater]

You got it! Good one. The United States didn't even exist when the first few presidents were born, so how could they be born in the US?

Your reply is great. Goldwater wasn't born in the US either. Excellent and thanks!

[Ronaldus Magnus]

Goldwater wasn't born in the US either.

Although the Arizona Territory was not a state at the time of Barry Goldwater's birth, it was part of the United States and therefore Barry Goldwater was a natural born U.S. citizen and eligible for the Presidency.

[dudeny83]

I have a question? What can you do to be born in the United States? I really really wanna know! I'm a US citizen but i wasn't born here. I did try to ask my parent to go and f#$* in the US but I couldn't... CAUSE I WASN'T BORN YET!!!!!!! I'm asking 'cause People talk like they have done something, we others have not, to be born here...

[StrangeMind]

Very smart and very stupid...

[Dan from Michigan]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

No Granholm.

[Dan from Michigan]

I don't really see much difference between the two.

Arnold's more liberal....and that's SAD.

[Dan from Michigan]

Three more words why HELL NO.

PRESIDENT GEORGE SOROS

[Dan from Michigan]

I'd vote for Denis Leary's character in that movie....