Posted on 03/13/2013 6:54:15 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Let's close down the silly season on presidential eligibility early. Our colleague, Ken Klukowski, is a constitutional lawyer who argues here that newly-sworn-in Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) is likely eligible to run for president in 2016. The only question that could arise is the fact the fiery young conservative leader was born in Calgary, Alberta, on Dec. 22, 1970. Let's see: 1970 makes him thirty-five in 2005. He's in!
Is the Canadian birthplace a hurdle? Not really. Since at least 1793, such children of American citizens born abroad have been recognized to be American citizens.
Ted's mother, the former Eleanor Darragh, was an American citizen from Delaware. To argue that his actual place of birth to an American citizen disqualifies Ted Cruz is to argue that millions of undoubted Americans are disqualified. What about military "brats" born in civilian hospitals to parents stationed in West Germany? Or sons and daughters of American business people temporarily working abroad? Or children of U.S. citizens who are missionaries called to foreign lands?
Can conservatives seriously believe that any of these otherwise qualified American citizens should be barred from running for president? We thought as conservatives we are opposed to assisted suicide. But reading the Constitution in such a strained and absurd way would render us politically dead.
Some people, unfortunately, are maintaining that anyone whose parents were not yet fully naturalized U.S. citizens are ineligible. That's because, they say, only the children of U.S. citizens can be "natural-born citizens of the United States" under the Constitution's requirements for being elected president (Art. II, Sec. 1). They say that because of this iron-clad condition, Florida's Sen. Marco Rubio, and possibly even South Carolina 's Gov. Nikki Haley and Louisiana 's Gov. Bobby Jindal may all be ineligible to serve as president.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
None of the above...
THE BASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WE APPARENTLY HAVE HISTORICAL PRECEDENTS TO THIS “Presidential Kerfuffle”...
From the article:
Consider this historical question: Could it have been the original intent of the Founders to disqualify themselves from serving as president? It was not until Martin Van Buren, eighth president, that we elected a man who had been born an American citizen. There was actually some silly maneuvering around the accession of Chester Alan Arthur in 1881. Some misguided folks then tried to argue that young Chet had been born in Canada and smuggled across the border into Vermont as an infant.
Jindal is the only one on that list that I am even remotely interested in as POTUS at this point. Rubio is a follower and Cruz needs experience while Haley I am just not that impressed with.
RE: None of the above...
Is your objection about competence, leadership and ability, or about the issue of being “natural born”?
John C. Frémont’s father was a French citizen and never sought US Citizenship.
Hispanic, woman, Indian, hispanic...
So it's all about having a "novelty" president these days, huh?
No gringo men need apply.
I haven’t read up on it, but I would thinks the intent of the clause in the Constitution is such that someone born outside of the US to American parents, and moved back to the US soon therafter and raised here is preferable to someone born within the US that moved to and was raised in a foreign country, hence the 10-year requirement. Just my 2 cents.
Let’s say I appoint Cruz as Attorney General - would this be an issue with succession?
RE: John C. Fremont
For those who don’t know...
John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813 July 13, 1890) was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States.
Frémont’s mother, Anne Beverley Whiting, was the youngest daughter of socially prominent Virginia planter Col. Thomas Whiting. And as you said -— his father was a French citizen and never sought US Citizenship
In 1860 the Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln for president, who won the presidency and then ran for reelection in 1864. The Radical Republicans, a group of hard-line abolitionists, were upset with Lincoln’s positions on the issues of slavery and post-war reconciliation with the southern states. On May 31, 1864, they nominated Frémont for president. This fissure in the Republican Party divided the party into two factions: the anti-Lincoln Radical Republicans, who nominated Frémont, and the pro-Lincoln Republicans.
Frémont abandoned his political campaign in September 1864, after he brokered a political deal in which Lincoln removed Postmaster General Montgomery Blair from office.
The interesting point to note is this -— HIS ELIGIBILITY TO RUN AS PRESIDENT BECAUSE OF THE “NATURAL BORN” CLAUSE NEVER WAS AN ISSUE.
RE: Lets say I appoint Cruz as Attorney General - would this be an issue with succession?
You can if you are elected President. In fact I wish you would... :)
Since at least 1793, such children of American citizens born abroad have been recognized to be American citizens.
_____________________________________________
Yeah thats what I say...
My 3rd great grandfather was born in Canada in 1797...
His parents and grandparents were all born in the US ...
so he was born abroad of of American parents..
he married a woman who was born in Vermont of American parents...she died in Gowanda, NY...
Two American citizens...
Their son, my 2nd gg, was also born in Canada, another child born abroad of American parents...
My great great grandfather therefore was an American citizen...
and his daughter, my great grandmother was an American citizen because although she was born abroad in New Zealand, she was after all the child of an American citizen...
so did that staus reach on down to my grandmother, Dad and then to me ???
Yeppers OK...
Nana, candidate for POTUS...
:)
RE: Hispanic, woman, Indian, hispanic...
So it’s all about having a “novelty” president these days, huh?
No gringo men need apply.
_______________________
Let’s not be too hung up on race. The issue of this article is whether or not these folks meet the “natural born” requirement.
Since they are ethnic minorities and they happen to be occupying high positions in this country, of course their ethnicity will be part of the discussion.
Counting down to the explosion of Jindal/Rubio are not eligible to be President posts.
any of the above
Cruz obviously.
My point is that the list put forth contains only “minorities”.
Get serious. Who here doubts they will be incinerated by media smears right before the 2016 elections?
Regardless to nobama setting a precedent and the progressive liberals lack of care what the Constitution says, we as conservatives should care and should maintain to the letter and original intent.
This article's argument that the first few POTUS were not NBC, is ridiculous because the Founding Fathers considered America to be America long before the Revolution and freedom from Brittan.
If some Constitutional authority can explain NBC, please tell us in the purest sense what the Founding Father meant.
That said, it sure seems that our most conservative new Stars have an NBC question. I would be delighted if any one of them could be eligible, especially Cruz, who seems to know and love the Constitution more than most and certainly more than the GOPe crowd we are saddled with now.
Cruz is a minority.
He’s a conservative in the GOP....
The Gringo Stars seem to be either hiding, no interest in politics or happily GOPe.
Please advise us differently.
All three are scheduled to speak at the CPAC. While I feel it’s much too early for 2016. I’m waiting for someone to bring these topics up;
When the democrats decided to remove God or any reference to Our Creator at their 2012 convention. They also demonstrated they are no longer the democratic party of your fathers father. They have become a hyphenated radical unit and should be known as Demo-Coms dedicated to the establishment of a collective idealism using the device of PCP to modify behavior and shed beliefs that they believe would impede remaking their concept of the perfect utopian state. That is hardly democratic because the word democrat idealizes the individual voice.
But Rove, GOPES (GOP Elite Snobs) and RINOS lack the capacity or the understanding or the courage to point to the historic radicalization that occured at that moment and use it politically. Worse yet they are unable to forthrightly defend what the demo-coms have set out to destroy and some are even comming up with their own version of PCP .
Anyone preaching PCP is going down the poisonous road to oblivion . Following a policy of PCP. Politically Correct Politics which the hyphenated democrat party, the Demo-Coms,is using is flat out wrong.Worse yet moral questions such as marriage, sexual practices, family constituency and particularly beliefs those of containing Judeo Christian tenets are being assulted and not defended. That offers a majority of voters no choice in the direction this country is to take.
PCP when used by the Demo-Coms such terms as: Afro-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American, White-American, Rich-American ,Gay-American, are more than simply nouns but vehicles used to separate US from each other. Beside separating US from our money the Demo-Coms demand we become adhearents to a system without the constituional constraints on government. Thus surrendering our protections from governmental abuses and excessive bureacracy to the will of a bureaucratic collective which is no longer answerable to the average citizen.
Sadly for the Republicans God remains in Limbo..
It was not until Martin Van Buren, eighth president, that we elected a man who had been born an American citizen”
But they had all been born in colonies that became states. I’m not sure I grasp this argument....
Washington was born in Virginia. But Cruz was born in Canada. That seems to me a big difference and one that the Constitution could certainly intend.
That said, I am strongly or Cruz, and at this stage, I don’t care whether he was born in Canada or not. There is no Constitution. Let’s simply admit that.
So, given that, I don’t see that we should throw away the remaining shards of liberty that we have by stopping a Cruz candidacy based on fidelity to a non-existent Constitution. If Cruz were to get in, he could do great things to put a Constitution back in the mix...even if he was born in Canada.....
This is dishonest argumentation. As the writer of the article is surely aware, the same clause that mentions the "natural born" requirement also exempts from it those who were citizens at the time of the adoption of the Constitution. See below:
"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."
(Art. 2, sec. 1)
We'll see come next primary season.
Speculation from this far out is pointless.
He is my choice out of this bunch if he does qualify. He's the real deal.
Hence the inclusion of the "...or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution..." clause in Article II. Or haven't Mr. Blackwell or Mr. Morrison ever read the Constitution to begin with?
Lets not be too hung up on race.
These talented Republican politicians deserve our respect and the hopes that they will win prime elections that will place them in charge of the nation or Congress.
However, with that said, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS TRUMPS ALL! White people are hated by minorities as a whole. This hatred is fueled by Obama and his “brown shirts” along with gullible women and woosified males....(I won’t call them men).
These Republicans are true Americans and regardless as to their ethnic backgrounds, have fully assimilated into our society and are an asset to our conservative society.
They are only hope we have left. If they are prevented from running by RINO-E and corrupt government, we have no chance to save our country at all.
Wrong. The Constitution is alive and well in the hearts and minds of millions of Americans.
Yes expediency and survival (as we may see it in today’s vision) may say fight fire with fire by disregarding NBC.
The way it is going now, America will be broken apart and I want to be with the part that keeps the Constitution.
RE: I don’t know when Cruz’s dad was made a citizen. If it was AFTER Ted was born, then no, he doesn’t Constitutionally qualify.
I direct you to this page:
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/2995704/posts?page=144#144
and to post #11 of this thread.
It seems like based on the writings of the early legislators and framers, and previous elections (see at the time of Lincoln), he does.
Cruz, Haley, Jindal, Rubio...
Caucasian, Caucasian, Caucasian, Caucasian...
You mean White Hispanic, White Indian, White Indian, White Hispanic...
Neither the Primary nor the election will over-ride the Constitution. A slim majority may indeed say “screw the Constitution” but that was not the question or the point.
Say what?
The Constitution now prohibits anyone but minorities from running for president?
So both establishment Republicans and Democrats would probably be OK with this. The Democrats even more so since it would validate Obama's eligibility and they could concentrate on making the folks who disagree with the ruling sit out 2016. Hello President Hillary Clinton!
Cruz = dual citizen at birth (14th amendment American)
Jindal = Indian (or dual) citizen at birth (14th amendment American) (I don’t remember if both his parents naturalized after he was born or not)
Rubio = Cuban (or dual) citizen at birth (14th amendment American)
Haley = don’t know her story and not worth my time to look it up right now.
NATURAL born Citizen = dual citizen = 14th amendment citizen ?????
Not sure how you work the math on this to make them eligible for POTUS.
As long as Romney, Paul Ryan and the other rino (short guy who is now for gay marriage???) isn’t running.
lol...yep..let’s get all our minorities lined up like little ducks
so blacks and latinos will vote for us
it’s amazing how ignorant folks are
the mindset that thinks like this instead of warriors working to preserve a culture their ancestors sacrificed, endured harsh conditions, fought and died for
is what has killed America...plain and simple
and that mindset is as alive here as much as in the GOPe
especially since the Wideawakes bunch is now back..my apologies to the few of them I’m on terms with
every day I see new names that have flocked back
a sure sign of the battle to moderate the GOP more
Mexicans HATE Cubans, even more than Anglos.
“No Gringo Men Need Apply”
Indeed!
Republicans are racist against whites. This is the stupidest thing that the stupid party can do.
NO to iffy Pres candidates. Cruz is not only fine where he is he belongs where he is.
Rubio is a dufus, whose views no one cares about. His educational background is ridiculous and his citizenship status explains to me his favoring the UN over US sovereignty.
ENOUGH of bigotry against white Americans.
They’ll having us hating the Constitution for it’s having been created by white guys, oh they already have.
We are not a racist country anymore. Never mind that my parents and many others raised us to ignore our elders in the bigotry department.
I have been treated like a racist my whole life, off and on, by virtue of being white, patiently waiting for the pendulum to swing back, realizing there is anger.
But it is very bad now. with BO getting in.
Republicans, in and out of political office, have rallied around, pretending that pandering to this will fix it.
It is sick. BO won his first term by pretending to be a descendent of US slaves, which he is not. Those who voted for him are racist. 98% of the black population voted for him.
I was told it was historical. My response was and is that I am not racist. I don’t vote for nor react to a guy’s getting elected due to skin color.
BO won a second term and not anyone in the republican party (Preibus? a complete and utter incompetent) is looking at voter fraud.
The whole country is clamoring to cater to everyone who is not white.
Mexicans step to the head of the line everywhere in Texas, ahead of veterans. war veterans.
This is a travesty.
Of the four, my pick is Jindal: two terms as a governor, he has dealt with executive decisions, budgets, and Fedzilla.
He also spent some time in Congress, so he knows the legislative game in D.C.
My second choice is Haley: again, a governor is what we need...not a mere legislator.
Cruz? Way too little experience...yes, he is a helluva conservative. I love him, but not as the Chief Executive.
Rubio is a great man, too...I just want him to get some executive experience.
Let’s face it: senators do not make good executives. They tend to micromanage too much....and are not good at delegating.
The most effective Presidents in modern times: FDR and Reagan. Both governors.
If you want leaders, look to the state houses...if you want one of 535 know-it-alls who think they know better than everyone else, look to the Congress.
“Citizenship” is not the issue. It pretends to be, but it is not.
No whites need apply.
RE: No whites need apply.
The following can apply:
SCOTT WALKER
RAND PAUL
MIKE LEE
TOM COBURN
and if he is interested, my personal fav: JIM DeMINT
:)
Jim DeMint is doing a lot of work at Heritage. Good. Sen Cruz is wonderful in the Senate. Rand Paul and Mike lee are doing great work where they are. In fact, they all remind us that the presidency is certainly not imperial.
The issue the GOP should be focusing on now is preventing as much voter fraud as possible. They don’t see it, but they should.
BO will do anything anything to get the house in 2014.
GOP better wake up now.
the dems might be scrambling in the public arena for 2014, but to not go after the issue, leaving Illinois out of it for not wasting time, is just stupid.
Mike Lee seems great- he’ll be ravaged for being Mormon. We’re not a bigoted country anymore, dontcha know. We only hate certain religions and races which don’t really count
Must be the swamp water or the Houston air..... hg same ol same ol.
U.S. Citizen John Pryor was John Fremonts legal father, not Fremont from France. He was born out of wedlock. Do a little research. Fremonts legal parents (Anne Beverley Whiting and John Pryor) were both Natural Born Citizens. Under the law at the time, a child did not receive nationality from a father outside of wedlock and all children born in legal marriage are children of the marriage whether biological or not.
Hat tip to Seizethecarp who made this information known.
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