[apocalypto]

My history teacher explained it differently. According to him, the requirement is that the president be born in this country. Even if his parents are citizens, if he is born in another country, he cannot be president. This is a legitimate question. I do not understand why many here get upset over it. It is not the first time this has come up.

[MNJohnnie]

My history teacher explained it differently. According to him, the requirement is that the president be born in this country.

Your history teacher is incorrect. But it is a common misperception. The Constitution refers to "natural born citizen" not "native born citizen" as some history texts report it.

[GraniteStateConservative]

My history teacher explained it differently. According to him, the requirement is that the president be born in this country. Even if his parents are citizens, if he is born in another country, he cannot be president. This is a legitimate question. I do not understand why many here get upset over it. It is not the first time this has come up.

Publik skool edumacation?

Seriously, that's pitiful.

The children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond sea, or outside the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural-born citizens of the United States. --Naturalization Law of 1790

[msg-84]

From Article II of the Constitution:
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.

You and your history teach must never have read the Constitution. Please point to the Article which states a requirment "the president be born in this country"

[rom]

If I were you, I’d ask your history professor to quit. Obviously he has no understanding of the Constitution of the United States.

THAT’S why so many of us are upset.

He probably thinks we all have the ‘right’ to ‘free’ education in there somewhere too.

I harbor no love for McCain. But these hit pieces almost make me want to vote for him! In fact, the best thing to motivate the base would be if these mindless hit pieces keep on rolling.

[austinrepub]

Your teacher was wrong.

[Raycpa]

According to him, the requirement is that the president be born in this country. Even if his parents are citizens,

This saved us from Weicker who was born in Paris to US citizens. McCain's having US parents doesn't control IMHO. What controls is whether the territory would be considered US soil. The intent of the provision is clear. We could have a president who never set foot on US ground but be eligible to be a president merely because of his parents citizenship.

It would have been presumed that birth in this country would have been followed by lifetime residency.