The FOUNDERS of this nation, who wrote it’s constitution and led the revolution, were also dual citizens. They acknowledged that they were inelegible to run for president because of that BRITISH citizenship, and lack of natural born status. So they created the clause 5 of Article II, sec I that grandfathered them in. But note the portion that says, it applies to CITIZENS (formerly British and not natural born) “at the time of the adoption of this constitution”. That means that no one alive can claim this exemption.
From the moment of his birth, Hussein had an actionable claim of citizenship against the British government passed onto him thru his father as a kenyan citizen. Consider this from Obama’s own website:
“When Barack Obama Jr. was born on Aug. 4,1961, in Honolulu, Kenya was a British colony, still part of the United Kingdom’s dwindling empire. As a Kenyan native, Barack Obama Sr. was a British subject whose citizenship status was governed by The British Nationality Act of 1948. That same act governed the status of Obama Sr.‘s children.
Since Sen. Obama has neither renounced his U.S. citizenship nor sworn an oath of allegiance to Kenya, his Kenyan citizenship automatically expired on Aug. 4,1982.”
He has admitted to the dual citizenship status that the founders had.
The Framers wanted to make themselves eligible to be President, but they didn’t want future generations to be Governed by a Commander In Chief who had split loyalty to another Country. The Framers were comfortable making an exception for themselves. They did, after all, create the Constitution. But they were not comfortable with the possibility of future generations of Presidents being born under the jurisdiction of Foreign Powers, especially Great Britain and its monarchy, who the Framers and Colonists fought so hard in the American Revolution to be free of.
Due to the circumstances of his birh, Hussein is FOREVER ineligible without a constitutional amendment.
The fact that he never acted upon his Brit citizenship and let it expire is irrelevant.
Actually, they weren't. Upon splitting from England, all of the citizens of the newly-formed US lost their English citizenship.
Clause 5, Article II, Section I needed to grandfather in everyone in the US at that time because, without this provision, there would not have been a single person in the country who qualified for the Presidency until 35 years after independence, since everyone alive at the time had been born in another country.
But that has nothing to do with dual citizenship. The Constitution is clear on what is required to serve as President- a natural-born citizen at least 35 years of age who has lived in the US for at least 14 of those years. If someone meets these requirements, they qualify- their dual citizenship would make no difference.