I maybe muddied the waters a bit on tossing in War of 1812 as it didn’t settle “natural born” but rather was simple, direct refutation of the British claim, and affirmation of then very clear definition of what I’ll call at minimum: regular American citizenry. That some of these enforced conscripts were eligible to become president being born at time of Constitution’s ratification was the LONE further permission beyond “natural born”.
I simply want to underscore Donofrio’s (and Madison’s) point that reverse application of the British claim is very much in play in both what the founders intended to counter with further test of ArtII Sec 1 AND the failure of Bam Bam to pass the same test. British subjects of any “political” education such as Bam Bam’s (known) papa should have known better. The “crown” makes its stinking “realm” a possibilty and we have to remove ourselves by a generation from the pestilence thanks to “Mother England” stench. Sorry, thems the rules.
“Sorry, thems the rules.”
If you say so. Only, could you tell me where I can find a copy of the rules? Do you have a Secret Constitution, or something? Oh, is it Dick Cheney’s Shadow Constitution, ‘cause I’ve been wanting to read that.
And again, would the British Crown’s view that persons born in the colonies up to the end of the War of 1812 - a view it clearly held - make those persons ineligible to be President? Or does it illustrate that the views of foreign governments have no bearing what so ever on the eligibility of an individual to be POTUS?