U.S. Presidents & The Natural-born-citizen Clause
February 4, 2016 at 2:15 pm
(This post was last modified: February 4, 2016 at 2:19 pm by Tiberius.)
Here's an interesting one for you. The debate about "natural born citizens" and presidential eligibility was brought up in the 2008 election (with Obama), and again this year because Ted Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother.
This isn't a thread about what constitutes a "natural born citizen", but rather whether that clause should even exist. The USA is on a very short list of countries which require their head of state to be a "natural born citizen", rather than someone who has gained citizenship via another means.
So what do you think?
Personally, I think that all citizens should be allowed to become President, but much like the requirement that Presidents be older than 35, people who have gained U.S. citizenship via means other than birth should have held that citizenship for a number of years (e.g. 20) and also been a U.S. resident for the same period of time.
This isn't a thread about what constitutes a "natural born citizen", but rather whether that clause should even exist. The USA is on a very short list of countries which require their head of state to be a "natural born citizen", rather than someone who has gained citizenship via another means.
So what do you think?
Personally, I think that all citizens should be allowed to become President, but much like the requirement that Presidents be older than 35, people who have gained U.S. citizenship via means other than birth should have held that citizenship for a number of years (e.g. 20) and also been a U.S. resident for the same period of time.
