Thread: Why the POTUS Needs to Be a Natural Born Citizen

Frank Salvato, Managing Editor

Is the Constitution Just a Grand Suggestion?

December 2, 2009

Listening to the John & Cisco morning radio program here on Chicago’s WIND AM 560 this morning, I was suddenly stopped dead in my tracks. One of the hosts, John Howell, asked Chicago Tribune editorialists Clarence Page about a contentious issue; whether candidates for the office of President of the United States of America should have to present proof of citizenship before being allowed to vie for the office. Mr. Page’s answer was not only a slight to the Constitution; it placed him firmly in the camp of the constitutionally illiterate.

When asked if vetting candidates for national office, specifically the presidency, wasn’t something that all Americans could agree upon, Mr. Page replied:

“You can never please some people, as you can see. I know Liberals who believe John McCain should be challenged because he wasn’t born in the US, because he was born in the Panama Canal Zone and...ah...they will point to different constitutional loopholes...ah...that they say would disqualify him. I remember George Romney, Mitt’s Dad...ah...went through the same thing...ah...back in the 60s. As far as I’m concerned, why can’t Madeleine Albright be a good president even though she wasn’t born a citizen? Or the governor of Michigan right now? This is the kind of thing...folks are kind of groping for any reason to disqualify a president or presidential candidate that they don’t like and...ah...I just find it to be a specious debate...I think we’ve got more important issues to worry about...maybe that’s just me (laughter).â€

I believe our Presidents must be natural born citizens, but that doesn't mean just born on US soil, it means born on US soil to 2 US Citizens with the more important of these being born to 2 US Citizens. If you were the child of 1 US citizens, you had to wait until you were of age and go down to the county office, swear your allegiance and be proved a person of good character or be naturalized through immigration, and that's the way it was for just plain old citizenship before the 14th Amendment. The only people with natural born citizenship at the time of the US Constitution were people who were born on US soil to 2 US citizens and that is what the term "natural born citizen" means for the Presidency of the United States. The 14th Amendment didn't amend Article II of the US Constitution. It could have but it didn't, for reasons all too obvious to mention.