Is a person only eligible for the Presidency if both of his or her parents were citizens?

[LBJDemocrat]

I've been hearing rightists repeating this claim. I remember that when I was in elementary school, they drilled the legal requirements for the office pretty hard into our heads, and I didn't hear anything about it. On the contrary, I remember being proud that despite being the son of foreigners, I was an American, eligible for the presidency just like all of those who were born here. I would've remembered.

Is this a why to marginalize all the first-to-be-born in the US, children of immigrants? I can't imagine this will play well among the right-wing exile community of South Florida.

[AspenRose]

1. Please see

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6206492

[pnwmom]

2. NO. Obama is NOT the first President to have a parent who was a citizen

of another country.

All that is required is that the candidate him or herself has been a citizen since birth (whether the birth took place in the U.S., or whether he/she was born abroad with an American citizen for a parent.)

[Uzybone]

3. can we stop this nonsense?

[WeDidIt]

4. Chester Alan Arthur, 21st president of the United States

His father was an IRishman and was not a naturalized citizen of the United States when he was born.

Short answer to your question, no.

[KamaAina]

5. Right-wing FAIL.

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html

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.

Do you see anything about parentage in there? I sure don't. Let's take for an example my grandfather. Both his parents were born in Scotland. But they met and married in Detroit. So he was born in Detroit. And yes, he could have been President (although you wouldn't have liked him very much, as he despised poor people and was a bit of a racist).

[LisaL]

6. No.

[elocs]

7. Truly, is Google or other search engines unavailable on your computer?

Because you could have had your answer in less time than it took you to type this OP.

[LBJDemocrat]

12. Yes,

But I also want to get a feel for people's perceptions, and I want to highlight the exclusivist chauvinism of the right for any undecided readers of this website.

[LuvNewcastle]

8. I remember that Michael Dukakis' parents

were both immigrants and nobody ever asked to see his birth certificate or doubted his eligibility to run.

[NYC_SKP]

9. No. Clearly, a person born in Kenya may become president.

:hide:

[Rick Myers]

10. If you STRICTLY enforce the Costitution...

You must be born in the US as it was at the signing of the Constitution.... Reagan, Lincoln, Carter, Nixon, Clinton... All bogus!!!

[blogslut]

11. Ask Woodrow Wilson

His mother was born/raised in England.