My question is Can someone born on foreign soil become President. I was always taught one had to be born on American soil.
Even the Bible tells us to try the spirits and it appears we have a lot of bad actors today.
Nobody knows for sure. McCain was born in what is now Panama. He might’ve been born on “US Territory” in the sense that we had control over the Canal Zone at the time, or it might’ve been just across the border in a hospital in Panama, nobody seems to know for sure. But he’s the first real nominee not to have been born on “U.S. territory” (Goldwater was born in AZ before it was a state).
Having studied all of this for a number of years, I think an honest reading of the provision would say that for that one particular office, the Presidency, the Founders intended to exclude anyone with even the smallest shred of potential for divided loyalties, and as such only someone born “on the land” to two citizen parents would qualify, with exception for military and diplomats overseas. Anyone else has at least some sort of claim to citizenship somewhere else, and as such could have divided loyalties.
My neighbors had a son born while they were deployed in Turkey. The boy had dual US and Turkish citizenship until he was 18. He had to appear in Turkey at age 18 to renounce his citizenship there, or be subject to Turkish military service. They told me years ago that they were told by US officials that he would not be eligible to serve as President of the U.S. That was then.
In 2008 it took an act of Congress to reinforce John McCain’s claim of NBC status, aided by ‘rats, and helpfully taking the spotlight off 0’s citizenship claims.
NBC - born on US soil and two US citizen parents.
Cruz missed the mark on both requirements.
“Can someone born on foreign soil become President. I was always taught one had to be born on American soil.”
You taught right.
William of Ockham
And America’s Numero Uno Constitutional Originalist, Rafael of the Great White North, knows it as well.
td of FR