Obama's Birth Certificate Released

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I'd be surprised if any other presidents ever produced a birth certificate. It only became an issue in this case (well, if you put aside obsessive conspiracy theories) because of the fact that his father wasn't American, his mother had lived overseas before and after his birth, and the fact that some people apparently had trouble remembering exactly when Hawaii became a state.

What's interesting to me is that I remember more "conversation" before the election about whether McCain is a natural-born citizen than whether Obama is.

When I voted, there was a man who probably shouldn't have been allowed to vote (he was rather drunk) who said something to the effect of "I don't know what I bothered cominig here - neither of them are technically American anyhow." His buffoonery amused the rest of us.

MC, was it Jackson who was questioned about his birthplace? One of earlier Presidents was thought to have been born on the ship heading towards America.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by honeychile

MC, was it Jackson who was questioned about his birthplace? One of earlier Presidents was thought to have been born on the ship heading towards America.

Hmmm. I know there's always been a dispute about whether Jackson was born in North or South Carolina. According to The Source (aka the Wiki), Chester Arthur seems to have been the only president about whom a question was ever raised, with some claiming that he was born in Canada.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Hmmm. I know there's always been a dispute about whether Jackson was born in North or South Carolina. According to The Source (aka the Wiki), Chester Arthur seems to have been the only president about whom a question was ever raised, with some claiming that he was born in Canada.

Believe it or not, I remember this little dilemma from a high school textbook, prior to when Al Gore invented the internet. I googled it, too, so maybe the Atlantic Ocean v. the Carolinas became less of a story.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by honeychile

. . . prior to when Al Gore invented the internet.

Speaking of people about whom some have raised questions of natural-born citizenship.

If hope you figure out who it was; I want to know.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by honeychile

Believe it or not, I remember this little dilemma from a high school textbook, prior to when Al Gore invented the internet. I googled it, too, so maybe the Atlantic Ocean v. the Carolinas became less of a story.

Jackson was born in 1767 so it's a non issue. (But yes, he's the one it's rumored about). Even if he were born earlier and on a ship as some claim, he's still eligible.

"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;"

Some relevant wiki text:

Jackson's father died in an accident in February 1767, at the age of 29, three weeks before Jackson was born. Jackson was born in the Waxhaws area, but his exact birth site is unclear because he was born around the time his mother was making a difficult trip home from burying Jackson's father. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not officially been surveyed yet.[9]

In 1824, Jackson wrote a letter saying that he was born at an uncle's plantation in Lancaster County, South Carolina. But he may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which Jackson opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he may have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina.[9]

And an article: WaPo