Mark Wonsil wrote:
>> I've been told that, to be able to run for President of the USA, one has to
>> be at least 35 and have been born on US soil. What about a kid whose both
>> parents are American, but who happens to be born outside the USA ? Would
>> he/she be allowed to run anyway when he/she is 35 ?
> 
> The actual quote is:
> 
> "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."
> 
> I always took it to mean born a citizen and not "converted".
> 
> Mark W.

The part you may have trouble with, is the "time of the Adoption."  This 
only applied to those citizens who happened to be alive on September 17, 
1787.  "Other" citizens (born after 1787,) had to be U.S. citizens by birth.

In other words a person could have been born a foreign citizen and 
become a U.S. citizen AND be eligible for the Presidency as long as they 
became citizens (for the most part, converted colonists AND mostly 
former English subjects,) before 1787.

Of course the clause became moot as the years went by.

Example, Arnold Schwarzenegger is not eligible.  Although there was some 
sound bytes from the Hollywood media about changing the Constitution so 
he could run.  The idea didn't get very far.

-- 
BT

Tracy Johnson
Justin Thyme Productions
Ye olde free telnet games at:
http://hp3000.empireclassic.com/







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