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A natural-born citizen is a special term mentioned in the United States Constitution as a requirement for eligibility to serve as President or Vice President of the United States.
Definition In the United States, a person is considered to be a "citizen-at-birth" either due to place of birth within U.S. territorial jurisdiction (jus soli) or through descent from a U.S. citizen (jus sanguinis), or through some combination of those two elements. Many legal experts consider a "citizen-at-birth" to be legally equivalent to a "natural-born citizen" although this has not yet been conclusively established. "Natural born citizen" as presidential qualification The special term "Natural-Born Citizen" is used in particular as a requirement for eligibility to serve as President or Vice President of the United States. Article II, Section 1, clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution states that: 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. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides an additional source of constitutional doctrine that emphasizes birth "in the United States" and subjection to U.S. jurisdiction at the time of birth, as the defining elements of citizenship (other than citizenship by naturalization): "All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the Jurisdiction thereof, are Citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. . ." Amendment XIV, section 1. However, the full text of the fourteenth amendment does not mention the phrase "natural-born citizen," nor does it address Presidential qualifications. The phrase "natural born Citizen" is not defined anywhere in the Constitution. Current US law The current federal statute, , first passed by Congress on June 27, 1952 and last amended on October 25, 1994, of the U.S. Code provides details on the circumstances under which persons are legally recognized by the United States to be "nationals and citizens of the United States at birth". The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898) that a person born within the jurisdiction of the U.S. but to noncitizens is automatically a citizen. However in Weedin v. Chin Bow, 274 U.S. 657, 663 (1927), the Court held that, in regards to citizens of the U.S. who had never resided in the U.S., their children are not citizens. Historical legal artifacts Throughout American history, several persons born abroad to U.S. citizen parents have sought the Presidency and none were challenged on their eligibility during their election campaigns. Among the most prominent was George W. Romney, the governor of Michigan who sought the presidency in 1968. He had been born in Mexico to American parents. Romney's campaign faltered before questions of his eligibility were seriously raised. Of historical note, Martin Van Buren was arguably the first "Natural-Born Citizen" to become President. Prior Presidents had been born British subjects and were arguably not "natural-born Citizens", but were nonetheless clearly eligible for the presidency by being "a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution." See also Related topics | ||||||||
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