The Birther Amendment

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2011/04/the-birther-amendment

For all the discussion of President Obama's birth certificate, there hasn't been much focus on the underlying issue: why, at this stage in the history of America, is the presidency limited to "natural born" citizens to begin with? Long before Barack Obama announced his presidential campaign or his birth certificate became an "issue," the New York Sun addressed the issue, in a September 2, 2004 editorial headlined "The Schwarzenegger Amendment." It said, in part:

It's true that governments once sought to win foreign influence and power by capturing the thrones of other nations. But it's difficult to imagine Austria employing this tactic should Mr. Schwarzenegger become a contender for the White House - or Canada, for that matter, should Michigan's Canadian-born governor, Jennifer Granholm, find herself on a national ticket. Even if Austria or Canada tried to exercise some undue influence, there's little chance it would be successful. Mr. Schwarzenegger and Ms. Granholm are Americans now.....

Voters are capable of evaluating those questions, especially when it comes to presidential candidates, who often crisscross the country building a national constituency. Americans have enjoyed the political and military leadership of foreign-born Americans before, whether it's Henry Kissinger, who served as state secretary, or General John Shalikashvili, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Whatever controversies dogged their careers, none sprang from allegations stemming from their foreign birth....

The editorial concluded by quoting a constitutional amendment proposed by Senator Hatch, a Republican of Utah: "A person who is a citizen of the United States, who has been for 20 years a citizen of the United States, and who is otherwise eligible to the Office of President, is not ineligible to that Office by reason of not being a native born citizen of the United States."

If the Hatch Amendment or the Schwarzenegger Amendment was a good idea in 2004, as I think it was, it's an even better idea now, after all the time and energy devoted to the question of documenting President Obama's birth. Call it the Birther Amendment.

I thought of this particularly last night while attending the Manhattan Institute's annual Alexander Hamilton dinner. One of the honorees this year was Mortimer Zuckerman, who was reportedly born in Canada (though I haven't personally examined his birth certificate). Past honorees have included the French-born director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philippe de Montebello; the Australian-born media executive, Rupert Mudoch, and the aforementioned Secretary Kissinger. If a voter chooses not to vote for a foreign-born candidate, or a candidate the voter suspects is foreign born, that's one thing. But it seems to me that the constitutional provision now in place barring immigrants from running for president is another thing. The time to tackle the issue is now, when it's not about any specific individual foreign-born candidate, just about the principle of an America where citizenship is based not on place of birth but on acceptance of the Constitution.

by Ira Stoll  |  Apr 28, 2011 at 11:05 am Related Topics:  Immigration, Non-Profits, Politics receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list