Mon May 20 2013
Departments
National Issues

Sorry, No Foreign-Born Presidents
by Jimmy W. Hall
November 21, 2004

There is a movement afoot, originating on the left coast, to amend the United States' Constitution to allow foreign-born U.S. citizens to obtain the highest office in our land. Chiefly, the advent of Arnold Swarzzenegger's Governorship of California is the most recent spark that has again brought this issue to the public forefront. Still, I don't quite buy into it.

Our forefathers safe-guarded the Presidency with this provision for a reason, or several reasons. Certainly we are a nation that is in a large part indebted to emigrants and immigration. Americans born elsewhere have surely made the ultimate sacrifice for their grateful adopted nation. And yes, few or no families (apart from Native American Indians) cannot trace their ancestry beyond our borders; however, all of this is irrelevant to the issue at hand.

I have yet to see any viable argument or evidence which suggests that easing Presidential qualifications would be beneficial to our democratic republic. Have you? Be honest. Contrarily, even with the power of the vote to defeat foreign-born candidates, the office itself loses some of its uniqueness if we allow them to run for the Presidency or Vice Presidency. I'll explain.

Again, our Founding Fathers purposely made the office of President of the United States something special, and quintessentially American. The United States dramatically broke ties with its mother country and fought a bloody war to start anew, and one of the many functions of the new Presidency was that of being a figurehead, symbolic of this new independence. While the United States still welcomes qualified people from around the globe to join us, the facts is that we consider those citizens born as Americans to be extra special, worthy of higher stations in life.

From another angle, the birth requirement also acts as an extra level of protection or security for the nation. It assures that someone who has a special tie (birth) to the country will lead it. This helps to ensure loyalty, and disallows 95% of the world's population from ever fooling our electorate.

The clincher is my final line of reasoning. The simple truth is that most of the time a person's nation of birth remains extra-special to them, regardless of where life later leads them. What if someone born in another country were to ascend to the American Presidency, and the United States then somehow became at odds with that very nation? Do we want to put an American President in such a position? Ourselves? Could we rest assured of precisely where his or her loyalty would be then? Can anyone be trusted to attack their own birthland, if need be, in times of war? With relatives still living there? The answer is 'No.' Why place the national security and defense of the United States in such a position?

Don't misunderstand the gist of this column, please. I am in no way belittling American Citizens born elsewhere, but am rather celebrating the heritage of the majority of Americans which were born in this dear land we love. As such, I feel justified in jealously protecting the highest elected post in this wonderful land. Any reasonable requirements, such as those enacted by our forefathers, which further vett its holder can only be a good thing.

I say these things as a person who whole-heartedly supported Mr. Swarzzenegger's election as Governor of the state he truly loves, California. However, being one Governor of fifty is certainly different than being the sole President of the greatest nation in the history of the world. In the event of Austria being opposite of the United States in a future world war, I do not see Arnold as ever being willing to 'terminate' his native nation, even for the sake of his adopted one. Apart from war, smaller trade and treaty arrangements would, no doubt, present further frequent and routine problems...




Recent National Issues Articles

Stay granted pending appeal
  December 27, 2004
  Staughton Lynd

Divided we stand: The cleaving of America
  December 24, 2004
  W. E. Guman

The Right, the Cross and the CIA: Immaculate Deception
  December 24, 2004
  W. E. Guman

Degrees of Separation:  Mass Murder Style
  December 23, 2004
  Susan Bourland

Hispanic vote for GOP does not reflect long-term shift
  December 23, 2004
  Ed Morales

Gonzales is poor choice for U.S. Attorney General
  December 23, 2004
  Bernardo Ruiz

Tavis Smiley’s exit from NPR will be great loss for radio
  December 23, 2004
  Leah Samuel

Basket brawl recreates gladiator-spectator relationship
  December 23, 2004
  Salim Muwakkil

HRC releases World AIDS Day report card
  December 2, 2004
  Human RIghts Campaign

The Impossible Will Take a Little While: Hope in a Time of Fear
  November 27, 2004
  Paul Rogat Loeb

Attorney jailed, released pending appeal on privilege issue
  November 22, 2004
  Martin Yant and Stacie DeVault

Subordinating nation's secular values to zealots' will
  November 21, 2004
  Pierre Tristam

Sorry, No Foreign-Born Presidents
  November 21, 2004
  Jimmy W. Hall

Flight Attendants, the Working Day and Labor Solidarity
  November 21, 2004
  Seth Sandronsk

Attorney refuses to testify, jailed
  November 20, 2004
  Martin Yant

Where Is Our National Conscience?
  November 20, 2004
  Todd Huffman, M.D.

Beam me Up Scotty…
  October 25, 2004
  James Bengel

Under Cheney, Halliburton Helped Saddam Hussein Siphon Billions from UN Oil-for-Food Program
  October 18, 2004
  Jason Leopold

Disinformation and Depleted Uranium
  October 3, 2004
  Tadit Anderson

The History of the CIA and the American Elections Coup
  September 28, 2004
  Stephen Caruso

Unnoticed 1st Amendment Abuses
  September 14, 2004
  Steve Gligorov J.D. and Metodija A. Koloski

How Dick Cheney Got Away With $35 Million Right Before the Govt Launched a Probe into Halliburton
  August 19, 2004
  Jason Leopold

The Results of Ten Years of Prosecution of Corporate Crimes
  August 15, 2004
  Rick Keefer

Greens cite reasons for a new, independent 9/11 probe
  July 31, 2004
  Green Party, USA

Empty Platform, Empty Town
  July 31, 2004
  Daniel Patrick Welch

Ralph Nader Sleeping with the Enemy? Let's Be Fair
  July 22, 2004
  Joshua Frank

Missing Government Documents- Berger and Bush
  July 22, 2004
  Stephen Crockett and Al Lawrence

ADC Update: Contact ADC if Approached by the FBI
  July 20, 2004
  American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

The isolation of Indiana, USA
  July 18, 2004
  John Rouse

The Convention Speech A Child Longs To Hear
  July 14, 2004
  Todd Huffman, M.D.

Waging War with Wal-Mart
  July 4, 2004
  Author's name withdrawn at his request

Good for Business, Bad for the People
  June 29, 2004
  Daniel Patrick Welch

Condi Rice salutes war president, It's not who you think
  June 29, 2004
  Brian McKenna

Did Ashcroft 'behead' an innocent man in an Ohio election-terror scam?
  June 20, 2004
  Harvey Wasserman and Bob Fitrakis

Ohio Muslims react to arrest of terror suspect
  June 16, 2004
  Jad Humeidan

New documents suggest Enron’s Lay, Skilling, Washington lobbyist knew about company’s trading schemes in California
  June 14, 2004
  Jason Leopold

Ronald Reagan's Hip-Hop Legacy
  June 14, 2004
  Jimi Izrael

Impeach the SOB, Damn the Republicans-Full Speed Ahead!
  May 18, 2004
  Daniel Patrick Welch

Labor Media May Be Our Best Hope Against the Corporate Version
  May 18, 2004
  David Swanson

Energy advisors helped fund governor's campaign
  May 13, 2004
  Jason Leopold

Schwarzenegger Pulls a Cheney; Aides Refuse to Identify People Who Helped Governor Draft Calif. Energy Plan
  May 2, 2004
  Jason Leopold

Got Juice? California May Be Saddled With Severe Power Shortages This Summer
  April 15, 2004
  Jason Leopold

Bush Was Warned of Possible Attack in U.S., Official Says
  April 10, 2004
  CLG News

Faking Democracy - Americans Don't Vote, Machines Do, & Ballot Printers Can't Fix That
  April 7, 2004
  Lynn Landes

When Good Men Don't Do Nothing
  March 30, 2004
  Daniel Patrick Welch

9/11: It worked, didn't it?
  March 29, 2004
  James R. Hanson

One quarter of every tax dollar you pay! $7 Trillion national debt driving interest expense to record highs
  March 24, 2004
  Christopher Bifani

The strange collapse of building seven
  February 24, 2004
  James R. Hanson




Read National Issues Articles by Year:
2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000



FREE PRESS EMAIL UPDATE


Donate to the Free Press Election Protection Fund to help us investigate and monitor election fraud in this year's election.


Donate to The Free Press The Free Press Store

FOLLOW US ON
twitter
facebook


SEARCH THE FREEPRESS




1021 E. Broad St. Columbus, OH 43205 | 614.253.2571 | truth@freepress.org
All content © 1970-2012 The Columbus Free Press
Disclaimer