The Constitutional Requirements of Natural Born Citizenship for President

“There has been some controversy in the last two presidential elections about candidates meeting the constitutional requirements of natural born citizenship. Can you give me some information about this?  Also, what paperwork do I need if I would decide to run for president?” The Newton Falls Public Library staff was aware that this issue was discussed for both candidates in the 2008 election and again in the 2012.

Looking online, the staff found many websites with opinions but wanted a nonbiased, legal opinion.  On November 14, 2011, Legislative Attorney Jack Maskell published the 53 page article, Qualifications for President and the “Natural Born” Citizenship Eligibility Requirement for the Congressional Research Service.  The CRS Report is for Congress, prepared for members and committees of Congress. The summary begins with:

“The Constitution sets out three eligibility requirements to be President: one must be 35 years of age, a resident ‘within the United States’ for 14 years, and a ‘natural born Citizen.’ There is no Supreme Court case which has ruled specifically on the presidential eligibility requirements and this clause has been the subject of several legal and historical treatises over the years, as well as more recent litigation. The term ‘natural born’ citizen is not defined in the Constitution, and there is no discussion of the term evident in the notes of the Federal Convention of 1787.”  

And then closes with:

The weight of legal and historical authority indicates that the term ‘natural born’ citizen would mean a person who is entitled to U.S. citizenship ‘by birth’ or ‘at birth,’ either by being born ‘in’ the United States and under its jurisdiction, even those born to alien parents; by being born abroad to U.S. citizen-parents; or by being born in other situations meeting legal requirements for U.S. citizenship ‘at birth.’”

The full report includes the following sections: History of the Qualifications Clause in the Federal Convention of 1787, Common Law Meaning of the Term “Natural Born” Citizen or Subject, Common Understanding in 18^th Century of the Term “Natural Born” Citizen, and Citizenship at Birth: Case Law and Interpretation.  This latter section includes Legal Cases and Senator McCain and Legal Cases and President Obama.

The second part of the inquiry was answered by the Federal Election Commission, which has an online Candidate Registration Toolkit as well as all the forms needed to declare candidacy. We were not able to find any indication that you are required to show a birth certificate to file.  Once candidates have declared, they are sometimes asked to prove that they are natural born citizens.  According to the Wikipedia article: Natural-born-citizen clause, there have been other candidates whose eligibility has been questioned. The list includes such famous names as President Chester A. Arthur, Barry Goldwater, George Romney, John McCain, and President Barack Obama.

I Need President Obama's NDRP Executive Order

“I need to have a printout of President Obama’s executive order. It has to do with NDRP and I was told it was controversial.” While the Newton Falls Public Library staff has heard of presidential executive orders, they were unfamiliar with this particular one.

For the most current information about information relating to the President, the staff went to the White House website, www.whitehouse.gov.  This site has information relating to all aspects of our government. Using the search words “executive order ndrp” brought up the Executive Order -- National Defense Resources Preparedness. The order was issued by President Obama on March 16, 2012 and “delegates authorities and addresses national defense resource policies and programs under the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (the "Act").” We were able to print the full text of the order for our patron.

I Need to Learn About 2012 Primary Candidates

“The primary is coming soon and I know nothing about the candidates. Does the library have any information?” The Newton Falls Public Library staff knows that many people will be trying to determine how to cast their votes on March 6^th.

The local election boards have information about all the candidates and issues in the current election.  Trumbull County voters can access this list at www.electionohio.com/trumbull.  A sample ballot is available for each city, village, and township. Mahoning and Portage County voters will also be able to find information at their counties’ Board of Election websites. 

The League of Women Voters of Ohio has a Primary Voters Guide which our patron can view online at www.lwvohio.org. The library has a print copy at the Reference Desk. The guide includes the candidates for U.S. Senate and Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. It has each candidate’s party affiliation, contact and biographical information, and the answers to questions.

We also searched online for websites pertaining to the upcoming election and found some interesting ones for our patron to examine.  2012 Presidential Candidates has links to their profiles, official website, and positions. ProjectVote Smart has biographical information, interest group ratings, public statements, voting records, issue positions, and campaign finances. This site may be searched by nine digit zip code. It will bring up the Presidential, Congressional, Gubernatorial, State Legislative, Federal and State Judicial, Statewide, and Ballot Measures applying to your community.

The library also has a variety of local and national newspapers and magazines available to our patrons. As the election date comes closer, there will be more information for our patrons to read.

Is it True that No Republican Voted for the Social Security or Medicare Acts?

“I wanted to confirm some information. I have been told on more than one occasion that no Republican voted for the Social Security Act in the 1930s or the Medicare Act under President Lyndon Johnson. Is that correct?” The staff of the Newton Falls Public Library enjoys answering such straightforward questions.

Typing the keywords “republicans voted social security 1930s” in a Google search we found the website for Social Security Online History which includes archival documents. “Final Congressional action on the bill took place when the Conference Report was passed by voice vote on August 8, 1935 in the House and on August 9th in the Senate. On August 14, 1935 President Roosevelt signed the bill into law at a ceremony in the White House Cabinet Room.” Vote tallies by party are:

v  House

Ø  Yes – 284 Democrats, 81 Republicans, 1 Farm Labor, 6 Progressive/Other

Ø  No – 15 Democrats, 15 Republicans, 2 Farm Labor, 1 Progressive/Other

Ø  Not Voting – 20 Democrats, 4 Republicans, 0 Farm Labor, 1 Progressive/Other

Ø  Present - – 0 Democrats, 2 Republicans, 0 Farm Labor, 0 Progressive/Other

v  Senate

Ø  Yes -– 60 Democrats, 16 Republicans, 1 Farm Labor, 0 Progressive/Other

Ø  No  – 1 Democrats, 5 Republicans, 0 Farm Labor, 0 Progressive/Other

Ø  Not Voting – 8 Democrats, 4 Republicans, 0 Farm Labor, 0 Progressive/Other

We did a similar keyword search for medicare resulting in the appropriate information also being found at Social Security Online History. “The reconciled version . . . went to final passage in the House on July 27th and final passage in the Senate the following day. President Johnson signed the bill into law at a special ceremony in Independence, Missouri on July 30, 1965.” Vote tallies by party are:

v  House

Ø  Yes – 237 Democrats, 70 Republicans

Ø  No – 48 Democrats, 68 Republicans

Ø  Not Voting – 8 Democrats, 2 Republicans

v  Senate

Ø  Yes – 57 Democrats, 13 Republicans

Ø  No – 7 Democrats, 17 Republicans

ØNot Voting – 4 Democrats, 2 Republicans

Why Do We Use the Term Czar for Someone Involved in American Government?

“Former Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams just went to Washington D.C. as the Auto Czar. Czar seems to be an odd term to use for someone involved in American government; I thought it was a Russian ruler. When did this become used by our presidents?” Recently, _________ czar has been a phrase that seems to have worked itself into our common language. The Newton Falls Public Library staff found the question to be intriguing.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines czar in three ways: the first is a ruler or monarch; the second is an autocrat; the final one is considered an informal usage: “An appointed official having special powers to regulate or supervise an activity: . . . an energy czar.” [p. 455]. This seems to fulfill part of our patron’s request. 

The aforementioned book was published in 2000, so we know that the term was in use in this context prior to that year. Continuing our search online, we found that the Los Angeles Times' article (March 5, 2009) President Obama's czar system concerns some by Tom Hamburger and Christi Parsons. "President Nixon may have named the first 'czar' with his appointment of William E. Simon to handle the 1970s energy crisis."

According to Czar Struck: Sorting Through the Misconceptions and Understanding the Implications of an Expanding ‘Czar’ Phenomenon by Kathryn J. Murphy, United States Military Academy, "President Franklin D. Roosevelt originated the concept of the policy czar in American politics. Under his administration, Roosevelt created a 'brain trust' of advisors whom he relied upon for policy-related advice . . . In 1942, political cartoonist, Clifford Berryman depicted Roosevelt's advisors as czars . . . The Nixon administration was the first to actually use the term 'czar' with specific reference to the appointment of a 'Drug Czar' in 1971. This was subsequently followed by a highly controversial 'Energy Czar.' (pp. 1-2)" Murphy cites 32 Obama czars as of January 2010. We were not able to locate a difinitive czar listing from United States Government websites. Others, such as Wikipedia, did list the numbers of U.S. Executive Branch czars for each president from Franklin Roosevelt to Barack Obama. According to their listing Ronald Reagan had the least, one.

  

 

Why is Turkey the Traditional Thanksgiving Meat?”

“Why is turkey the traditional Thanksgiving meat?” The Newton Falls Public Library staff does not often get asked about commonly accepted customs such as this.  Discovering the answers to questions like this is always interesting.

The Folklore of American Holidays has an extensive section about Thanksgiving and harvest celebrations including the origins and customs.  Under Thanksgiving Dinner and What it Means [p.466], the basic menu of turkey, dressing, cranberries, potatoes, and pumpkin pie are listed, but not the reasons for the selections.  We extended our search online and found http://www.foodtimeline.org/ with information about Historic American Thanksgiving dinner menus.  In 1621, a contemporary description of the three day Plymouth Colony celebration lists waterfowl, turkey, and venison as the meals’ meats. It appears that until the mid 1900’s, a variety of meats were commonly served for this dinner.

Searching the OhioWebLibrary.org/ebsco we found an article which appeared in Highlights for Children [Nov2010, Vol. 65 Issue 11, p6-7, 2p] A Turkey at the White House! author, Jeannine Q. Norris, relates the story of the pardoning of the turkey by President Lincoln.  His son, Tad liked a turkey that was given to the president for Christmas dinner and begged his father to pardon the bird.  Thus began the custom of pardoning the White House turkey.

In The Making of the Domestic Occasion: The History of Thanksgiving in the United States by Elizabeth Pleck [Journal of Social History; Summer99, Vol. 32 Issue 4, p773, 17p].  Ms. Pleck states, “In early nineteenth century New England Thanksgiving day might begin with a morning church service, followed by the large meal in the afternoon.  Before or after attending church, men, musket in hand, might take aim at a wild turkey in the fields, or at paper targets.  The winner usually won a turkey as his prize for good marksmanship.”  In the 1920s, teachers began teaching about the holiday and decorated their classrooms with . . . pictures of Pilgrims and turkeys.  One wonders if this early childhood association with the holiday and turkeys helped to cement a lasting connection between the holiday and the menu.

We informed our patron, while we could not find a definitive reason it seems to have become customary to serve turkey due to common practice.

How to Contact the President of the United States, Senators, & Congressmen

Sometimes the Newton Falls Public Library staff members are asked similar questions by different individuals. The following queries were made in the last few days and could be answered by using one site. “What is the phone number for the White House?” “Where can I send a letter to the President?” “How can I have the White House send a letter of recognition for special events like a 50th wedding anniversary or a 100th birthday?” “I want to contact my senator and representative. Where can I find that information?” www.whitehouse.gov is a wonderful resource for such questions.

At www.whitehouse.gov/contact you can find the following phone numbers - Comments: 202-456-1111, Switchboard: 202-456-1414 and FAX: 202-456-2461. At this site you are also able to contact President Obama and his staff electronically using the online form. For those preferring to contact them through the mail, the address is The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500.

The Office of Presidential Correspondence handles letters of greeting to United States citizens. The website www.About.com gives the following detailed instructions on how to ask for letters from the White House. Greetings can be requested for “a 50th, 60th, 70th or later wedding anniversary, birthday greetings for individuals turning 80 or older or veterans turning 70 or older, wedding (send your request after the event), baby's birth or adoption of a child, retirement after at least 30 years on the same job, Eagle Scout Award, Girl Scout Gold Award, or Bar/Bat Mitzvah or equivalent religious occasion. When you make a request, be sure to send it so that it is received at least six (6) weeks in advance of the event date. (Greetings are generally not sent after the event date, except for wedding congratulations and newborn acknowledgments.) Include the name and home address of honoree(s), form of address (Mr., Ms., Mrs., Dr., Miss, etc.) exact date of occasion (month, day, year), age (birthdays) or number of years of marriage, your (the requestor's) name and daytime phone number, any specific mailing instructions if other than to honoree's address,” and for a wedding include couple's married names and current or new address). Send the required information to the White House Greeting Office by mail or fax (address and fax number above). About.com notes that the office is presently swamped with requests and it is currently taking several months for the request to reach the office and to be mailed out.

Besides information about the current administration, this site also includes facts about all the presidents and first ladies; the White House; the executive, legislative and judicial branches of our government; and other links to resources such as the Senate, House of Representatives, CIA World Factbook, and USA.gov.