The constitution requires that a US president be a citizen by birth. Does this mean they have to be born on real US soil? What about someone who is a citizen from birth, but was born in a foriegn country? I’m thinking of children of active duty servicemen, embassy staffers, etc.; born to parents outside of the country who had no intention of emigrating.
The wording is “natural born citizen.” There are ambiguities, but the case of George Romney* would indicate that, as long as the person was a citizen from birth, he would be eligible.
The determining factor would be if he went through a naturalization process.
*Romney was born in Mexico, of American parents. He ran for president in 1968 and the issue came up, but the general opinion was that that he was a natural born citizen (though it never was ruled in court).
Barry Goldwater faced some of the same questions during his run for the presidency, as he was born in the Arizona Territory before it became a state. More recently, John McCain faced some questions in 2000 since he was born in the Panama Canal Zone, but the first Congress passed legislation back in 1790 declaring that the children of US citizens born outside the territorial boundaries of the United States were natural-born citizens.
The Inmigration and Nationality Act and various other related statutes (found in Title 18 U.S.Code) define “natural born citizens” and the circumstances-of-birth that make you one. That’s where a court would look to make the decision. So far it includes those born in the States, the District, the nonincorporated territories of USVI, PR, Guam, NMI, and the Canal Zone while it existed; plus most children born abroad to a current citizen (there are certain exceptions and caveats in the statutes).