# Stupid NBC question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 5, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-nbc-question/611815 "2012-02-05T02:09:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mrpayday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@mrpayday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrpayday)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-nbc-question/611815/1 "2012-02-05T02:09:36Z")
Can a US citizen be a diplomat for a foreign country? What is the citizenship status of his children? What happens when his children run for President 35 years later. Is Superman a natural born citizen? Or Damien Thorn? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-nbc-question/611815/2 "2012-02-05T02:24:36Z")
> [@mrpayday](#): > > Can a US citizen be a diplomat for a foreign country? Yes, although the other country would probably require the person to renounce their US citizenship. > [@](#): > > What is the citizenship status of his children? Before of after? > [@](#): > > What happens when his children run for President 35 years later. Before of after? > [@](#): > > Is Superman a natural born citizen? Or Damien Thorn? Fictional characters can be whatever Hollywood wants them to be. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-nbc-question/611815/3 "2012-02-05T02:50:27Z")
Clark Kent (né Kal-El) is a natural-born citizen because he was a foundling, found and raised in the USA and no documentary evidence of any other citizenship surfaced prior to adulthood. Superman is a persona created by Clark Kent, and so I wouldn’t think he’d need one, but if (as I seem to recall) he was offered honorary citizenship, that would presume that the persona wasn’t a natural-born citizen, because what would be the point? In any case, whatever Superman does with regard to citizenship is basically entertainment, because his primary identity in the US (birth certificate, high school graduation, taxes) would all be tied to natural-born Clark Kent. (Yes, you and I know that Clark Kent was an illegal immigrant as a minor, but neither the Kents nor the Smallville officials who registered his birth would have had that information, and therefore he is ipso facto natural-born.) ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-nbc-question/611815/4 "2012-02-05T02:54:54Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > (Yes, you and I know that Clark Kent was an illegal immigrant as a minor, but neither the Kents nor the Smallville officials who registered his birth would have had that information, and therefore he is ipso facto natural-born.) Really? I thought the Kents knew that he was an alien, what with the finding him in a spaceship and all, and at the very least kept some things form the Smallville officials. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-nbc-question/611815/5 "2012-02-05T02:59:49Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > Really? I thought the Kents knew that he was an alien, what with the finding him in a spaceship and all, and at the very least kept some things form the Smallville officials. Pre Crisis- The Kents knew Clark was an alien. Post Crisis- The Kents believed Clark was a normal human baby involved in some crazy guvmint experiment. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-nbc-question/611815/6 "2012-02-05T03:15:48Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > Really? I thought the Kents knew that he was an alien, what with the finding him in a spaceship and all, and at the very least kept some things form the Smallville officials. Sorry. Quite right. I should have written that the Kents would not have had the information to prove it (a vehicle alone might constitute evidence of foreign origin, but there would be no definitive evidence of WHICH non-US-country he came from). Even after an inquiry, I think he’d be classes as natural-born just because of the lack of definitive and specific proof to the contrary.