Australia has had 5 Prime Ministers born in other countries, including our current one.
Granted they havent had the power of nuclear armageddon as part of thier portfolio, but it doesnt seem to have been a big deal, and voters seem to be able to decide for themselves whether its an issue or not.
Otara
Remove it. I’d rather deal with it now before there’s a nationally-popular immigrant politician. Any attempt to make the change then will be inexorably linked to their potential candidacy (Schwarzenegger still invariably gets mentioned, even though his star has faded quite a bit since 2003), and will turn into a yes/no vote on that rather than on the merits of the amendment itself.
There’s already a length of residency requirement, so it doesn’t need to “be added.” I suppose it could be made longer for naturalized citizens, but I think 14 years is already long enough.
Because it doesn’t mean “citizen born in the USA.” It’s more expansive than that, although the exact limits aren’t really all that precise when you get out to the fringes (although this becomes less of an issue as time goes on, there are people alive today who were born to US citizen parents overseas (or even in US unincorporated territories, where the 14th Amendment doesn’t confer automatic citizenship by birth) and had their US citizenship conferred after birth by an Act of Congress; their natural-born status is a matter of debate (I personally think they are natural-born citizens, as I think it means or at least should mean something more like “citizenship as a consequence of birth”)).
So they shouldn’t ever be able to visit that country again, for any reason? Merely entering a country that you’re a citizen of is an exercise of that citizenship. If they manage to enter the country as a foreigner, and they’re arrested for some reason, would the fact that they weren’t able to get consular assistance start the clock over again?
Again, what do you think of babies under the age of 1 that are adopted? Seems like they have an interest in the country.
I agree that if you are a naturalized citizen, that you should be given the same rights and responsibilities as any other citizen. Thee is no magic thing that happens at birth that makes you forever marked with loyalty to a country.
Plenty of countries allow naturalized citizens to rule, and it happens often enough. I don’t think much harm has ever come of it. If you really are trying to buy the presidency, it’s not like there aren’t plenty of natural-born Americans who can be bought.
I’d leave it to the courts to decide. I would say that if they enter a country that would not allow them to renounce their citizenship, as long as they entered it with their American passport and had it stamped that would be good enough.
Of course let’s remember we’d be talking about a former American President they wouldn’t be entering in the same line as everyone else, regardless of the country.
What I’m really trying to avoid is a situation in which a former American President goes to China where he was originally from and accepts a high ranking position in Chinese government.
Restricting a person’s rights based on something they cannot control (ie. their place of birth) seems to me the height of anti-American discrimination. We’re better than this.
That is what it means.
I’m not American, I’m English, but I see this rule as pointless - if people don’t want someone as president because of their nationality, they won’t vote for them. If they do, well, the democratic thing to do is allow them to stand.
I can understand the need for such a restriction in a new or weak nation, but that hardly applies to the US.
I wouldn’t be so sure. The Hapsburgs are a sly, sly bunch.
Well, but of course the President of the United States of America is not merely the head of government, as is your Prime Minister. The President is Head of State. Australia’s Head of State is required to be…well…not Catholic, and descended from Electress Sophia of Hanover. So, um… yeah. 
Leave it. Are we running out of natural born citizens, and struggling to find people who want to be president?
Remove all restrictions. Americans should be allowed to choose anyone they want for president. If you think a candidate is a Chinese Communist Party plant (as if this is more frightening than the attributes of some of the candidates already running), then don’t vote for that person. Anyway, a naturalized citizen should have the exact same rights as someone born here.
I feel it best to leave it the way it is. If it ever comes up for an actual constitutional-amendment vote, that is how I will vote.
But not a native born Oz citizen!
And we are trying to change that, currently the main plan seems to be to politely wait till the current one karks it, then saying ‘no thanks’ to the next one.
Otara
I don’t think people advocating changing it are doing so because they are worried that there aren’t enough viable candidates, they are concerned that it isn’t fair on a naturalized citizen that they are restricted from running. I’m very sympathetic to that view point, and feel naturalized citizens should be treated the same as natural born citizens. Right now we do have two classes of citizens: ones that are allowed to be elected President and those that are not. That seems ridiculous and against the spirit of the United States. I’d say let anyone who is a citizen be eligible. If the electorate are suspicious of the motives of the candidate then that will reflect in the success or failure of their candidacy.
Exactly the way I feel about the issue. Same with the age restriction. If you can convince the majority of American voters to vote for you, despite your age and country of origin, have at it.
As far as I know we were never in danger of running out of white male property owners either.
Let Arnie Run! Let Arnie Run!
Nope. US citizen from birth is a hard, easy to understand cutoff. 12 months from birth is arbitrary. If you change it to 1, why not 18 months? Why not 2 years? It’ll be a never-ending argument. Best to nip it in the bud.
How many people will this affect, anyway? Is there really some big benefit to allowing a few people to theoretically be president who never will be? Again, it’s not like not being eligible to be president is a huge restriction.
Exactly my take on it.
I don’t have some super secret American essence just because I was born in Ohio.