There has been a lot of nonsense around the internet, and the mainstream media unfortunately, in the past few weeks about the status of John McCain's citizenship as a "Natural Born" citizen under Article II of the Constitution.
Being a lawyer, and being that I just love doing legal research, and being that my bosses are out of the office today and not looking over my shoulder, I decided to see what I could find.
Hopefully this will shut up the idiots.
For reference, here is the langauge of Article II:
No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.
The First Naturalization Act was enacted on March 26, 1790 (1 Stat. 103). It reads in relevant part:
And the children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond the sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as Natural Born Citizens. [emphasis mine]
The 1790 Act was repealed in full by the Naturalization Act of January 29, 1795 (1 Stat. 414). However, the above language was basically preserved in Section 3 of the Act.
and the children of citizens of the United States, born out of the limits and jurisdiction of the United States, shall be considered as citizens of the United States: Provided That the right of citizenship shall not descend to person, whose fathers have never been resident in the United States:
The term "Natural Born" is not explicitly used in the 1795 Act, but the implication is clear. The rest of the Act concerns what is necessary for one to become "Naturalized" as a citizen, but the children of citizens born outside of the United States SHALL be "as citizens". No naturalization necessary.
This language was slightly modified and expanded, although not significantly, under the Act of April 14, 1802, which repealed the 1795 Act. Section 4 of the Act reads:
and the children of persons who now are, or have been citizens of the United States, shall, though born out of the limits and jurisdiction of the United States, shall be considered as citizens of the United States
No later Acts that I can find have repealed this language.
IN SUMMARY, John McCain is a NATURAL BORN CITIZEN of the United States NOT because he was born in a US Territory, and NOT because he was born on a US Military Installation, but because HIS PARENTS WERE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES.
My good friends who had their first child in Poland while he was assigned there for a year on business will be quite pleased to know their daughter may some day become President of the United States.