There's a link to the Texas Law Review article on my page:

George Washington, first in war, first in peace, and first presidential usurper

This was posted on OC about a month ago; unfortunately, when I pasted it into a text doc, I didn't record the username of the poster:

George Washington

Born British Subject

as all Presidents born prior to Independence + Obama

I wonder if there's a difference between "establishment" and "adoption."

If so, when Virginia adopted ("chose" = ad + opt) the Constitution four days after it was "established" according to Article VII, George Washington was indeed a citizen at that time. The time of adoption in Virginia was June 25, 1788, according to http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/jbalkin/arti ... iously.pdf, and thus, my literal reading shows Washington to have indeed been eligible to hold the office of president.

But I suppose it could be argued that the Framers were not distinguishing between "establishment" and "adoption," although they well could have been. They were not unaware of the time element that was a part of daily life (the travel time between Philadelphia and elsewhere). So I think it's entirely possible that they *did* distinguish between those two nouns.

On the subject of NBC and parentage, I had thought the "strict" view had been that both parents had to at least be naturalized citizens, not that both had to be NBC themselves.

Dr. C: Don't forget about the 14 year residency requirement for the presidency in the Constitution. This can be variously interpreted. 14 years continuous residency immediately before being elected? Any 14 years continuous residency? Or a total of 14 years residency, however distributed?
If your interpretation is "14 years continuous residency immediately before being elected", then DDE did not qualify! From 1942 to 1946 he was posted to Europe. And if you are worried about "foreign influence", remember that Eisenhower, as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, often dealt personally with Stalin, where Uncle Joe doubtless filled his head with Commie Propaganda. No wonder John Birch Society head Robert Welch felt justified in calling Ike a "dedicated agent of the International Communist Conspiracy"! [:>)

I've come up with a complete checklist in order for all future presidential candidates to fulfill the qualifications as laid out in Article II, as per the the Birfers.

1. A certified copy of the candidate's long form birth certificate.

2. Certified copies of the long form US birth certificates and/or naturalization papers for both of the candidate's parents.

3. A certified copy of the paternity test administered in order to prove that the father named on the candidate's birth certificate is actually the candidate's father (if the candidate's father is deceased, the body must be exhumed in order to perform such testing). If the father named is not actually the candidate's father, then the candidate must provide proof of who their real father is and that their father was a US citizen at the time of his birth. Failure to do so will result in the disqualification of the candidate.

4. Certified copies of fourteen years worth of utility bills in the candidate's name.

I think that pretty much covers it.



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