Birthers document 1967 NYTimes articles about George Romney's eligibilityAll of the concerns at the time dealt, of course, with George's birthplace being in Mexico. And our dear Birthers want to analogize that to their theories about there being a phantom two-citizen-parent requirement.
So if they truly think there's a historical basis for that belief of theirs, and as long as they're digging through newspaper archives, maybe they can document the level of controversy that existed over the eligibility of two other candidates
in that same election.
First would be Edmund Muskie, the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 1968. Born in Maine in 1914, Muskie's father had immigrated to the US in 1903 from Russia. The senior Muskie is listed as naturalized in the 1930 Census, but his status is "Unknown" in the 1920 Census, when little Edmund was 6. I can't locate any naturalization records for the father either.
Second is Massachusetts Governor John Volpe. Like Romney, he was a contender for the Republican nomination in 1968, and while he didn't perform well, he still got 7 times the popular vote that Romney did. Born in Massachusetts in 1908,
both of Volpe's parents had immigrated from Italy in 1905, making it extremely unlikely that they naturalized before his birth. I can't find them in the Census or immigration records.
And, of course, there was Spiro Agnew. Whose father was an immigrant who does appear to have naturalized prior to Spiro's birth, but it stands to reason that if that were a requirement, then the question would have been publicly asked and answered.
So if there was some kind of parental citizenship requirement, it stands to reason that there ought to be at least as much written about these men's eligibility as about George Romney's.
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