Requirements to Become President of the U.S.

Requirements to Become President of the U.S. What are the constitutional requirements and qualifications to serve as president of the United States? Forget the nerves of steel, the charisma, the background and skill set, the fund-raising network,  and the legions of loyal folks who agree with your stance on all the issues. Just to get into the game, you have to ask: How old are you and where were you born? The U.S. Constitution Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution imposes only three eligibility requirements on persons serving as president, based on the officeholder’s age, time of residency in the U.S., and citizenship status: 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. These requirements have been modified twice. Under the 12th Amendment, the same three qualifications were applied to the vice president of the United States. The 22nd Amendment limited office holders to two terms as president. Age Limits In setting the minimum age of 35 for serving as president, compared to 30 for senators and 25 for representatives, the framers of the Constitution implemented their belief that the person holding the nation’s highest elected office should be a person of maturity and experience. As early Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story noted, the character and talent of a middle-aged person are fully developed, allowing them a greater opportunity to have experienced â€Å"public service† and to have served â€Å"in the public councils.† Residence While a member of Congress need only be an â€Å"inhabitant† of the state he or she represents, the president must have been a resident of the U.S. for at least 14 years. The Constitution, however, is vague on this point. For example, it does not make clear whether those 14 years need to be consecutive or the precise definition of residency. On this, Justice Story wrote, by residence, in the Constitution, is to be understood, not an absolute inhabitancy within the United States during the whole period; but such an inhabitancy, as includes a permanent domicile in the United States. Citizenship In order to be eligible to serve as president, a person must either have been born on U.S. soil or (if born overseas) to at least one parent who is a citizen. The Framers clearly intended to exclude any chance of foreign influence from the highest administrative position in the federal government. John Jay felt so strongly on the issue that he sent a letter to George Washington in which he demanded that the new Constitution require a strong check to the admission of Foreigners into the administration of our national Government; and to declare expressly that the Commander in Chief of the American army shall not be given to nor devolve on, any but a natural born Citizen. Supreme Court Justice Story would later write that the natural-born-citizenship requirement â€Å"cuts off all chances for ambitious foreigners, who might otherwise be intriguing for the office.† Under the ancient English common-law principle of jus soli, all persons- other than children of enemy aliens or foreign diplomats- born within the borders of a country are considered citizens of that country from birth. As a result, most people born within the United States- including the children of undocumented immigrants- are â€Å"natural born citizens† legally eligible to serve as president under the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, which states, â€Å"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.†    Less clear-cut, however, is whether children born abroad to United States citizens are similarly â€Å"natural born citizens† and eligible to serve as president. Since 1350, the British Parliament has applied the rule of jus sanguinis, which holds that newborn children inherit the citizenship of their parents, regardless of the place of birth. Thus, it is not surprising that when Congress enacted the first U.S. naturalization law in 1790, that law declared that â€Å"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.†   Ã‚  Ã‚   Still, the question of whether the term â€Å"natural born Citizen† used in the Presidential Eligibility Clause of Article II incorporates both the parliamentary rule of jus sanguinis in addition to the common law principle of jus soli. In the 1898 case of United States v. Wong Kim Ark the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that citizenship through jus sanguinis, while available by statute, was not available through the 14th Amendment. Today, however, most constitutional experts argue that the Presidential Eligibility Clause of Article II does incorporate both jus sanguinis and jus soli, so George Romney, who was born in Mexico to American parents was eligible to run for president in 1968. Presidential Trivia and Controversies John F. Kennedy was the  youngest person  to be elected president; he was 43 years old when he was inaugurated in 1961.There is no maximum age limit set forth in the Constitution.  Ronald Reagan  was the  oldest president; at the end of his term in 1988, he was nearly 77.A number of presidential hopefuls have had their citizenship questioned over the years. During the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump accused Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who was born in Canada to an American mother and Cuban-born father, of not being eligible for the presidency.The election of President Barack Obama in 2008, whose father was Kenyan, prompted a number of lawmakers to call for the presentation of a candidates birth certificate at the time that he or she files for candidacy.  Martin Van Buren was the first president to be born after the American Revolution, making him the first true American to serve.Virginia has produced more presidents- eight- than any other state. However, five of those men were born p rior to independence. If you count only persons born after the American Revolution, then the honor goes to Ohio, which has produced seven leaders. Election Day was established by Congress in 1845 as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Prior to that, each state set its own date for elections.