Proposal would open door for foreign-born president

By Todd J. Gillman
The Dallas Morning News

	Jennifer Granholm
	E-mail this article Print this article Search archive

WASHINGTON — America may be the land of opportunity. When it comes to the presidency, though, the sign outside the Oval Office might as well read, "Foreigners need not apply."

The Constitution sets aside only one job for native-born Americans — a 216-year-old obstacle that stands between immigrants and the White House.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican who is leading a push for a Constitutional amendment that would repeal the requirement, calls it "decidedly un-American."

Who's left out? Twelve million naturalized Americans, 100,000 kids adopted overseas in the past decade, tens of thousands of soldiers, 700 Medal of Honor recipients, and two sitting governors — Michigan Democrat Jennifer Granholm, born in Canada, and California Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, who left Austria 35 years ago and was naturalized in 1983.

Schwarzenegger says longtime citizens should be eligible — not that he's considered it personally.

"There are so many people in this country that are now from overseas, that are immigrants, that are doing such a terrific job with their work, bringing businesses here, that there's no reason why not," he said this week on NBC's "Meet the Press."

A little history:

In 1787, the founding fathers feared that some European power could manipulate the new nation's elections. Some cast a wary eye at France, others at England.

Even if the provision seems outdated, it was a sensible "safety check" for a new nation, said Stanford University historian Jack Rakove, author of the Pulitzer-winning "Original Meanings," a study of the Constitution.

But he added, "After 200 years and more, we have justifiable confidence in our ability to assimilate and acculturate people from around the world."
 
"Have we ever had a serious Italian presidential candidate or Polish presidential candidate, or a Serb or a Croat or a Hispanic American?" Rakove said. "The presidency has been 98 percent reserved for WASPs."

Non-natives can't even run for vice president, because no one born off U.S. soil may serve as commander-in-chief, even temporarily. That has left two secretaries of state out of the presidential chain of succession, Henry Kissinger (born in Germany) and Madeleine Albright (Czechoslovakia). Other immigrants who have held positions of power include a Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Gen. John Shalikashvili (Poland), and two members of the Bush Cabinet, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao (Taiwan) and former Housing Secretary Mel Martinez (Cuba).

Then there's Schwarzenegger. He would be covered by the Hatch proposal, which allows anyone to run for president after 20 years of citizenship.

With Hispanics as the fastest-growing part of the electorate and both parties trying to cozy up, the timing may never be better.

Ratification requires two-thirds votes in the House and Senate and approval by 38 states. And it could take decades before anyone but native sons manages to make inroads in Iowa and New Hampshire every fourth January.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company