Is Obama a natural-born U.S. citizen, and thus eligible to be president?

Yes. Hawaii became a state in 1959; Obama was born in Honolulu two years later.

The qualifications to be President of the United States as specified in Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution are:

Must be natural-born citizen of the United States
Must be at least 35 years old
Must have been a resident of the United States for fourteen years [1]

Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment:

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. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. [2]

Hawaii became a U.S. state on August 21, 1959. Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii two years later, on August 4, 1961. Obama is therefore a natural-born U.S. citizen and eligible to be president. [3,4]

Some Obama critics have expressed skepticism about the authenticity of his birth certificate. For example "Swift Boat" author Jerome Corsi, who recently released a book attacking Obama, has claimed that the short-form birth certificate image Obama's campaign provided on the internet for inspection is "fake," and the "original birth certificate of Obama has never been released, and the campaign refuses to release it." [5]

Obama's original birth certificate, however, has been officially verified by the State of Hawaii. Hawaii's Director of Health, Chiyome Fukino, who was appointed by Republican Governor Linda Lingle and is herself a financial contributor to the Republican Party, has personally verified the authenticity of Obama's birth certificate: [6-8]

For Immediate Release: October 31, 2008

STATEMENT BY DR. CHIYOME FUKINO

"There have been numerous requests for Sen. Barack Hussein Obama's official birth certificate. State law (Hawai'i Revised Statutes §338-18) prohibits the release of a certified birth certificate to persons who do not have a tangible interest in the vital record.

"Therefore, I as Director of Health for the State of Hawai'i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, have personally seen and verified that the Hawai'i State Department of Health has Sen. Obama's original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures.

"No state official, including Governor Linda Lingle, has ever instructed that this vital record be handled in a manner different from any other vital record in the possession of the State of Hawai'i." [9]

FactCheck.org has also directly examined the original document that the Obama campaign released an image of on the web and vouches for its authenticity:

Claims that the document lacks a raised seal or a signature are false. We have posted high-resolution photographs of the document as "supporting documents" to this article. Our conclusion: Obama was born in the U.S.A. just as he has always said. [5]

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Did Obama need a non-U.S. passport when he traveled to Pakistan in 1981?

Do college records indicate that Obama applied for a scholarship as an Indonesian citizen?

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Is McCain a natural-born U.S. citizen, and thus eligible to be president?

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[1] Constitution of the United States Article II, Section 1. Senate.gov

[2] Constitution of the United States Amendment XIV. Senate.gov

[3] Wikipedia. Hawaii

[4] New York Times. Barack Obama

[5] FactCheck.org. Born in the U.S.A.. August 26, 2008

[6] KITV.com. Obama's Birth Certificate Verified By State. October 31, 2008.