Can someone become president who was born in Alaska (or another territory) before it became a state?

Answer 1

The Constitution requires that a person be a natural-born citizen, not that they be born on American soil (a common misunderstanding). This means, simply, that one be an American citizen from birth - one could be born in Puerto Rico or Spain or Timbuktu as long as one were an American citizen from birth (generally, by having at least one American parent).

As to the specifics of your question - if one is born in a U.S. territory then one is usually an American citizen; whether the place of one's birth is a state or territory does not affect one's citizenship. Several people have run for President without having been born in one of the 50 states - Al Gore (born in the District of Columbia) and John McCain (born in the Panama Canal Zone when that was still part of the United States) have run and there was never any question of their eligibility.

Your question would be an interesting one as regards people who lived in a place that became a U.S. territory after they were born. The only territory that would have any such people would be the Northern Mariana Islands. By my interpretation, pre-WW2 Marianans would not be eligible to run for the Presidency, not having been U.S. citizens at birth, though they'd have a good case if it ever came up to a Supreme Court review.

Answer 2

Good question. The answer is that the issue has not been definitively addressed by the Supreme Court. Meaning "maybe".

As a practical matter, if someone is born in a territory that later becomes a state, and lives in the US thereafter, it's very likely that they will meet the "natural born" requirement of the Constitution. I can't imagine the Court saying they don't qualify.

Answer 3

You have to be born on American soil....so I would'nt think so.

Answer 4

yes.


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