In order to be President of the United States, one must be at least 35 years old, a resident of the United States for at least 14 years and a natural-born citizen. Qualifying
…as a "natural-born citizen" depends on factors such as location of birth, date of birth and parental nationality. In the case of President Barack Obama, some of his opponents contested his natural-born citizenship, leading to rumors and speculations about his eligibility for the U.S. Presidency.While Obama's mother was a born citizen of the United States, his father was a Kenyan national. Additionally, it was unclear whether his parents were legally married according to U.S. law. To further complicate things, Obama's parents separated when he was a toddler. Soon after the separation, his mother married another foreign national and moved to Indonesia with Barack. These factors have created enough uncertainty for Obama's citizenship to be questioned.At the time of Obama's birth, the law stated that if only one parent was a U.S. citizen at the time of the child's birth, than that parent must have resided within the U.S. for at least ten years, five of which had to be after the age of 16. When Obama was born, his mother was 18, so she had not spent five years in the United States after the after of 16. However, this law applies to people born outside of the United States. Since Obama was born in Hawaii, this does not apply to him.The Supreme Court refused to hear a lawsuit challenging Obama's citizenship. Since President Obama was able to produce a valid birth certificate from Hawaii, he was clearly born in the United States. The Supreme Court did not have a reason to question the authenticity of the birth certificate.It is not unusual for opponents to question a candidate's citizenship. John McCain had his citizenship questioned. With the high stakes of a presidential election, opponents will grasp onto any possibility of bringing the opposition down.Mudslinging is always a factor in Presidential elections. In the case of Obama's citizenship, the evidence given against him seemed to be more manipulation of law than interpretation. The state of Hawaii repeatedly confirmed the authenticity of Obama's birth certificate. Therefore, all other claims about his parents' citizenship are moot.In 1964, the Republican nominee Barry Goldwater was challenged because he was born in Arizona before the territory was admitted as a state. (MORE) 
