Can a Puerto Rican become president of the US?

Answer 1

Yes, Puerto Rico is a United States Commonwealth, so a person born there is a natural born US citizen, so provided he meet the other requirements for President, a Puerto Rican born on the island or anywhere else in the U.S. could hold the office.

Answer 2

To be President of the United States you need to be a citizen born in the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands (or to American parents abroad). You also need to have been a U.S. resident for at least 14 years.

Answer 3

A resident of Puerto Rico cannot be President of the United States , even if that person was born in one of the 50 states by two American Citizen parents. In order to be President of the United States, one must be a resident of one of the states.

However, the larger question is: Can some one born in Puerto Rico and living in one of the 50 US states become President of the United states? That will have to be answered by the US Court system eventually.

There are two Constitutional sections that apply:

Article 2 Section 1

"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."

14th 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."

First, one has to keep in mind that US law (codified in this section 8 USC 1402) signed by Harry Truman in 1952 says anyone born in Puerto Rico since April 11, 1899 is a natural-born citizen of the United States.

Some maintain that a person born in Puerto Rico (a natural born US citizen by law) has the same right to be President of the United States as any American Citizen who was born overseas to two US Citizen parents. The argument continues that to deny some one born in Puerto Rico (a natural citizen by law) the right to become President of the United States would violate the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment. (Some even contend that the 14th amendment nillifies the "natural born citizen" clause of Article 2 section 1. But that is another argument.)

If a natural-born American Citizen is denied the opportunity to become President based on where that citizen was born it would be tantamount to having two classes of "natural born" citizenry and therefore unconstitutional. Following the letter of the U.S. Constitutional, any natural-born citizen of the United States can become President of the United States as long as they are 35 years old or older and a resident of one or more of the 50 States for 14 continuous years before the Electoral College vote no matter where that individual was born.

As precedent, there have been several candidates for President of the United States who were born in U.S. Territories or abroad. ...most recently:

John McCane (2008 Election) was born in the Panama Canal Zone (Unincorporated territory at the time) of two US Citizen parents.

George Romeny (1968 Election) was born in Mexico of two US Citizen parents.

Bary Goldwater (1964 Election) was born in the Arizona territory (incorporated territory) before it was a state.

Lowell Weiker (1980 Election) was born in France of two US Citizen Parents

Answer 4

Under 8 USC 1402, it says anyone born in Puerto Rico after January 13, 1941 you are a natural born citizen. So yes, they can run for presidency.

Answer 5

No, Presidents must be born in the United States.