Was Obama a Kenyan Citizen?

By Nicholas D. Kristof

One of the scurrilous right-wing rumors about Barack Obama is that he is a Kenyan citizen. That’s wrong. But the great political website, www.factcheck.org, does indicate that Obama probably had dual American-Kenyan citizenship until he turned 21. He inherited his father’s citizenship at birth and retained it until age 21, without his doing anything or even being aware of it.

Factcheck writes:

Kenya recognizes dual citizenship for children, but Kenya’s Constitution specifies that at age 21, Kenyan citizens who possesses citizenship in more than one country automatically lose their Kenyan citizenship unless they formally renounce any non-Kenyan citizenship and swear an oath of allegiance to Kenya. Since Sen. Obama has neither renounced his U.S. citizenship nor sworn an oath of allegiance to Kenya, his Kenyan citizenship automatically expired on Aug. 4,1982.

Factcheck also has an examination of Obama’s acceptance speech, suggesting that there were several exaggerations. For example:

Obama asked why McCain would “define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year”? Actually, McCain meant that comment as a joke, getting a laugh and following up by saying, “But seriously …”

Comments are no longer being accepted.

jerry collins August 30, 2008 · 3:48 am

An extensive discussion about Obama’s “natural-born” citizenship was had on the 8/29-30/08 edition of The Right Perspective radio show. Hosts Frank of Queens and John of Staten Island interview Philip Berg who has initiated legal proceedings into examining Obama’s possible non-US citizenship. (Archived on //www.therightperspective.com)

rob baker August 30, 2008 · 1:09 pm

While the thread on BO’s citizenship or lack thereof may ultimately turn out to be “scurrilous”, it is hardly a right-wing cause. Berg is a notorious left-winger and staunch supporter of Hillary Clinton. No matter what side you are on, you might be asking why isn’t BO’s campaign ensuring that the facts come out. It is tempting to think that the reasoning may be similar to that behind the stone wall where the Ayers story lurks. This all seems rather Clintonesque and far from the “new politics” that Barry used to talk about.

marik7 August 30, 2008 · 1:45 pm

I read McCain’s joke about the middle class. It was an indication of his lack of connection to the realities of American life. Of course, he did not want to anger the Republican Party by actually putting a number out there as well. His party is not actually concerned about the middle class except when it enters the voting booth.

Obama’s number, $150,000 as a max (as I’ve read), is also too high. Only one in ten make that kind of money. It is beyond a stretch to say that top ten per cent is a part of the “middle.” At least, Obama made a try. His own motivation was also political. He hopes for contributions from those $150k folks who like to think that they are “middle class.”

I would suggest that at the outside, the spread between 20 and 80 percent of the population would constitute the “middle” class.

It would be see how the figures would turn out if we were talking about net worth, wouldn’t it?

guppy23 August 31, 2008 · 9:48 am

Factcheck.org has a conflict of interest in covering Barack Obama because they are owned by The Annenberg Foundation.

Senator Obama was the first Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, which was a Division, or Project, of the Annenberg Foundation.

Please find another site to backup your claims.

YpoCaramel September 1, 2008 · 11:06 am

Being a Hong Konger with friends with multitudes of different citizenships, I have to say that it’s much more productive to go out and find a person’s true beliefs rather than extrapolate them from the passport. In our world of immigration and travel, there are people with Canadian citizens who are frenzied China patriots and HKSAR passport holders who dream of nothing more than to drop it for something else.

I myself have three passports. How will you judge me?

Pedro Sousa September 3, 2008 · 8:17 am

How are we supposed to trust a news story that begins with a statement that is incorrect? Mr. Kristof states “One of the scurrilous right-wing rumors about Barack Obama is that he is a Kenyan citizen”.Right-wing? You might want to check your facts instead of blaming the “right wing”. The individual responsible for what Mr. Kristof characterizes as “scurrulous” is in fact a DEMOCRAT, who supports Hillary Rodham Clinton.

AJH September 18, 2008 · 5:53 pm

If this is scurrilous, why hasn’t Obama campaign produced a US birth certificate to refute the Berg lawsuit charges.

Methinks there’s something here just by their failure to respond.

internet copy IS NOT A VALID B.CERTIF. September 29, 2008 · 1:19 pm

Berg v. Obama, No. 08-cv-04083 in Pennsylvania Eastern District Court.

as i recall and as the picture of obama in the brown dress standing behind his other relatives suggest, obama returned to Kenya at age 19…. that’s interesting…. did he go there soley for the purpose of MAINTAINING THIS CITIZENSHIP?

AND HOW COME OBAMA HAS NEVER PUT THIS UP ON HIS SMEAR CONTROL SITE WHILE DENYING ALL OTHER ALLEGATIONS? A COVERUP?

obama traveled to Kenya and Indonesia on an INDONESIAN passport in 1981 at the age of 19. PLS EXPLAIN THAT!

why didnt obama offer his certificate as proof that he has a valid birth certificate instead of hiding behing claiming Berg was not “hurt” as a result?

no attachment to Motion proof obama is lying September 29, 2008 · 1:21 pm

factcheck is owned by the William Ayers company, ANNENBERG OF WHICH michelle obama and axelrod are principals.

U DO THE MATH.

Dave October 9, 2008 · 4:36 pm

Oh, give it up rightwing haters. If anyone isn’t qualified to be president, it’s McCain. We know for a fact that he wasn’t born on American soil. Oh, but you probably don’t want to talk about that do you?

Andrea Ellerff October 12, 2008 · 11:35 am

Please, NYT. As the premiere newspaper in the United States, address the matter before the court concerning Obama’s place of birth and put this issue to rest. He’s either a natural-born citizen of the United States of America or he is not, and if, waiting in the wings, there is a proveably authentic birth certificate (e.g. a vault original or copy) from Kenya, we want to know.

Dan October 15, 2008 · 5:59 pm

Dave, If you knew anyting about the Constitutional requirements to run for president you would know that McCane definately qualifies. He has also released all documents proving so (long Version vertified Birth Certificate) so why wont obama? Hes hiding something and he owes it to all americans to prove where he was born. He has also had all his past records from all his college days froze so no one can have access to them what is he afraid of? Im scared of someone who is so secretive.

Ben Florsheim October 16, 2008 · 11:46 pm

Barry’s “Certification of Live Birth” is WORTHLESS for purposes of establishing whether Barry is a “natural-born” citizen.

The document is a SECONDARY source issued by the Hawaii Department of Health in 2008.

The Department of Health routinely certifies even foreign births without regard to citizenship (which is a federal issue).

More importantly, the Department of Health “updates” birth records AFTER THE FACT to make adoptions or name changes look as if the person had been BORN WITH THE NEW IDENTITY.

If he was indeed born in Kenya, Obama probably became a U.S. citizen due to a retroactive change in the federal citizenship statutes in 1986. (This retroactive statute still does not make him “natural born”, but is good enough for the U.S. Senate.)

After becoming a U.S. citizen, Obama could have asked the Department of Health to issue an updated (current) “Certification of Live Birth”, but apparently there was some problem with this, thus forcing him to forge EVEN the secondary document.

Regardless of where he was born, Obama is clearly hiding SOMETHING. This means necessarily that he is being blackmailed BIGTIME for financial and other favors.

Again, keep your eyes on the ball – we need to see Obama’s ORIGINAL typed birth certificate from 1961, and also check out all British, Kenyan and other foreign records, including records kept by the Britain’s MI6 and the CIA about the movements of Obama Senior in 1961.

P.S.: FATCHECK.ORG [sic] is plain WRONG about the date on which Obama’s Kenyan citizenship expired. Under the Kenyan constitution in force at the time, if a Kenyan citizen also had another citizenship at the time he turned 21, he then had a GRACE PERIOD of 2 years to renounce the non-Kenyan citizenship. Failing this, the Kenyan citizenship expired at the END of the grace period, i.e. when the person turns 23. In Obama’s case, this would be August 4, 1984 (not 1982 as Annenberg/FATCHECK claim).

martha hass October 18, 2008 · 7:39 am

When I first heard that Obama’s citizenship was questioned I thought it was ridiculous. Then I did some calling around (congressmen’s office, DNC, RNC, NY Board of Elections, FEC) and found that there is no requirement for any candidate to produce documents that would verify eligibility to be placed on the ballot (state or national) to be elected as president There is apparently a mechanism to challenge eligibility. Why does this country have a requirement for POTUS to be 35 years of age, be a natural born citizen, live in US for 14 years and then not require candidates on the ballot to provide proof that they meet the requirements? I have to produce more to get a driver’s license or vote than someone does to be president!

Zach October 19, 2008 · 2:11 pm

Seriously, given the distractions perpetuated against the Clinton Presidency once he was in office- distractions that prevented many accomplishments, one wonders why the campaign doesn’t produce this document.

It is very disturbing that circumstances might emerge that reveal a skirting of the rules, especially once someone has been duly elected.

It would be the most logical action for the Obama campaign to reveal the entire passport history now, rather than let it be discovered in dribs and drabs.

It’s not the crime but the cover up and this doesn’t seem “scurrilous” but rather urgent as election day nears and Obama is the clear frontrunner and presumptive elected President.

Are there no official government bodies charged with enforcing the Constitution’s requirement for President?

Truth Seeker October 20, 2008 · 10:39 am

Please check this out (I don’t know why anyone has not so far)…
Kenneth E.Lamb was sent to Kenya in February 2008 to investigate Obama’s Kenyan links, including his birth in Kenya.
On June 9, 2008 Wayne Madsen, a journalist with Online Journal published an article in which he said a research team went to Mombassa, Kenya and located a Certificate registering the live birth of Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. to his father, a Kenyan citizen and his mother, a US citizen.
Berg submitted this as evidence to Federal Court.

So why no show us?

Please look into this.

Thank you
Truth Seeker

Andrew Sang October 20, 2008 · 3:25 pm

Oh guys. We sincerely wish Barack Obama was a Kenyan Citizen. That way, even if he did not make it in your campaign, he could come for the 2012 Kenya general elections and run for President.
We would love to have him run our country.
Too bad he is not Kenyan.
See:
//notkenyan.wordpress.com/

Josh October 22, 2008 · 12:31 am

“…Im scared of someone who is so secretive.”
-Dan

Then you obviously only watch Fox News if the last eight years hasn’t frightened you. This has been the most secretive administration imaginable. Worse than Nixon, Reagan, or Johnson. When someone can get elected to the highest office in the country after suspicion of insider trading America has a problem. When information about a country that supplied at least 8 (FBI website) of the high-jackers from 9/11 is suppressed America has a problem. When over half of the administration has ties to oil and/or defense companies, in an era of skyrocketing oil and defense profits, America has a problem.

Read up on the Project for a New American Century and revisit Bush’s 2000 campaign. McCain hired the same people who defeated him then. Since McCain sold his soul and integrity to solidify his party’s support I have no respect for him. He wants to be the president so badly he has forgotten to be who he used to be- a good man.

Melissa October 22, 2008 · 4:51 pm

Mr. Kristof,

Do you know if the NY Times or any other reputable media are investigating these allegations? Is the Berg lawsuit legit and progressing? Personally, I’d love to see Obama cleared and the matter put to rest once and for all. What do we know for sure? I’m having trouble finding any information of any real veracity and substance online. It’d be great to hear from a trusted source…

Thanks!

TruthTeller October 22, 2008 · 7:08 pm

If OJ had an alibi, he would have used it to prove he did not kill Ron Goldman and Nicole Simpson.

If Barak Hussein Obama possesed a valid birth certificate, wouldn’t he produce it in an INSTANT?

Instead, he uses lawyers tricks to delay, delay, delay a FEDERAL LAWSUIT, consistantly refusing to simply produce the ONE SIMPLE DOCUMENT required to dismiss the suit.

Bill Clinton looked America in the eye and said, “I did NOT have sex with that woman, …”, then proceeded to lie to a Grand Jury, a Federal Judge, and repeatedly to the American public.

Mr. Obama? Simply produce the certificate, and it’s game over. 5 minutes worth of work.

sceptical October 24, 2008 · 7:58 am

Amen — Just produce the document Obama…….unless you really do have a reason to hide……………

sceptical October 24, 2008 · 11:52 am

YpoCaramel –
Are you running for president of the United States? Then what passports you hold are irrelevant. You must not be aware that the president must be a ‘natural born citizen.’ It’s the law.

No one is judging YOU.

Phil Z. October 24, 2008 · 12:27 pm

What does it say about the Times that a blog on Sarah Palin’s wardrobe will run on the front page and garner over 1,100 mostly hateful comments when the truly important question of Obama’s qualifications to be president are hidden behind the search engine with only 21 comments?

All this stonewalling behind procedural motions leads me to conclude that there is something amiss with his citizenship status and that he is going to try and make it to election day in hopes of his election being a fait accompli and less likely to be overturned by the courts.

Not the type of behavior I want to see in a candidate for the highest office in the land. Should Mr. Berg’s charges prove to be true, it will be a devastating blow to the Democratic Party and may give rise to other national parties, which is not a bad thing.

Mark Whiteman October 24, 2008 · 1:29 pm

I have read many of the responses to this piece, yet no one has indicated the single biggest issue relative to Obama’s potential conflict with the “natural born” requirement – the Consitution. We cannot selectively ignore the Constitution when its requirements to do match up with any one political group’s perception of what is “right”. That’s exactly why the Consitution exists.

Fred October 25, 2008 · 9:53 am

This is a bogus lawsuit from a partisan (and kook) Hillary supporter hoping that some fool judge can try to remove Obama allowing Hillary in his place. If that were to happen, I’d be voting McCain, but it won’t because there’s no proof that Obama is not whom he claims. It’s not on Obama to provide anything to Mr. Berg – the burden of proof lies with him – and just becaause he claims that Obama’s certificate of live birth is a fake – this man also claimed that 9/11 was planned by the Bushies – he’s the one with credibility problems. I listened to Berg speak – he’s a smart guy, but he’s got nothing – and he carries the burden of proof. He should also realize that were a Hillary supporter to have Obama removed with this slippery legal garbage (does ANYONE doubt that Obama considers himself a US citizen?) – the election would go McCain/Palin…