Before President Obama, another chief executive had to endure questions about his birthplace. Mo Rocca reports on the "birther" controversy surrounding the 21st President, Chester Alan Arthur.
@Gary Allen You're thinking of William Howard Taft.I don't know what the percentage is,but I'm in the nerd section too.God bless your mom.My mother taught me a trick to memorize at least seven of the Presidents.Starting at the tenth:Tyler poke (Polk) Taylor,Fillmore Pierce Buchanan then Lincoln.That's how I still remember them.Appealing to the absurd helps memory.
Chester A. Arthur took the oath of office as President in his house on Lexington Ave., NYC. This building is now a Middle Eastern food bazaar. Hmmm. The plot gets deeper.
Yes, he had to be given an impromptu oath of office as his predecessor, James A. Garfield had died of his wounds from being shot nearly three months earlier, in 1881.
That's actually really cool! So is that 7 generations? I'm horrible at adding generations up for whatever reason. Did you know the grandson of the tenth president John Tyler is still alive? The comparison between grandson of an early president and your grandpa being a great grandson of a much later president is crazy to me! That family has like 5 generations of time in three generations. Anyway, I'll probably brag from now on that I replied to Chester Arthurs descended grandson on the interwebs. Lol
The important thing to note was 1 of Chester a Arthur parents were American citizens cause in American law if a person was born in a foreign country but has at least one parent who is a American citizen they can still run for president or any seats of office
That's a great point. My mind was so quick to jump to scandalous conclusions, I forgot about the actual rules. I just reread the Constitution a couple days ago, too. I should be better than that!
I have to edit I please forgive me, I'm havin a rough time now. I will say this if I had the medicine the I would have commented better, out the medication that I need to take for this problem because the drug addicts in this country they won't give it to me even though I'm not a drug addict!
@@MarchOnRome 1st I'm not a drug addict I took the 3 controlled medication as they were prescribed I was drug tested every month before I got my prescriptions so far I've not yet able to get the meds I need just have to show the doctors that I'm not taking medications so then over period of time till I am trustworthy.
@@MarchOnRome That & Adderall and diazepam the adderall is for my ADHD the oxy is for degenerative disc and disease degenerative joint disease and arthritis right shoulder blade I think he ate my right knee got ran over by a car that right shoulder was in a car accident in 1993 wrapped my car and telephone pole I was just 17 I have severe anxiety I've had a few panic attacks in my life so far diazepam also use to treat seizures.
Historians today may consider Pres. Arthur a mediocre and the least memorable president but when he left office in 1885, journalist Alexander McClure wrote, "No man ever entered the Presidency more profoundly and widely distrusted than leave more generally respected." And even Mark Twain, who was very distrustful of politicians, wrote, "It will be hard indeed to better the administration of President Arthur."
@@DugrozReports I will quote two sources. Alexander McClure,the political correspondent for the New York Times, stated, "Never before had a man entered the White House more profoundly distrusted than leave more generally respected", and even Mark Twain who was suspicious of politicians said, "It will be hard indeed to better the presidency of Chester Arthur." High praise indeed!
Chester A. Arthur actually was quite a beneficial president. Doing some research on him, his policies actually were very influential, and some presidential scholars say he's probably one of the best presidents the US ever had.
Arthur was a Usurper ; never the legitimate holder of the Office of the President of the United States. He was born a Citizen of Great Britain through his Non-U.S. Citizen father
If Chester Arthur was born in Canada, his parents might not have known about it until much later and then he would have the same reaction as Doug Heffernan on King of Queens, "OMG! I'm Canadian!"
This is idiocy. The Constitution states that the President must be a "natural born citizen." This is not to be confused with "native born citizen." A natural born citizen is one whose parents (or one of whose parents) was a citizen of the United States at the time of his or her birth, making it citizenship by inheritance, not by location. So, NATURAL BORN and NATIVE BORN are two different things. At least this is how the framers of the Constitution would have understood it, and it was what they meant when they wrote it down. If you're watching this on CZcams, you would have been able to see a video here some years ago, of a young Barack Obama introducing himself as saying he was born in Kenya. (Good luck finding it now.) Considering his rather unstable upbringing, as the product of what we used to call a "broken home" and being moved from one household to another (maternal grandparents, stepfather in Indonesia, and so on), he may have grown up with the wrong information himself. But his mother was an American citizen at the time of his birth, so if he was born on the moon, his mother's citizenship would have been all that mattered. Now you know not only the rest of the story, but why someone once called them the "lamestream media." Glad I could help out.
david true but there is a residency requirement for the us citizen parent as well when obama was born his mother (1961) had to have resided at least 5 years in usa from her 14th birthday (19 years old) obama was born when she was 18 so IF he was born in kenya as some say (i dont think so) she could not have passed us citizenship to baby barack the law has been changed to 2 years...i believe but its not retroactive
Uncle Ruckus That whole birther thing was a bad joke. Both major Honolulu newspapers reported in the vital statics columns that Barack Obama was born on August 4th 1961 in Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu. This was reported in both the Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star-bulletin. Yet the Obama haters still push this drivel.
i was not an obama hater but a person who respects the rule of law and i believe most of the others looking at this were too i saw only one small clipping showing his birth announced but im amazed not one young nurse came out and said OH i remember him being born . they would be in their 70 or 80s only . quite an oddity to have an african and white american married in hawaii in 1961 . after all a woman just came forward about being attacked 36 years ago and many people are still alive remember nothing of the events she claims ever occurred . i think the whole BO birther issue was a smokescreen to draw attention away from the fact that his real father was frank marshall davis
There is a small museum in the village of Cullybackey, Northern Ireland close to where my late grandmother lived called 'Arthur Cottage' where the president's father hailed from
Was his father also an American citizen? Were there any specific laws at the time specifying who was or wasn't a citizen at birth if not born on U.S. soil? I think you're right, he would be a "natural-born citizen" (meaning born a citizen) even if the birth took place in Canada, but it should be more definite than "I think". Oh, and the border was "porous" because there weren't any border controls at all, I'm pretty sure. People could cross in either direction whenever they wanted, didn't have to stop to answer anyone's questions (there was no one to ask them), and it was completely legal.
Whether his parent or parents were "American born" hasn't a thing to do with Arthur's or anyone else's Article II Eligibility. The parents' , that in particular of the Father, status as possessors of U.S. Citizenship is what is of paramount concern. The newborn must inherit through "the blood" (jus sanguinis) his or her Citizenship of the United States and in addition via "the soil"(jus soli) unless one or both parents are serving in the "armies of the state"(military or diplomatic corp.) then the child although born "abroad" will be considered to have been born within the jurisdiction
I'm American, and I had never even heard of Chester Arthur until I happened to see a page in middle school hung on the classroom wall with the list of presidents, and I was interested in who was president when, so I started copying them down. When I got to Chester Arthur, I was thinking, "Who?" The focus, in general, is on presidents like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, people like that. But, no one ever says Chester Arthur. So, this video is actually my first time ever hearing any news at all about Chester Arthur. Up until this video, all I knew is that there was a Chester Arthur. So, thanks for this video. Interesting video. I wish we could know for sure where he was born.
I'm 35, into history and never heard of Chester Arthur before in my life. Just saw some CZcams listing presidents and I had to go wikipedia this guy to make sure he was a real president. #1 Obscure President in US history.
@@dreamkitty You could have left that last part out. And I agree that he didn't do anything important while in office, otherwise we might have heard of him. But surely he was important to his wife and mother.
Looking at the comments it appears that Mo Rocca, and others, are confusing the 14th Amendment's apparent granting of birthright citizenship (still not a settled issue) and the requirement, in Article II, that a President be a "natural born citizen." One is natural born, in the consensus legal understanding of that term, if one or both of one's parents were US citizens at the time of one's birth. Where a person is born is not decisive for Article II purposes.
Don't need Arthur's birth-certificate to demonstrate his Article II ineligibilityArthur's father had not yet naturalized as a U.S. Citizen when little Chet came into the world and so passed along (jus sanguinis) his British Citizenship to his newborn; Pops was in possession of no form of U.S. Citizenship for his son to inherit
Cruz , was/is a Usurper wannabe. The despicable Cruz is far from an Article II 'natural born Citizen' ; far closer , in fact, to a natural born Cuban Citizen having been born to a Cuban Citizen father. He is a native born Canadian Citizen and at best, a naturalized U.S. Citizen
I said the exact same thing just now above. Otherwise how could George Romney (born in Mexico) and John McCain (born in what was once known as the Canal Zone) run for president.
It really doesn't matter because Arthur's father was an American and as such, American citizenship was automatically conferred to his son at birth regardless of where the birth took place.
Well, he would have been born a British subject in 1829 or 1830 because Confederation did not occur until 1867. And his father was a bilingual school teacher and many Vermonters went back and forth in those days. So the Arthur's could have worked in the US and Canada. But there is no way for sure to know where he plopped out on which soil. His father was Baptist so Arthur would have been baptized sometime in the late 1830s or early 1840s if he came to Jesus.
With what I was saying about Chester A. Arthur I know that I misspelled his last name. However, I know that the border line did a lot of fluctuation throughout the time. I offered in my previous comment about a town and a home wherein the border line did funny things when the surveyors drew the border line on the map. I became aware of this situation while watching a program on the Discovery Channel and yet another program on Home and Garden channel. The utility services in that town are even effected by this. It wasn't until the 1960s that that section of the border was refined. Perhaps when Chester A. Arthur was born that city was part of Vermont and sometime thereafter the border was redrawn and it went to Canada. The only way this matter can be settled is if all maps for every year from when he was born until his death are reviewed.
This worry over presidents being born outside the United States is a misconception based on our new understanding of “birthright citizenship.” Until the late 19th century, citizenship was not granted by simply being born here, it was passed through parentage. That means, “natural born citizen” means any person who was born a with a right of citizenship whether or not they were born in Americans soil.
Just because his father taught school in Canada and his grandmother lived in Canada,doesn't mean Chester was born in Canada! There is a difference between likelihood and proof!
That small house at 1:15 might still have Arthur's DNA. If it could be extracted, replicated using PCR, and then matched with his descendants the Canadians could be telling the truth. The questions raised starting at 2:55 are reasonable: why did Arthur lie about his birth year (by only 1 year), refuse to answer questions about his birth, and burn all his personal documents before his passing?
Chester Arthur was born Oct. 5, 1830 in Vermont. I never heard the claim that he was born in 1829 until a few years ago and I've been following the presidents since the mid 60's when I was five years old.
That's what was said by Chester A Arthur. But over the last 30 years or so it has been accepted by most historians and scholars that he was born in 1829.
Jim Stull that doesn't make you right. American history is full of lies. The people who wrote our history wrote it to favor those like themselves. That should be obvious to anyone. We may never know the whole truth and nothing but the truth regarding Arthur's birthplace
Unbelievable how this matters still in America as a democracy. Literally every other democracy in the world doesn't have an archaic rule about birthright to the Presidency. Yes, I know the historical reasons for it, it's still stupid.
dont just say that explain your position at that time it was most likely thru the father since women couldnt vote and could lose their us citizenship by marrying a foreigner
The first seven Presidents (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Adams, Jackson) were not born in the United States. They were born in the British English Colonies. The first president born in the US was Martin Van Buren
8 U.S. Code § 1401 - Nationals and citizens of United States at birth (e) a person born in an outlying possession of the United States of parents one of whom is a citizen of the United States who has been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year at any time prior to the birth of such person; Obviously, "of parents one of whom is a citizen of the United States" deduces the other parent is a foreign national. Now read the only enumerated power in the U.S. Constitution granted to Congress regarding citizenship: U.S. Constitution Article 1, Sec. 1, Clause 4: "The Congress shall have Power To...establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization” Why is it that 8 U.S. Code § 1401 excludes the only missing category - a person born in an outlying possession of the United States of parents each of whom is a citizen of the United States?The above is a rhetorical question for all but the most intellectually challenged residing amongst this forum's population---sadly quite a sizable bunch
If it says so in a pamphlet, it MUST be true, because you can’t publish anything in a pamphlet that’s not true. There are laws against that sort of thing.
If both parents were US citizens, then he’d still eligible for presidency. Michael Bennett was born in India, but he can still run of president because of this
Constitutionally, natural born citizen means born in on of the states that form the union. Today that means one of the 50 states unless your more elderly and from Alaska or Hawaii.
@@twiggy1253 Research it. For the purpose of establishing eligibility, someone 35 years or older and having been born in one of the states, unless one was born a subject of the King of England in one of the 13 colonies prior to the ratification of th US constitution can be president.Political parties may nominate anyone at all. So Barry Goldwater(Arizona territory), John McCain (Panama), Al Gore (DC) were not eligible to be president, but the US government does not follow the constitution, so who cares? Ted Cruz (Canada), Tulsi Gabbard (Somoa) aren't eligible either.
IMHO this could be attributed to the lack of clear borders between developing States, or as in this case, Countries. I was amazed when working on my genealogy to find unclear boundaries between neighboring states but it certainly makes sense!
George Romney, Mitts father was born of U.S. citizens in Mexico and there was some question if he was eligible to run for Prssident in 1968. Apparently he was so if Chester's parents were U.S.citizens constitutional wise he was eligible to be president. The constitution has been interpreted as foreigners born not of native parents cannot run for president. For example someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Technically you don’t actually need to be born in the United States to be President as long as you have one biological parent that is an American citizen at the time of your birth.
That's true now but originally, the father had to be a US citizen in order for a child born overseas to be granted US citizenship so if Pres. Arthur was indeed born in Canada, he would not have been a birthright citizen because his father was not a citizen.
They didn't mention, not only did C Arthur have the coolest sideburns EVER (Jealous Mo?) but he was the great great great great great grandson of Susanna Martin, one of the "witches" executed at Salem.
That is not all that unreal to have happened because survaiors didn't ferm up the border until recently. One unique antidote to that is in one town there is a house wherein the person who lives in that house has to cross the American Canadian border frequently just to make her meals and her bed is situated so that her head is in America and her feet are in Canada. So the town of birth of Chester A. Arthor could have been in America and now it's in Canada. The town where that house is in is split in half with half being in America and the other half is in Canada that town is in Maine.
According to the Constitution, Arthur would still have been eligible to be President since both his parents were American citizens, Canada wasn't even a dominon yet, so like our early Presidents, he would have been a British subject, but he was definitely born in Fairfield, Vermont. Like Barack Obama, the Democrats came up with that mythical story, but it was never proven.
If his parents were American citizens, then it's irrelevant where he was born. It's like how the questions of Obama was actually dumb and irrelevant because his mother was American
I'm just glad that not another Canadian became a president... for now... but it's still a possible that this could happen. Oh and that certain Canadian goes by the name of Ted Cruz.
Disappointed that Mo didn’t pronounce his middle name correctly. Chester chose to pronounce his middle name with an emphasis on the second syllable: AlAN.
If you asked somone on the street who Chester Arthur was they probably wouldn't know.
Which is sad if you ask me.
He’s considered the most forgotten president actually
I knew he was the President, but i forgot, no one said just why he brunt his papers, that is strange
I would.
@Gary Allen You're thinking of William Howard Taft.I don't know what the percentage is,but I'm in the nerd section too.God bless your mom.My mother taught me a trick to memorize at least seven of the Presidents.Starting at the tenth:Tyler poke (Polk) Taylor,Fillmore Pierce Buchanan then Lincoln.That's how I still remember them.Appealing to the absurd helps memory.
Chester A. Arthur took the oath of office as President in his house on Lexington Ave., NYC. This building is now a Middle Eastern food bazaar. Hmmm. The plot gets deeper.
Food for thought ......
I knew he was a muslim
Yes, he had to be given an impromptu oath of office as his predecessor, James A. Garfield had died of his wounds from being shot nearly three months earlier, in 1881.
They shoulda preserved it tbh
The part where he asked "Who were YOU thinking of" got me, I'll be honest.
Anyone else caught in a CBS Sunday Morning vortex?
😂 yes I am. Great program.
Me to
Yes, for decades now!
IVE FALLEN AND I CANT GET UP
Ikr
Ted Cruz was born in Canada.
And born to a Cuban Citizen father.
He is Cuban by blood and Canadian through the soil and , at best, a naturalized U.S. Citizen
Send him to Quebec!
and Michael Bennet was born in India, weird how people who werent born in the us are running for president.
mano fiske no his mom is American, born in the United States. Which makes him also American.
pipn So what?
Fun fact he's my grandpa's great grandfather!
So you’re direct ancestor of president that’s impressive
That's actually really cool! So is that 7 generations? I'm horrible at adding generations up for whatever reason. Did you know the grandson of the tenth president John Tyler is still alive? The comparison between grandson of an early president and your grandpa being a great grandson of a much later president is crazy to me! That family has like 5 generations of time in three generations. Anyway, I'll probably brag from now on that I replied to Chester Arthurs descended grandson on the interwebs. Lol
No one is talking about how that dudes name is Dumbville
Dalton Stier ik lmao
I heard that too, but I wasn't sure if I had heard right. I thought it was Dunville. But it's Dumville?! Are you sure?! I rest my case then!
🤣
The important thing to note was 1 of Chester a Arthur parents were American citizens cause in American law if a person was born in a foreign country but has at least one parent who is a American citizen they can still run for president or any seats of office
Probably.
That's a great point. My mind was so quick to jump to scandalous conclusions, I forgot about the actual rules. I just reread the Constitution a couple days ago, too. I should be better than that!
Of course Arthur was born in Kenya. No doubt about it!
I have to edit I please forgive me, I'm havin a rough time now. I will say this if I had the medicine the I would have commented better, out the medication that I need to take for this problem because the drug addicts in this country they won't give it to me even though I'm not a drug addict!
@@Davey-TheDJ You good bro? You get your fix eventually?
@@MarchOnRome 1st I'm not a drug addict I took the 3 controlled medication as they were prescribed I was drug tested every month before I got my prescriptions so far I've not yet able to get the meds I need just have to show the doctors that I'm not taking medications so then over period of time till I am trustworthy.
@@Davey-TheDJ Oxy?
@@MarchOnRome That & Adderall and diazepam the adderall is for my ADHD the oxy is for degenerative disc and disease degenerative joint disease and arthritis right shoulder blade I think he ate my right knee got ran over by a car that right shoulder was in a car accident in 1993 wrapped my car and telephone pole I was just 17 I have severe anxiety I've had a few panic attacks in my life so far diazepam also use to treat seizures.
If he's parents claimed American citizenship for him, then he would be a natural-born American citizen.
Historians today may consider Pres. Arthur a mediocre and the least memorable president but when he left office in 1885, journalist Alexander McClure wrote, "No man ever entered the Presidency more profoundly and widely distrusted than leave more generally respected." And even Mark Twain, who was very distrustful of politicians, wrote, "It will be hard indeed to better the administration of President Arthur."
This man interviews the strangest people.
I had to do a report on him in 8th grade (1999) and had no idea about any of this. Internet has really changed the world.
I love Mo Rocca. Marvelous story teller.
I had to do a quick Google cuz I was like "wait isn't this guy a fake reporter for The Daily Show?" 😂
I don't know what you guys are talking about. I distinctly remember Chester Arthur being born in North Korea.
😂😂😂
Met him once, he looked Canadian to me.
@@edlutz7218 dude no you didn’t
@@josechavez9041 just seeing if anyone would comment lol
@@edlutz7218 lol
He has always been my favourite president
Mine too!
@@georgfriedrichhandel4390 why?
@@DugrozReports I will quote two sources. Alexander McClure,the political correspondent for the New York Times, stated, "Never before had a man entered the White House more profoundly distrusted than leave more generally respected", and even Mark Twain who was suspicious of politicians said, "It will be hard indeed to better the presidency of Chester Arthur." High praise indeed!
There is an older rumor that says that Chester Arthur was actually born in Ireland 🇮🇪.
Chester A. Arthur actually was quite a beneficial president. Doing some research on him, his policies actually were very influential, and some presidential scholars say he's probably one of the best presidents the US ever had.
Arthur was a Usurper ; never the legitimate holder of the Office of the President of the United States.
He was born a Citizen of Great Britain through his Non-U.S. Citizen father
Really? He was a tool of Wall Street just like all the Gilded Age presidents.
Arthur was one of the greatest presidents that this nation was ever blessed to have had.
He was a corrupt fool
@@manofiske3318 Do you have concrete evidence to support this claim?
That man was a husky Canadian
Pretty huge lol
Canadian husky
Yeah French Canadian he looked like a bit like Louis Cyr.
If Chester Arthur was born in Canada, his parents might not have known about it until much later and then he would have the same reaction as Doug Heffernan on King of Queens, "OMG! I'm Canadian!"
You win the internet the day you commented and today when I say it!!!
This is idiocy.
The Constitution states that the President must be a "natural born citizen." This is not to be confused with "native born citizen." A natural born citizen is one whose parents (or one of whose parents) was a citizen of the United States at the time of his or her birth, making it citizenship by inheritance, not by location.
So, NATURAL BORN and NATIVE BORN are two different things. At least this is how the framers of the Constitution would have understood it, and it was what they meant when they wrote it down.
If you're watching this on CZcams, you would have been able to see a video here some years ago, of a young Barack Obama introducing himself as saying he was born in Kenya. (Good luck finding it now.) Considering his rather unstable upbringing, as the product of what we used to call a "broken home" and being moved from one household to another (maternal grandparents, stepfather in Indonesia, and so on), he may have grown up with the wrong information himself. But his mother was an American citizen at the time of his birth, so if he was born on the moon, his mother's citizenship would have been all that mattered.
Now you know not only the rest of the story, but why someone once called them the "lamestream media."
Glad I could help out.
Let me be the first to say thank you for the lesson.Very informative.
Yeah it must just be a slow news day. They just want to stir the pot
david true
but there is a residency requirement for the us citizen parent as well
when obama was born his mother (1961) had to have resided at least 5 years in usa from her 14th birthday (19 years old) obama was born when she was 18
so IF he was born in kenya as some say (i dont think so) she could not have passed us citizenship to baby barack
the law has been changed to 2 years...i believe
but its not retroactive
Uncle Ruckus That whole birther thing was a bad joke. Both major Honolulu newspapers reported in the vital statics columns that Barack Obama was born on August 4th 1961 in Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu. This was reported in both the Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star-bulletin.
Yet the Obama haters still push this drivel.
i was not an obama hater but a person who respects the rule of law and i believe most of the others looking at this were too
i saw only one small clipping showing his birth announced
but im amazed not one young nurse came out and said OH i remember him being born .
they would be in their 70 or 80s only . quite an oddity to have an african and white american married in hawaii in 1961 . after all a woman just came forward about being attacked 36 years ago and many people are still alive remember nothing of the events she claims ever occurred .
i think the whole BO birther issue was a smokescreen to draw attention away from the fact that his real father was frank marshall davis
Haha!! I love the way Mo says “..in French speaking Canada!!”
0:13 I don’t know why but I always seem to laugh at that part 😂😂😂
Obama
🤣
There is a small museum in the village of Cullybackey, Northern Ireland close to where my late grandmother lived called 'Arthur Cottage' where the president's father hailed from
If Chester was born in Canada he must have been a better President (with 3 or 4 exceptions) than the lot we have produced.
Arthur was still eligible for the presidency because his mother was American-born.
Christopher Quinn actually you need to be a natural-born citizen, so he'd need to he born either in the country, a US embassy, or a US military base
D. R. What about Ted Cruz he wasn't in the those criterias!
Was his father also an American citizen? Were there any specific laws at the time specifying who was or wasn't a citizen at birth if not born on U.S. soil? I think you're right, he would be a "natural-born citizen" (meaning born a citizen) even if the birth took place in Canada, but it should be more definite than "I think". Oh, and the border was "porous" because there weren't any border controls at all, I'm pretty sure. People could cross in either direction whenever they wanted, didn't have to stop to answer anyone's questions (there was no one to ask them), and it was completely legal.
We've existed for more than 240 years and we still haven't cleared up what the criteria is for becoming the President? Wow.
Whether his parent or parents were "American born" hasn't a thing to do with Arthur's or anyone else's Article II Eligibility.
The parents' , that in particular of the Father, status as possessors of U.S. Citizenship is what is of paramount concern.
The newborn must inherit through "the blood" (jus sanguinis) his or her Citizenship of the United States and in addition via "the soil"(jus soli) unless one or both parents are serving in the "armies of the state"(military or diplomatic corp.) then the child although born "abroad" will be considered to have been born within the jurisdiction
I'm American, and I had never even heard of Chester Arthur until I happened to see a page in middle school hung on the classroom wall with the list of presidents, and I was interested in who was president when, so I started copying them down. When I got to Chester Arthur, I was thinking, "Who?" The focus, in general, is on presidents like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, people like that. But, no one ever says Chester Arthur. So, this video is actually my first time ever hearing any news at all about Chester Arthur. Up until this video, all I knew is that there was a Chester Arthur. So, thanks for this video. Interesting video. I wish we could know for sure where he was born.
I'm 35, into history and never heard of Chester Arthur before in my life. Just saw some CZcams listing presidents and I had to go wikipedia this guy to make sure he was a real president.
#1 Obscure President in US history.
because he isn’t important. like you aren’t l
@@dreamkitty You could have left that last part out. And I agree that he didn't do anything important while in office, otherwise we might have heard of him. But surely he was important to his wife and mother.
@@dreamkitty do you feel proud? Your parents don’t
Arthur was born in 1829. But Canada was founded in 1867, before that it was just Colonies of the Sovereign Dominion of Canada.
It wouldn’t matter if he was born in Canada as long as his parents had American citizenship, ffs
matters to the constitution
Looking at the comments it appears that Mo Rocca, and others, are confusing the 14th Amendment's apparent granting of birthright citizenship (still not a settled issue) and the requirement, in Article II, that a President be a "natural born citizen."
One is natural born, in the consensus legal understanding of that term, if one or both of one's parents were US citizens at the time of one's birth. Where a person is born is not decisive for Article II purposes.
There are rumors that Mexican 🇲🇽 president Adolfo Lopez Mateos was actually born in Guatemala 🇬🇹.
The Vermont house looks more like it was built in the early 1800's than the one in Quebec.
I had to laugh when that one woman said he was born in Vermont simply because that pamphlet says so. Sounds like she'll believe just about anything.
Born in Canada? You see this is why we should focus on building a wall on Canada's border! Show us the birth certificate Arthur!
Noah Prill I think he’s dead I’m not sure though
Don't need Arthur's birth-certificate to demonstrate his Article II ineligibilityArthur's father had not yet naturalized as a U.S. Citizen when little Chet came into the world and so passed along (jus sanguinis) his British Citizenship to his newborn; Pops was in possession of no form of U.S. Citizenship for his son to inherit
lol !
Lol 😆
His mother was a citizen of the US, I think that would have made Winston Churchill eligible to be President too.
Even though I'm not a American, nor Canadian, this topic is very interesting!
He burned all his papers right before he died!?
The man was definitely guilty of something very bad, probably worse than the birther thing.
It was just a common thing people did in the 19th century to assure their loved ones that they didn't write anything bad in their writing
Ted cruise was born in Canada, yet he ran for president
Jim McCracken but cruise looks better visually
Cruz , was/is a Usurper wannabe.
The despicable Cruz is far from an Article II 'natural born Citizen' ; far closer , in fact, to a natural born Cuban Citizen having been born to a Cuban Citizen father. He is a native born Canadian Citizen and at best, a naturalized U.S. Citizen
Send him back - to Quebec.
John McCain was born in the Canal Zone of Panama, & he ran for President.
George Romney was born in Mexico but was declared eligible to run.
4:17 Your wrong dude! I was born in Kenya! You never knew that I was Kenyan
Except there was no nation named Kenya in 1829!
He still would have been a natural born citizen if his parents were from the US, so the birther argument is stupid to begin with.
I said the exact same thing just now above. Otherwise how could George Romney (born in Mexico) and John McCain (born in what was once known as the Canal Zone) run for president.
Chester A Arthur got a lot of bad press. Treated worse than probably any other President.
It really doesn't matter because Arthur's father was an American and as such, American citizenship was automatically conferred to his son at birth regardless of where the birth took place.
His father was not a citizen at the time of his birth. He didn’t acquire citizenship until the 1840s.
Well, he would have been born a British subject in 1829 or 1830 because Confederation did not occur until 1867. And his father was a bilingual school teacher and many Vermonters went back and forth in those days. So the Arthur's could have worked in the US and Canada. But there is no way for sure to know where he plopped out on which soil. His father was Baptist so Arthur would have been baptized sometime in the late 1830s or early 1840s if he came to Jesus.
With what I was saying about Chester A. Arthur I know that I misspelled his last name. However, I know that the border line did a lot of fluctuation throughout the time. I offered in my previous comment about a town and a home wherein the border line did funny things when the surveyors drew the border line on the map. I became aware of this situation while watching a program on the Discovery Channel and yet another program on Home and Garden channel. The utility services in that town are even effected by this. It wasn't until the 1960s that that section of the border was refined. Perhaps when Chester A. Arthur was born that city was part of Vermont and sometime thereafter the border was redrawn and it went to Canada. The only way this matter can be settled is if all maps for every year from when he was born until his death are reviewed.
This worry over presidents being born outside the United States is a misconception based on our new understanding of “birthright citizenship.” Until the late 19th century, citizenship was not granted by simply being born here, it was passed through parentage. That means, “natural born citizen” means any person who was born a with a right of citizenship whether or not they were born in Americans soil.
Yay Canada you took over our government
Edit: by using one man
Just because his father taught school in Canada and his grandmother lived in Canada,doesn't mean Chester was born in Canada! There is a difference between likelihood and proof!
That small house at 1:15 might still have Arthur's DNA. If it could be extracted, replicated using PCR, and then matched with his descendants the Canadians could be telling the truth. The questions raised starting at 2:55 are reasonable: why did Arthur lie about his birth year (by only 1 year), refuse to answer questions about his birth, and burn all his personal documents before his passing?
“He was likely born in Canada .” Keyword likely. Ridiculous
I will not answer where I was born
Chester Arthur was born Oct. 5, 1830 in Vermont. I never heard the claim that he was born in 1829 until a few years ago and I've been following the presidents since the mid 60's when I was five years old.
That's what was said by Chester A Arthur. But over the last 30 years or so it has been accepted by most historians and scholars that he was born in 1829.
Me too. I memorized all the Presidents in proper order when I was in the 5th grade.
Jim Stull that doesn't make you right. American history is full of lies. The people who wrote our history wrote it to favor those like themselves. That should be obvious to anyone. We may never know the whole truth and nothing but the truth regarding Arthur's birthplace
I don’t think it matters anymore, they’re long dead anyway
Do explain some of these lies.
I'm a descendant of Chester's. He was born in Vermont.
Unbelievable how this matters still in America as a democracy. Literally every other democracy in the world doesn't have an archaic rule about birthright to the Presidency. Yes, I know the historical reasons for it, it's still stupid.
was his father a us citizen?
if so, then he was a natural born us citizen
That's not how that works.
dont just say that
explain your position
at that time it was most likely thru the father since women couldnt vote and could lose their us citizenship by marrying a foreigner
@@uncleruckus2867 You have to be born in the country.
wrong
That's EXACTLY how it works.
This explains the beard.
Fear the beard!
We talk more about his facial hair than his presidential record. For that reason alone, most people could care less where he was born.
If his father was the only trained teacher in the area, he probably worked at a few schools, back forth over the border.
I'm surprised Obama didn't mention Chester A. Arthur when he had his birther problem.
I dont Obama was born in America
BOORRRRN IN THE USA, I WAS....BORN IN THE USAAAA.
A Canadian born US president?!!! Talk about a dark time in US history
Chester A. Arthur was born in Fairfield, Vermont in October 5,1829.
This guy is the most forgotten president easily
if his parents were American citizens when he was born I thought it didnt matter where he was born
But his father was not a US citizen when Pres. Arthur was born so that would not apply here.
Buried in Albany Rural Cemetery next to his beautiful wife.
The first seven Presidents (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Adams, Jackson) were not born in the United States. They were born in the British English Colonies. The first president born in the US was Martin Van Buren
I like the hair.
CAA was never elected president, but instead vice-president. But you have to be a born US citizen to be VP as well.
Ooga Booga
“Well we’ve got pamphlets”
Didn’t realise these were the most credible source of historical context but go off 🤣🤣🤣
This dude is buried in my town
Make sideburns great again
Mo Rocca's voice always takes me back to the 90s when he was a (much) younger reporter on Fox News' TV Nation.
Those Canadians ey
Rutherford B Hayes birthplace is now a B.P gas station
If A Hamilton was president, there would be a president from West Indies
Ha dumbville
balegdah
He was a true American, born and bred.
8 U.S. Code § 1401 - Nationals and citizens of United States at birth
(e) a person born in an outlying possession of the United States of
parents one of whom is a citizen of the United States who has been
physically present in the United States or one of its outlying
possessions for a continuous period of one year at any time prior to
the birth of such person;
Obviously, "of parents one of whom is a citizen of the United States"
deduces the other parent is a foreign national. Now read the only
enumerated power in the U.S. Constitution granted to Congress
regarding citizenship:
U.S. Constitution Article 1, Sec. 1, Clause 4: "The Congress shall
have Power To...establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization”
Why is it that 8 U.S. Code § 1401 excludes the only missing category -
a person born in an outlying possession of the United States of
parents each of whom is a citizen of the United States?The above is a rhetorical question for all but the most intellectually challenged residing amongst this forum's population---sadly quite a sizable bunch
Chester Arthur gets instated, four years later he was traded.
If it says so in a pamphlet, it MUST be true, because you can’t publish anything in a pamphlet that’s not true. There are laws against that sort of thing.
Man you really don't have a life do you
@@retroshark2448 I was being somewhat sarcastic.
If both parents were US citizens, then he’d still eligible for presidency. Michael Bennett was born in India, but he can still run of president because of this
Constitutionally, natural born citizen
means born in on of the states that form the
union. Today that means one of the 50 states
unless your more elderly and from Alaska or Hawaii.
@@joeharris3878 not true
@@twiggy1253 Research it. For the purpose of establishing
eligibility, someone 35 years or older and having been born in one of the states,
unless one was born a subject
of the King of England in one of the 13 colonies prior to the ratification
of th US constitution can be president.Political parties may nominate anyone at all.
So Barry Goldwater(Arizona territory), John McCain (Panama), Al Gore (DC)
were not eligible to be president, but the US government does not follow the constitution,
so who cares? Ted Cruz (Canada), Tulsi Gabbard (Somoa) aren't eligible either.
IMHO this could be attributed to the lack of clear borders between developing States, or as in this case, Countries. I was amazed when working on my genealogy to find unclear boundaries between neighboring states but it certainly makes sense!
George Romney, Mitts father was born of U.S. citizens in Mexico and there was some question if he was eligible to run for Prssident in 1968. Apparently he was so if Chester's parents were U.S.citizens constitutional wise he was eligible to be president. The constitution has been interpreted as foreigners born not of native parents cannot run for president. For example someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Technically you don’t actually need to be born in the United States to be President as long as you have one biological parent that is an American citizen at the time of your birth.
That's true now but originally, the father had to be a US citizen in order for a child born overseas to be granted US citizenship so if Pres. Arthur was indeed born in Canada, he would not have been a birthright citizen because his father was not a citizen.
They didn't mention, not only did C Arthur have the coolest sideburns EVER (Jealous Mo?) but he was the great great great great great grandson of Susanna Martin, one of the "witches" executed at Salem.
john mccain was born in panama
Well, bottom line Chester A. Arthur was the First Canadian, as a U.S. President.
Chester Arthur was born in America and lived awhile in Perry NY.
Better Chester Arthur being born in Canada than in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
His Father's family were from Ballymena in Northern Ireland, im a relative of his paternal great grandmother Jane Campbell.
0:43 I love how the piano sounds terrifying here, as if we've had a president more of a fraud than Trump or Nixon
That is not all that unreal to have happened because survaiors didn't ferm up the border until recently. One unique antidote to that is in one town there is a house wherein the person who lives in that house has to cross the American Canadian border frequently just to make her meals and her bed is situated so that her head is in America and her feet are in Canada. So the town of birth of Chester A. Arthor could have been in America and now it's in Canada. The town where that house is in is split in half with half being in America and the other half is in Canada that town is in Maine.
Wouldn't matter his father was American.
According to the Constitution, Arthur would still have been eligible to be President since both his parents were American citizens, Canada wasn't even a dominon yet, so like our early Presidents, he would have been a British subject, but he was definitely born in Fairfield, Vermont. Like Barack Obama, the Democrats came up with that mythical story, but it was never proven.
If his parents were American citizens, then it's irrelevant where he was born. It's like how the questions of Obama was actually dumb and irrelevant because his mother was American
Apparently my great grandmother back in the day hired someone to trace her lineage, and I’m related to him lol I might be from kenya 🇰🇪
🤣🤣
George Washington was born in my apartment.
By the way its for sale,.
He was actually a really great president.
Bedford, Canada
It's true because THERE'S A PAMPHLET THAT SAYS SO 😂. A pamphlet tells no lies!
Die Hard with a Vengeance?
I'm just glad that not another Canadian became a president... for now... but it's still a possible that this could happen.
Oh and that certain Canadian goes by the name of Ted Cruz.
Disappointed that Mo didn’t pronounce his middle name correctly. Chester chose to pronounce his middle name with an emphasis on the second syllable: AlAN.