Why John McCain Was a Citizen at Birth

Authors

Stephen E. Sachs, Yale Law School

Abstract

Senator John McCain was born a citizen in 1936. Professor Gabriel J. Chin challenges this view in this Symposium, arguing that McCain’s birth in the Panama Canal Zone (while his father was stationed there by the Navy) fell into a loophole in the governing statute. The best historical evidence, however, suggests that this loophole is an illusion and that McCain is a “natural born Citizen” eligible to be president.

Recommended Citation

Stephen E. Sachs, Why John McCain Was a Citizen at Birth, 107 Mich. L. Rev. First Impressions 49 (2008).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr_fi/vol107/iss1/19