The Nation: President Kissinger?

The signal negotiating skills of U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger have made him seem to many a vital national resource who has opened relations with China, soothed the way for détente with the Soviet Union and shuttled to a cease-fire in Viet Nam and the Middle East. Thus it was no surprise when the most recent Gallup poll asking Americans to name the man in the world they most admired came out with Kissinger in first place, beating out President Nixon, who had topped the list for the previous four years. But admiration can never be translated to elective eminence for Kissinger because Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution requires that the President be a “natural-born” citizen. Kissinger was born in Bavaria of German parents, and immigrated to the U.S. at age 15.

The arbitrariness of the restriction so disturbs New York Democratic Congressman Jonathan Bingham that he has introduced a bill calling for a constitutional amendment that would make naturalized citizens eligible for the presidency, and would also eliminate the ticklish constitutional question of the eligibility of children born abroad to American parents. Says Bingham: “There would be great resentment if it were proposed that a naturalized citizen be barred from serving in the Cabinet or on the Supreme Court or in Congress. It makes no sense that the presidency should be any different.”