Now the Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 requirement for a “natural born Citizen” only applies to the presidency, not the FCC chairmanship. Repeatedly during his chairmanship, Chmn. Fowler publicly stated that his parents were Americans temporarily residing in Canada at the time of his birth and that he was eligible to be president under the terms of Article II, Section 1. It appears that there is no case law that has clearly stated what it means to be a “natural born Citizen” in the context of Article II, Section 1. Indeed, legal quirks at the time of Sen. McCain’s birth raise issues about his qualifications also.

But at least during the Reagan Era there was a view in certain Republican circles that even the location of birth was not critical if one was a citizen from birth due to one’s parent or parents.