Some speculate that Obama was born not in Hawaii but in Kenya. Only one of Obama’s parents was American. If Obama was born in Kenya (or any country other than the United States), he cannot legally serve as president of the United States because he is not a “natural born citizen,” even though he may have become a “naturalized citizen.” Obama’s American citizen parent, Ann Dunham, had to have been a resident of the United States for 10 years, at least five of which were over the age of 14. Dunham did not meet that requirement (of the Nationality Act of 1940, revised June 1952) until her 19th birthday in late November of 1961, almost four months after Obama was born. The law confers U.S. nationality on a child born outside the United States only under certain circumstances, including: “(7) a person born outside the geographical limits of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is an alien, and the other a citizen of the United States, who prior to the birth of such person, was physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for a period or periods totaling not less than ten years, at least five of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years.” Thus, if Obama was born in Kenya he was not only not a natural born citizen, he was not even a citizen of the United States. [801, 2040, 2462]

            A significant and understandable fuss has been made about Obama becoming the first African-American president. Obama is arguably not, however, “African-American.” His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was purportedly one-eighth African from his mother’s side (from the Luo tribe in Kenya) and his father’s ancestry is alleged to be Arabic. To the extent that is true, Obama is “Arab-African-American.” Obama is certainly not—like many black Americans—the descendant of African slaves owned by white American slave owners. There is insufficient publicly available evidence to state with certainty the percentages of Obama’s national ancestries, but if he has Arab ancestors Obama is more likely a descendant of slave owners than slaves because for centuries Arabs traditionally owned slaves and were active slave traders. The names “Barack” and “Hussein” are of Arab origin. “Barack” comes from the Arabic “baraka,” meaning “blessed,” and “baraka” means “blessing” in Kiswahili, a common language in Africa. “Hussein,” from the Arabic “Hussayn,” is a diminutive of “Hassan,” meaning “good” or “handsome;” it is a common Muslim name.  [513, 514, 2624, 2625]

            Obama, Sr. and Ann Dunham were granted a divorce on March 20, 1964 and therefore appear to have been legally married—although the State of Hawaii (and Ann Dunham) certainly might not have been told of the existence of Obama, Sr.’s wife Kezia in Kenya when the marriage certificate was issued in 1961. (There are no known witnesses to a Dunham-Obama marriage, nor has any marriage certificate surfaced.) During the campaign Obama’s wife, Michelle stated in an interview that Ann Dunham was “very young and very single when she had him (Barack Obama, Jr.)” In any event, Dunham was unmarried and not even age 18—or possibly just barely 18—when she became pregnant in late 1960. (Michelle Obama may have meant to say that Dunham was “very young and very single” when she became pregnant.) [4, 6, 8, 10, 324, 352, 564, 772, 2287]