Barack Obama Jr. was born on Aug. 4,1961, in Honolulu. At the time of his birth, he held
dual citizenship in the U.S. (by virtue of being born in Hawaii) and was a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies (or the UKC) by virtue of being born to a father who was a citizen of the UKC. He lost his Kenyan citizenship automatically on his 21st birthday.
Kenya recognizes dual citizenship for children, but specifies that at age 21, Kenyan citizens who possesses citizenship in more than one country automatically lose their Kenyan citizenship unless they formally renounce any non-Kenyan citizenship and swear an oath of allegiance to Kenya.
Part of the hoopla over seems to have started with an mistake made in an article in
Rocky Mountain News August 6, 2008 which claimed he still had duel citizenship. The paper's editor, John Temple, formally apologized for the error on Aug. 15, 2007 (
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/15/eight-word-gaffe-ripples-across-web/ )
More info see:
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/does_barack_obama_have_kenyan_citizenship.htmlSo what it really comes down to is a question of whether someone who had duel citizenship as a child is or is not a "natural born citizen" as required by the Constitution to be president
"At least one lawsuit conceded that he (Obama) was a citizen by virtue of birth in Hawaii, but argued that he was nevertheless not a natural-born citizen because of his entitlement to dual citizenship (through his father) at birth. As of December 26, 2008 no court has agreed with these challenges; some (but not all) of the cases have been dismissed because of the plaintiff's lack of standing."
-from Wikipedia on "Natural born citizenship" Heck according to that even John McCain's eligibility was questioned since he was born in at the Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_born_citizen#Presidential_candidates_whose_eligibility_was_questioned