[BRIEF NOTE] We Are Everywhere, Unbeknownst to You

[rfmcdonald]

From Roy MacGregor's article "To George W. Bush we obligingly present . . . Chester A. Arthur" in today issue of The Globe and Mail, page A2:

In the never-ending search for a Canadian-American that Bush could embrace and, at the same time, make small talk about, we offer up the ultimate choice.

Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States of America.

According to an intriguing feature done several years ago by Pat MacAdam of the Ottawa Citizen, Arthur was actually born in Dunham, a small village in Quebec.

To get around the pesky American Constitution--Article 11 stipulates that "No person except a natural-born citizen shall be eligible to the office of President"--Arthur apparently took over the identity of a younger brother who had been born after the family moved to a small village in Vermot and died at a very young age.

Arthur apparently made up his story when he was challenged over his eligibility to stand for vice-president during the Republican Convention, was allowed to stand, and in 1881, became President when James Garfield was killed.

No records are to be found to prove Arthur's claim of being a "natural-born" American.

UPDATE (9:01 PM) : mikedavsi disproves the claim, and he should know.