Barack Obama's Birth Certificate: The complete story

With all the speculation that former President of the United States of America, Mr. Barack Obama, was not born in the USA, it is no surprise that people still wonder whether there is any truth in these allegations.

This is precisely the premise behind the birtherism movement; a repetitive affirmation made by Donald J. Trump between 2011 and 2015 stating that:

• Obama was not born in the United States
• Therefore, Obama is ineligible to serve as President, according to Article Two of the Constitution

Birtherism —and its persistent questioning of Obama being a natural-born US citizen— is a shocking conspiracy theory considering the fact that the 44th President of the USA publicly released his US birth certificate.

When did Obama release his Birth Certificate?

Ironically, Trump began flagrantly doubting President Obama’s birthplace in 2011 —3 years after Obama had released his official Hawaiian birth certificate— before he was elected.

Trump questioned Obama’s birthplace on television and on social media for almost 5 years. This was despite the fact that the Hawaii Department of Health had publicly confirmed the legitimacy of Obama’s US birth certificate —based on the original document that remains on file.

Was there ever any credible evidence to suggest that Obama was not born in the US?

Birthers continued supporting Trump’s allegations and the birtherism movement which aimed to undermine the legitimacy of the nation’s first African-American president.

In 2011, a certified copy of Obama’s long-form birth certificate (his original Certificate of Live Birth was publicly released. Nevertheless, Trump continued divulging these false allegations** for years to come.

Who is behind the birtherism movement?

Although the most prominent figure behind birtherism is current US President Donald J.Trump, Democratic congressman Dennis Kucinich as well as several Republican members of Congress, supported the movement.

At the time, these representatives also asserted that Barack Obama could face attempts to dismiss him from the Oval Office due to his purportedly impeachable activity.

Notwithstanding, a number of prominent Republicans rejected requests for impeachment and no list of grounds for impeachment was ever presented to the Judiciary Committee.

Who is Barry Soetoro?

In short, Barry Soetoro is Barack Obama.

As per his birth certificate, Obama was born on August 4th, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Obama’s mother’s name is Ann Dunham and his father’s name is Barack Obama Sr.

His parents divorced in 1964 and his mother remarried in 1967. Obama’s stepfather is called Lolo Soetoro. The family moved to Indonesia —where Soetoro is originally from— and Obama went to school there.

During his childhood years in Indonesia, Obama was nicknamed "Barry" and sometimes referred to as Barry Soetoro, reflecting his stepfather's family name. Other times, Obama was referred to as Barry Obama, using his father's surname.

In 1971, Obama returned to the USA and lived with his maternal grandparents in Honolulu. He has continuously resided in the United States since then.

Is Obama really a US-born citizen?

After having publicly released both a certified copy of his long-form birth certificate as well as a short-form birth certificate, there is no doubt that Barack Obama is, indeed, born in the United States of America.

Is birtherism racist?

Does it come as a surprise that Barack Obama —the first black president of the US, who incidentally also has a foreign-sounding name— is the first to face continuous questioning in regard to his birthplace?

No wonder studies have determined that the driving forces behind birtherism are racial resentment, and racism.

Read more: Long form vs. short form birth certificate
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