Originally Posted by Fletch XXX

"John McCain, who ran for the Republican party nomination in 2000 and is the Republican nominee in 2008, was born at the Coco Solo U.S. military base in the Panama Canal Zone to U.S. parents. Although the Panama Canal Zone was not considered to be part of the United States,[6] federal law states: "Any person born in the Canal Zone on or after February 26, 1904, and whether before or after the effective date of this chapter, whose father or mother or both at the time of the birth of such person was or is a citizen of the United States, is declared to be a citizen of the United States."[7] The law that conferred this status took effect on August 4, 1937, one year after John McCain was born ? albeit with retroactive effect, resulting in McCain being declared a U.S. citizen.[8] However, the question as to whether or not he is a citizen from birth cannot be answered by this law because (1) it took effect after his birth and (2) it does not state that the person's citizenship was acquired at birth, only that they are a citizen by means of the law's establishment (and, hence, at the time the law takes effect). Indeed, the law in 1936 stated that all persons born to two US citizen parents outside the "limits and jurisdictions of the United States" are citizens at birth, but the problem is that the Panama Canal Zone was explicitly excluded. (8 U.S.C. 173 (1925): "The term 'United States' shall be construed to mean the United States, and any waters, territory, or other place subject to the jurisdiction thereof, except the Isthmian Canal Zone.") The status of Mr. McCain's citizenship at birth nonetheless remains unsettled.[9]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural-born_citizen