[PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was a reporter for the Daily Astorian (in Astoria, Oregon) and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as an Oregon state government manager and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing pubic policy – to what I write. If you are reading this, thanks for doing so and please don’t hesitate to respond so we can engage in a dialogue, not just a monologue.]

That title of the television show crossed my mind last week as I joined my daughter-in-law Holly Fiskum to help teach her fifth grade class at Schirle School here in Salem, Oregon.

My assignment, one I accepted eagerly, was to help the class “Understand More About Government,” based, I suppose, on my 40 years of experience with the subject. I spent two years as a city-county government reporter for a daily newspaper in Oregon, The Daily Astorian; 15 years as a government manager, both in Washington, D.C. and in Salem; and 25 years as a state lobbyist.

But, as is the case with many of these assignments, I learned as much from the students in the class as they learned from me. These fifth graders impressed me with their interest and enthusiasm, as well as their awareness of political life around them, including the presidential election.

They won’t be able to vote for about eight more years, but, if they were voting today, they would clearly fall into the camp of “informed voters.” Most of the class, for instance, watched the most recent Republican presidential debate and began forming views on the candidates based on what they saw and heard.

Before one of my class days this week, I was told that the students could name the presidents of this country in order, from George Washington to Barack Obama. I found that hard to believe, especially because I could not manage the feat, so I asked Holly about it before the class last Thursday.

She answered the question by showing, not telling. As the class started, she began playing music and, as all 27 students marched in to take their seats, they sang all of the names from Washington to Obama. Some of the students danced to the tune as they sang.

Impressive! A tribute to the kids, as well as to the teacher who has special abilities to help kids learn and have fun doing so.

On to one other point which impressed me – and from which I learned more than I knew going in.

As we talked about the presidential election, one young girl raised her hand in the back of the room and asked this question: “Can an adopted person run for and become president?”

At that moment, I was smart enough to thank her for the question, but said I would get back to her the next day with the answer. Glad I did because, first, I was not sure of the answer and, second, the answer is a bit complicated.

Here it is as best I can recount from my on-line research, including with words from Harvard University law professors:

• If the adopted person was born in the United States, then the answer is, clearly, yes. That person is a “natural born United States citizen” and, thus, able to run for president after he or she reaches the age of 35 and has been a resident of this country for 14 years, which are the qualifications to be president (though being smart and having access to money seem to be two other important “qualifications”).

• If the adopted person was born outside this country, then adopted by two “natural born U.S. parents,” it is likely that the individual would not be able to serve as president because he or she would not meet the “natural born” test. It is possible that a future court could rule that such an adoptee could, by virtue of the adoption, be considered a U.S. citizen, go through the naturalization process and, thus, be allowed to run for president. Still, the best answer, based on available evidence and the apparent lack of a court decision directly on point, is that the adoptee could not serve as president.

• If the adopted person was born outside this country, then adopted by parents who were not “natural born U.S. citizens,” that person would not meet the qualifications to be president.

In all of this, there are still issues that have not been resolved legally, in part because they have not necessarily been ripe for a court challenge or a court decision.

In one case, for instance, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, now running for the Republican nomination to be president, was born in Canada to a U.S. citizen mother and a Cuban immigrant father. The senator formally renounced his Canadian citizenship last year, and at first blush, it appears he meets the qualifications to be president, though, if he were to win, there might be a legal challenge on this question – is it enough for an adopted person to have one U.S. citizen parent, or must it be both parents?

My view? He meets the qualifications, a tentative judgment I render without regard to party affiliation or personal preferences.

In another case, Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate four years ago, was born on a military base in Panama in 1936. His parents were “natural born” U.S. citizens. Some people argued that McCain was not eligible to be president, but, when he lost the 2008 election, the question never ended up going to court. Harvard law professors have said the question was resolved because (a) it is stupid to believe that “a U.S. citizen at birth is somehow not constitutionally eligible to serve as president because or she was delivered at a hospital abroad,” and (b) Congress ruled that McCain was eligible to serve before he ran in (and lost) the election.

My assumption is the same — with two U.S. citizen parents, McCain would have been eligible if he had won the office.

There are two other adoption for president cases in the past – George Romney in 1968 and Lowell Weicker in 1980, but it is likely both have been ruled eligible to serve had they won.

As you can see, I learned more about this than I knew otherwise – and all because a very bright 5^th grader asked a good question. I found out that she had been adopted from China, so it was clear she was asking, at least partially, on her own behalf – can I be president one day? In her case, I suspect the answer is no, though eventually a court might be asked to rule on that specific question.

To me, this episode suggests that learning should be a life-long pursuit. The fifth graders I have been meeting with over the last few days are starting enthusiastically down that road with initiative and interest.

With an assist from these fifth graders, I continued my own lifelong learning march last week.