Tweet
Obama releases 'long form' birth certificate
Continue reading the main story Related Stories
The White House has released President Barack Obama's birth certificate, in response to persistent rumours he was not born in the US.
Mr Obama had previously released an official "certification of live birth" showing he was born in Hawaii.
But fringe "birther" theorists have insisted Mr Obama was actually born in his father's native Kenya, making him ineligible to be president.
Recently potential Republican candidate Donald Trump has revived the rumour.
Continue reading the main story Analysis
Mark Mardell BBC North America editor
The White House clearly felt they had to lay this matter to rest. And they were almost certainly right.
I was out of town when the story broke and rushed to find a diner with a TV to watch what the president said. As I talked to people afterwards, it was very clear many had doubts about the president's birth certificate and wondered why something hadn't been said more clearly much earlier.
Something else was also very clear: They agreed with the president that this was a distraction and nearly everyone, unprompted, mentioned the price of petrol as their overwhelming concern.
On Wednesday, Mr Obama described the unprecedented move as an effort to rid the US political debate of a distraction, saying he had watched, puzzled and bemused, as the birther conspiracy had built and developed over the past years.
"We do not have time for this kind of silliness," Mr Obama said. "We have better stuff to do. I have better stuff to do. We have problems we have to solve but we're going to have to focus on them, not on this."
The release of Mr Obama's long form birth certificate, which had been stored in a vault in Hawaii since his birth in August 1961, comes after years of speculation among conspiracy-minded conservatives.
Republicans push back
The birther conspiracy held that Mr Obama was born in Kenya or in Indonesia, where he lived as a child, or that the birth certificate revealed other unwholesome information about the president.
During the 2008 presidential campaign Mr Obama released a computer print-out of the birth certificate information that is recognised as an official record of his birth, and Hawaiian public health officials vouched for its authenticity.
But the move did little to quell the birthers, even as most mainstream Republicans have sought to quash the movement, calling it a distraction from substantive policy disagreements.
On Wednesday, the White House released copies of the original birth certificate, with a stamp indicating it was received from Hawaiian officials on Monday.
It shows Barack Hussein Obama II was born 4 August 1961 at Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu, to Barack Hussein Obama, a 25-year-old student, and Stanley Ann Dunham, 18, and includes the signature of the attending physician
Continue reading the main story Related Stories
- US governor vetoes 'birther' bill
- 'Birther' bill passes in US state
- US 'birther' officer found guilty
The White House has released President Barack Obama's birth certificate, in response to persistent rumours he was not born in the US.
Mr Obama had previously released an official "certification of live birth" showing he was born in Hawaii.
But fringe "birther" theorists have insisted Mr Obama was actually born in his father's native Kenya, making him ineligible to be president.
Recently potential Republican candidate Donald Trump has revived the rumour.
Continue reading the main story Analysis
Mark Mardell BBC North America editor The White House clearly felt they had to lay this matter to rest. And they were almost certainly right.
I was out of town when the story broke and rushed to find a diner with a TV to watch what the president said. As I talked to people afterwards, it was very clear many had doubts about the president's birth certificate and wondered why something hadn't been said more clearly much earlier.
Something else was also very clear: They agreed with the president that this was a distraction and nearly everyone, unprompted, mentioned the price of petrol as their overwhelming concern.
On Wednesday, Mr Obama described the unprecedented move as an effort to rid the US political debate of a distraction, saying he had watched, puzzled and bemused, as the birther conspiracy had built and developed over the past years.
"We do not have time for this kind of silliness," Mr Obama said. "We have better stuff to do. I have better stuff to do. We have problems we have to solve but we're going to have to focus on them, not on this."
The release of Mr Obama's long form birth certificate, which had been stored in a vault in Hawaii since his birth in August 1961, comes after years of speculation among conspiracy-minded conservatives.
Republicans push back
The birther conspiracy held that Mr Obama was born in Kenya or in Indonesia, where he lived as a child, or that the birth certificate revealed other unwholesome information about the president.
During the 2008 presidential campaign Mr Obama released a computer print-out of the birth certificate information that is recognised as an official record of his birth, and Hawaiian public health officials vouched for its authenticity.
But the move did little to quell the birthers, even as most mainstream Republicans have sought to quash the movement, calling it a distraction from substantive policy disagreements.
On Wednesday, the White House released copies of the original birth certificate, with a stamp indicating it was received from Hawaiian officials on Monday.
It shows Barack Hussein Obama II was born 4 August 1961 at Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu, to Barack Hussein Obama, a 25-year-old student, and Stanley Ann Dunham, 18, and includes the signature of the attending physician
Comment