Birtherism, as the challenge to Obama's citizenship came to be called, originated in Illinois with a notorious political gadfly named Andrew Martin, who declared Obama was not the person he claimed to be. Without offering any proof, Martin said Obama was "a Muslim who concealed his religion."
Although many media reports have suggested the "he's a secret Muslim" became "he's secretly not a citizen," when Hillary Clinton's backers spread the idea in 2007, the evidence of this is scant. What is undeniable is that by early 2009, some Republicans were trafficking in innuendo about Obama's birthplace.
"Well, his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii," said US Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama in a local newspaper, The Cullman Times, "but I haven't seen any birth certificate. You have to be born in America to be president."