"Sometimes citizenship is important for certain rentals" - I am not an American citizen and have nev

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I've never heard of a rental car company requiring a minimum license time. My license (NY state) shows the date my license was issued - it is 1mo ago when I moved to a new address, not 30+ years ago when I first got my license, so the rental car co will have no idea when I first got my license.
Yes, if you read the requirements and fine print, you will see that most car-rental companies require you to have had a license for a year; those that allow recently licensed renters charge considerably more for the rental.
Most travelers from Europe do better by booking the rental through a wholesaler there. The rental quote will generally include all the required insurance (you generally have to buy a liability plan to drive a rental car in California ... the only state in the US that doesn't require car-rental companies to carry their own minimal insurance plans).
I agree with Tom re SF - you don't want or need a car while in the city of SF, but for most of the rest of CA having a car is desired. Perhaps not 100% necessary, but the flexibility of having a car lets you go when and where you want.
"Most of the rental companies do not want to rent a car for more than 30 days at a time even to US citizens". Definitely chicago city tours not true. Do a search of any rental car co you wish and you'll find most if not all offer long term rentals.
"Sometimes citizenship is important for certain rentals" - I am not an American citizen and have never been ask for proof of my citizenship when renting a car in USA. If this has happened to you perhaps you can expand on this.