This is a common belief, but it is false. The eligibility provision has an oft-forgotten second clause: > No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen

This is a common belief, but it is false. The eligibility provision has an oft-forgotten second clause: > No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; Hamilton was a citizen at the time of the Constitution’s adoption and was therefore eligible to run for president should he have been so inclined.