I'm just wondering why this part was added to the constitution. One of my coworkers brought it up and he thinks it's because Jefferson put it so Hamilton wouldn't be able to run for president as opposed to other early presidents like Washington or Adams who were born on would-be U.S soil like Virginia or Massachusetts respectively. Is there any merit to this?
It may be useful for this discussion to note the actual text in the Constitution: Article 2, Section 1:
"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; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."