Disallowing foreign-born presidents was an obvious proposition to the delegates at the Constitutional Convention. The importance of the safeguard was so obvious to them it was barely even discussed, which is why it is difficult to find very much on what they actually said about it. Historians note that nobody voted against the prohibition, and nobody even felt the need to articulate much of a justification for it since it was such a clearly bad idea to everyone there. Historians do note the comment of Charles Pinckney, a constitutional delegate from South Carolina. He warned that what had happened in Poland fifteen years before the convention -- Poland was carved up after Austria, Prussia, and Russia planted a puppet in its election -- might happen in America: "we shall soon have the scenes of the Polish Diets and elections reenacted here, and in not many years the fate of Poland may be that of United America." And they also note John Jay's comment that it would be "wise and seasonable to provide a strong check to the admission of Foreigners into the administration of our national Government; and to declare expressly that the Commander in chief of the army shall not be given to, nor devolve on, any but a natural born citizen."Posted by Greg Ransom | TrackBack