The first presidents were accounted for in the clause. All they needed was to be born on American soil and have their parents and themselves become citizens at the time of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. --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; --
This clause came about when John Jay, Founding Father, wrote George Washington, Founding Father: "Permit me to hint, whether it would not 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 Command in chief of the American army shall not be given to, nor devolve on, any but a natural born Citizen".
