When the U.S. Constitution was drafted and ratified, the Founding Fathers debated what qualifications should be required for those holding the highest office in the land — the presidency.
During those discussions, some delegates argued that members of Congress should not be foreign-born, while others insisted that all federal officials should be landowners.
Ultimately, the framers decided on only three basic conditions for the presidency, outlined in Article II of the 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; neither shall any person be eligible who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.”
The Constitutional Barrier
According to Derek Muller, professor of election law at the University of Notre Dame Law School, some delegates at the ratification conventions asked pointedly:
“Do you mean that a poor man, or a non-Christian, or someone without property could become President of the United States?”
Muller notes that the framers viewed these requirements as minimum conditions, trusting that voters would demonstrate wisdom in choosing the most capable candidate for leadership.
The Case of Zohran Mamdani
The recent political rise of Zohran Mamdani in New York has drawn comparisons to the historic campaign of Barack Obama, the first African-American president.
Yet one question now dominates American political commentary:
Could Mamdani himself ever run for the White House?
The constitutional answer is no.
Mamdani was born in Uganda and became a naturalised U.S. citizen in 2018, meaning he was not a citizen at birth.
Under the Constitution, this disqualifies him from running for President or Vice President, positions reserved exclusively for those who are “natural-born citizens” — individuals who hold U.S. citizenship from the moment of birth.
Nevertheless, Mamdani remains eligible for all other elected offices, including Congress and, now, Mayor of New York, a post he recently secured in a historic election that reshaped the city’s political landscape.
