<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> Status as a natural - born citizen of the United States is one of the eligibility requirements established in the United States Constitution for holding the office of President or Vice President . This requirement was intended to protect the nation from foreign influence . </P> <P> The U.S. Constitution uses but does not define the phrase "natural born Citizen", and various opinions have been offered over time regarding its precise meaning . The consensus of early 21st - century constitutional scholars, together with relevant case law, is that natural - born citizens include, subject to exceptions, those born in the United States . Many scholars have also concluded that those who meet the legal requirements for U.S. citizenship "at the moment of birth", regardless of place of birth, are also natural - born citizens . Every president to date was either a citizen at the adoption of the Constitution in 1789 or was born in the United States; of those in the latter group, there have been seven that had at least one parent who was not born on U.S. soil . </P>

Do you have to be american to run for president