Peter Henriques shows up on C-Span

Back on  November 2, 2012 my favorite George Washington author, Peter Henriques, gave a very fine presentation in a Mount Vernon lecture hall.  Recently, C-SPAN released a video recording of the event, George Washington and  American Nationhood, that's well worth watching.

Here's an amusing snippet:

In a Purdue University classroom, they were discussing the qualifications to be President of the United States. And according to the Constitution – it's so exciting to get that Acts of Congress with Washington's Constitution in our hands [here at Mount Vernon] – it is pretty simple. The candidate must be a natural born citizen of at least 35 years of age. However, one girl in the class immediately started in on how unfair was the requirement to be a natural born citizen. In short, her opinion was that this requirement prevented many capable individuals from becoming president. The class was taking it in, but many jaws hit the floor when she wrapped up her argument by stating, “I still can’t understand what makes a natural born citizen any more qualified to lead this country than one born by C-section?" [pause with laughter] They breed and they walk among us.