Can a President Serve Two Terms

1951 amendment limiting presidents to 2 terms

The Twenty-second Amendment (Subpoena XXII) to the United States Constitution limits the number of times a person is eligible for election to the office of President of the United States to ii, and sets additional eligibility weather condition for presidents who succeed to the unexpired terms of their predecessors.^[ane]

Until the amendment's ratification, the president had not been bailiwick to term limits, but George Washington had established a ii-term tradition that many other presidents followed. But in the 1940 and 1944 presidential elections, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first president to win third and 4th terms, giving rising to concerns nigh a president serving unlimited terms. After Roosevelt's 1945 death, Republicans and conservative Democrats were swept into Congress in the 1946 elections and were in position to advise an amendment restricting the number of presidential terms.^[ii] Congress approved the Twenty-second Amendment on March 21, 1947, and submitted it to the land legislatures for ratification. That procedure was completed on February 27, 1951, when the requisite 36 of the 48 states had ratified the amendment (neither Alaska nor Hawaii had yet been admitted as states), and its provisions came into force on that date.

The subpoena prohibits anyone who has been elected president twice from beingness elected again. Under the amendment, someone who fills an unexpired presidential term lasting more two years is as well prohibited from beingness elected president more than one time. Scholars debate whether the amendment prohibits affected individuals from succeeding to the presidency under whatever circumstances or whether information technology applies only to presidential elections.

Text [edit]

Section i. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the function of President, or acted as President, for more than than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not employ to any person property the function of President when this Commodity was proposed past the Congress, and shall not forestall any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term inside which this Commodity becomes operative from holding the function of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

Section 2. This Article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within seven years from the date of its submission to the states by the Congress.^[3]

Groundwork [edit]

The Twenty-second Amendment was a reaction to Franklin D. Roosevelt's election to an unprecedented iv terms as president, but presidential term limits had long been debated in American politics. Delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 considered the issue extensively (aslope broader questions, such as who would elect the president, and the president's part). Many, including Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, supported lifetime tenure for presidents, while others favored fixed terms. Virginia'southward George Mason denounced the life-tenure proposal as tantamount to elective monarchy.^[4] An early typhoon of the U.South. Constitution provided that the president was restricted to one seven-yr term.^[five] Ultimately, the Framers approved iv-yr terms with no brake on how many times a person could be elected president.

Though dismissed by the Constitutional Convention, term limits for U.Due south. presidents were contemplated during the presidencies of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Every bit his second term entered its concluding year in 1796, Washington was exhausted from years of public service, and his health had begun to pass up. He was also bothered by his political opponents' unrelenting attacks, which had escalated later on the signing of the Jay Treaty, and believed he had accomplished his major goals as president. For these reasons, he decided not to run for a third term, a determination he appear to the nation in his September 1796 Goodbye Address.^[6] Eleven years later, as Thomas Jefferson neared the halfway point of his second term, he wrote,

If some termination to the services of the chief magistrate be non fixed by the Constitution, or supplied by do, his office, nominally for years, will in fact, become for life; and history shows how easily that degenerates into an inheritance.^[seven]

Since Washington made his historic announcement, numerous academics and public figures accept looked at his decision to retire after 2 terms, and have, co-ordinate to political scientist Bruce Peabody, "argued he had established a two-term tradition that served equally a vital cheque confronting any one person, or the presidency as a whole, accumulating also much power".^[viii] Various amendments aimed at changing informal precedent to constitutional law were proposed in Congress in the early on to mid-19th century, but none passed.^{[4] [ix]} Iii of the side by side four presidents after Jefferson—James Madison, James Monroe, and Andrew Jackson—served two terms, and each adhered to the two-term principle;^[ane] Martin Van Buren was the only president between Jackson and Abraham Lincoln to be nominated for a second term, though he lost the 1840 election and then served only one term.^[9] At the outset of the Ceremonious War the seceding States drafted the Constitution of the Confederate States of America, which in most respects resembled the U.s. Constitution, but limited the president to a single 6-year term.

In spite of the strong 2-term tradition, a few presidents before Roosevelt attempted to secure a third term. Following Ulysses Southward. Grant'south reelection in 1872, in that location were serious discussions within Republican political circles about the possibility of his running again in 1876. But interest in a third term for Grant evaporated in the light of negative public opinion and opposition from members of Congress, and Grant left the presidency in 1877 later on ii terms. Fifty-fifty then, as the 1880 ballot approached, he sought nomination for a (non-consecutive) third term at the 1880 Republican National Convention, simply narrowly lost to James Garfield, who won the 1880 election.^[9]

Theodore Roosevelt succeeded to the presidency on September fourteen, 1901, following William McKinley'south assassination (194 days into his second term), and was handily elected to a full term in 1904. He declined to seek a third (second full) term in 1908, merely did run over again in the ballot of 1912, losing to Woodrow Wilson. Wilson himself, despite his ill health following a serious stroke, aspired to a 3rd term. Many of his advisers tried to convince him that his health precluded some other entrada, but Wilson nevertheless asked that his proper name be placed in nomination for the presidency at the 1920 Autonomous National Convention.^[ten] Autonomous Party leaders were unwilling to back up Wilson, and the nomination went to James G. Cox, who lost to Warren G. Harding. Wilson again contemplated running for a (nonconsecutive) tertiary term in 1924, devising a strategy for his comeback, but once again lacked any support; he died in February of that year.^[xi]

Franklin Roosevelt spent the months leading up to the 1940 Democratic National Convention refusing to say whether he would seek a third term. His Vice President, John Nance Garner, along with Postmaster Full general James Farley, announced their candidacies for the Autonomous nomination. When the convention came, Roosevelt sent a bulletin to the convention saying he would run only if drafted, saying delegates were free to vote for whomever they pleased. This message was interpreted to hateful he was willing to be drafted, and he was renominated on the convention's first ballot.^{[ix] [12]} Roosevelt won a decisive victory over Republican Wendell Willkie, becoming the first (and to date only) president to exceed eight years in part. His decision to seek a third term dominated the election campaign.^[13] Willkie ran against the open-ended presidential tenure, while Democrats cited the war in Europe as a reason for breaking with precedent.^[9]

Four years later on, Roosevelt faced Republican Thomas East. Dewey in the 1944 election. Near the end of the campaign, Dewey announced his support of a constitutional amendment to limit presidents to two terms. According to Dewey, "four terms, or xvi years (a direct reference to the president'southward tenure in office 4 years hence), is the about dangerous threat to our freedom ever proposed."^[fourteen] He also discreetly raised the issue of the president'due south age. Roosevelt exuded enough energy and charisma to retain voters' conviction and was elected to a 4th term.^[15]

While he quelled rumors of poor health during the entrada, Roosevelt'south health was deteriorating. On April 12, 1945, only 82 days after his fourth inauguration, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died, to be succeeded by Vice President Harry Truman.^[sixteen] In the midterm elections xviii months later, Republicans took control of the House and the Senate. Equally many of them had campaigned on the issue of presidential tenure, declaring their support for a ramble subpoena that would limit how long a person could serve as president, the result was given priority in the 80th Congress when information technology convened in January 1947.^[8]

Proposal and ratification [edit]

Proposal in Congress [edit]

The House of Representatives took quick action, approving a proposed constitutional amendment (Business firm Articulation Resolution 27) setting a limit of two iv-year terms for future presidents. Introduced past Earl C. Michener, the measure passed 285–121, with back up from 47 Democrats, on Feb 6, 1947.^[17] Meanwhile, the Senate adult its own proposed amendment, which initially differed from the Business firm proposal by requiring that the subpoena be submitted to state ratifying conventions for ratification, rather than to the state legislatures, and by prohibiting any person who had served more 365 days in each of two terms from further presidential service. Both these provisions were removed when the full Senate took upwardly the bill, merely a new provision was, however, added. Put forward by Robert A. Taft, information technology clarified procedures governing the number of times a vice president who succeeded to the presidency might be elected to office. The amended proposal was passed 59–23, with sixteen Democrats in favor, on March 12.^{[1] [xviii]}

On March 21, the House agreed to the Senate's revisions and approved the resolution to amend the Constitution. Later, the amendment imposing term limitations on future presidents was submitted to the states for ratification. The ratification process was completed on February 27, 1951, 3 years, 343 days afterward it was sent to the states.^{[nineteen] [20]}

Ratification by the states [edit]

A map of how usa voted on the 20-2d Amendment

One time submitted to u.s.a., the 22nd Amendment was ratified by:^[3]

1. Maine: March 31, 1947
2. Michigan: March 31, 1947
3. Iowa: Apr 1, 1947
4. Kansas: April i, 1947
5. New Hampshire: Apr ane, 1947
6. Delaware: April 2, 1947
7. Illinois: April 3, 1947
8. Oregon: Apr 3, 1947
9. Colorado: April 12, 1947
10. California: Apr 15, 1947
11. New Jersey: April xv, 1947
12. Vermont: April 15, 1947
13. Ohio: April sixteen, 1947
14. Wisconsin: April sixteen, 1947
15. Pennsylvania: April 29, 1947
16. Connecticut: May 21, 1947
17. Missouri: May 22, 1947
18. Nebraska: May 23, 1947
19. Virginia: January 28, 1948
20. Mississippi: February 12, 1948
21. New York: March 9, 1948
22. South Dakota: Jan 21, 1949
23. North Dakota: February 25, 1949
24. Louisiana: May 17, 1950
25. Montana: January 25, 1951
26. Indiana: Jan 29, 1951
27. Idaho: January 30, 1951
28. New Mexico: February 12, 1951
29. Wyoming: Feb 12, 1951
30. Arkansas: February fifteen, 1951
31. Georgia: February 17, 1951
32. Tennessee: February twenty, 1951
33. Texas: February 22, 1951
34. Utah: Feb 26, 1951
35. Nevada: February 26, 1951
36. Minnesota: February 27, 1951
    Ratification was completed when the Minnesota Legislature ratified the subpoena. On March 1, 1951, the Administrator of General Services, Jess Larson, issued a document proclaiming the 22nd Amendment duly ratified and function of the Constitution. The amendment was subsequently ratified by:^[3]
37. North Carolina: February 28, 1951
38. S Carolina: March 13, 1951
39. Maryland: March 14, 1951
40. Florida: Apr 16, 1951
41. Alabama: May iv, 1951

Conversely, two states—Oklahoma and Massachusetts—rejected the amendment, while 5 (Arizona, Kentucky, Rhode Isle, Washington, and Westward Virginia) took no action.^[18]

Effect [edit]

Because of the grandfather clause in Section 1, the subpoena did not apply to Harry S. Truman, equally he was the incumbent president at the time information technology came into force. Truman, who had served well-nigh all of Franklin Roosevelt's unexpired fourth term and who was elected to a full term in 1948, was thus eligible for reelection in 1952.^[thirteen] But with his job approval rating at around 27%,^{[21] [22]} and later a poor performance in the 1952 New Hampshire primary, Truman chose not to seek his party's nomination. Since condign operative in 1951, the amendment has been applicable to six presidents who accept been elected twice: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

Interaction with the Twelfth Subpoena [edit]

As worded, the focus of the 22nd Amendment is on limiting individuals from being elected to the presidency more than twice. Questions have been raised about the subpoena's meaning and application, especially in relation to the 12th Amendment, ratified in 1804, which states, "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the U.s.."^[23] While the 12th Amendment stipulates that the constitutional qualifications of age, citizenship, and residency use to the president and vice president, information technology is unclear whether someone who is ineligible to be elected president due to term limits could be elected vice president. Because of the ambivalence, a two-term sometime president could peradventure exist elected vice president and then succeed to the presidency equally a event of the incumbent's death, resignation, or removal from part, or succeed to the presidency from some other stated office in the presidential line of succession.^{[9] [24]}

Some argue that the 22nd Subpoena and 12th Amendment bar any 2-term president from after serving as vice president also as from succeeding to the presidency from any bespeak in the presidential line of succession.^[25] Others contend that the original intent of the 12th Amendment concerns qualification for service (age, residence, and citizenship), while the 22nd Amendment, concerns qualifications for election, and thus a old two-term president is nonetheless eligible to serve as vice president. Neither amendment restricts the number of times someone can be elected to the vice presidency and then succeed to the presidency to serve out the balance of the term, although the person could exist prohibited from running for ballot to an additional term.^{[26] [27]}

The practical applicability of this stardom has non been tested, as no twice-elected president has ever been nominated for the vice presidency. While Hillary Clinton in one case suggested she considered sometime President Bill Clinton equally her running mate,^[28] the constitutional question remains unresolved.^[1]

Attempts at repeal [edit]

Over the years, several presidents have voiced their antipathy toward the amendment. After leaving office, Harry Truman described the amendment as stupid and one of the worst amendments of the Constitution with the exception of the Prohibition Amendment.^[29] A few days before leaving office in January 1989, President Ronald Reagan said he would button for a repeal of the 22nd Subpoena because he thought information technology infringed on people's democratic rights.^[30] In a Nov 2000 interview with Rolling Stone, President Bill Clinton suggested that the 22nd Amendment should exist contradistinct to limit presidents to ii consecutive terms just then let non-consecutive terms, because of longer life expectancies.^[31] Donald Trump questioned presidential term limits on multiple occasions while in function, and in public remarks talked about serving across the limits of the 22nd Amendment. During an April 2022 White Business firm event for the Wounded Warrior Project, he suggested he would remain president for x to 14 years.^{[32] [33]}

The get-go efforts in Congress to repeal the 22nd Amendment were undertaken in 1956, five years after the amendment's ratification. Over the next 50 years, 54 joint resolutions seeking to repeal the two-term presidential election limit were introduced.^[1] Betwixt 1997 and 2013, José Eastward. Serrano, Democratic representative for New York, introduced nine resolutions (one per Congress, all unsuccessful) to repeal the amendment.^[34] Repeal has also been supported by Representatives Barney Frank and David Dreier and Senators Mitch McConnell^[35] and Harry Reid.^[36]

See also [edit]

• Term limits in the Usa
• List of political term limits

References [edit]

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Neale, Thomas H. (October 19, 2009). "Presidential Terms and Tenure: Perspectives and Proposals for Change" (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
2. ^ "FDR'south third-term election and the 22nd amendment - National Constitution Center". National Constitution Center – constitutioncenter.org . Retrieved September 30, 2021.
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Constitution of the United states of america: Analysis and Interpretation" (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. August 26, 2017. pp. 39–xl. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
4. ^ ^{a b} Buckley, F. H.; Metzger, Gillian. "Xx-2d Amendment". The Interactive Constitution. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The National Constitution Center. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
5. ^ Starting time draft U.Due south.CONST., art. 10, section one.
6. ^ Ferling, John (2009). The Rising of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon. New York: Bloomsbury Press. pp. 347–348. ISBN978-1-59691-465-0.
7. ^ Jefferson, Thomas (December ten, 1807). "Alphabetic character to the Legislature of Vermont". Ashland, Ohio: TeachingAmericanHistory.org. Archived from the original on Jan 14, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
8. ^ ^{a b} Peabody, Bruce. "Presidential Term Limit". The Heritage Foundation. Archived from the original on July 24, 2017. Retrieved Jan 10, 2017.
9. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Peabody, Bruce 1000.; Gant, Scott Eastward. (February 1999). "The Twice and Hereafter President: Constitutional Interstices and the Twenty-2d Amendment". Minnesota Police force Review. Minneapolis: Academy of Minnesota Police School. 83 (3): 565–635. Archived from the original on Jan 15, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
10. ^ Pietrusza, David (2007). The Yr of the Six Presidents. New York: Carroll and Graf. pp. 187–200. ISBN978-0-78671-622-7.
11. ^ Saunders, Robert M. (1998). In Search of Woodrow Wilson: Beliefs and Behavior. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 260–262. ISBN9780313305207.
12. ^ Rosen, Elliot A. (1997). "'Non Worth a Pitcher of Warm Piss': John Nance Garner as Vice President". In Walch, Timothy (ed.). At the President'south Side: The Vice Presidency in the Twentieth Century. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. pp. 52–53. ISBN0-8262-1133-10 . Retrieved March 20, 2018.
13. ^ ^{a b} "FDR'south 3rd-term decision and the 22nd amendment". Constitution Daily. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The National Constitution Middle. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
14. ^ Jordan, David Thousand. (2011). FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana Academy Press. p. 290. ISBN978-0-253-35683-3.
15. ^ Leuchtenburg, William E. "Franklin D. Roosevelt: Campaigns and Elections". Charlottesville, Virginia: Miller Center of Public Diplomacy, University of Virginia. Archived from the original on Jan 14, 2021. Retrieved March twenty, 2018.
16. ^ Leuchtenburg, William E. "Franklin D. Roosevelt: Death of the President". Charlottesville, Virginia: Miller Center of Public Affairs, Academy of Virginia. Archived from the original on January xiv, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
17. ^ Congressional Quarterly. (1947). Limitations of Presidential Tenure. Congressional Quarterly Vol. 3. 92-93, 96.
18. ^ ^{a b} Rowley, Sean (July 26, 2014). "Presidential terms limited by 22nd Amendment". Tahlequah Daily Press. Archived from the original on Jan xiv, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
19. ^ "22nd Amendment: 2-Term Limit on Presidency". constitutioncenter.org. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: National Constitution Center. Archived from the original on Feb twenty, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
20. ^ Mount, Steve. "Ratification of Constitutional Amendments". usconstitution.cyberspace. Archived from the original on Apr 23, 2018. Retrieved June ix, 2020.
21. ^ Weldon, Kathleen (August 11, 2015). "The Public and the 22nd Subpoena: Third Terms and Lame Ducks". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on January fourteen, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
22. ^ Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T. "Presidential Job Approving: F. Roosevelt (1941)—Trump". Data adjusted from the Gallup Poll and compiled by Gerhard Peters. Santa Barbara, California: The American Presidency Project. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
23. ^ "The Constitution: Amendments 11-27". America's Founding Documents. Washington, D.C.: National Archives. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
24. ^ Ready, Joel A. "The 22nd Amendment Doesn't Say What You lot Think It Says". Blandon, Pennsylvania: Cornerstone Law Firm. Archived from the original on January xiv, 2021. Retrieved November six, 2017.
25. ^ Franck, Matthew J. (July 31, 2007). "Constitutional Sleight of Hand". National Review. Archived from the original on June 13, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
26. ^ Dorf, Michael C. (August ii, 2000). "Why the Constitution permits a Gore-Clinton ticket". CNN. Archived from the original on October i, 2005.
27. ^ Gant, Scott E.; Peabody, Bruce G. (June 13, 2006). "How to bring back Bill: A Clinton-Clinton 2008 ticket is constitutionally possible". The Christian Scientific discipline Monitor. Archived from the original on January fourteen, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
28. ^ LoBianco, Tom (September 15, 2015). "Hillary Clinton: Beak equally VP has 'crossed her mind'". CNN. Archived from the original on Jan 14, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
29. ^ Lemelin, Bernard Lemelin (Winter 1999). "Opposition to the 22nd Amendment: The National Committee Against Limiting the Presidency and its Activities, 1949-1951". Canadian Review of American Studies. University of Toronto Press on behalf of the Canadian Clan for American Studies with the support of Carleton University. 29 (3): 133–148. doi:ten.3138/CRAS-029-03-06. S2CID 159908265.
30. ^ Reagan, Ronald (January xviii, 1989). "President Reagan Says He Will Fight to Repeal 22nd Amendment". NBC Nightly News (Interview). Interviewed by Tom Brokaw. New York: NBC. Retrieved June xiv, 2015.
31. ^ "Clinton: I Would've Won Third Term". ABC News. December 7, 2000. Archived from the original on Jan 14, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
32. ^ Einbinder, Nicole (June 17, 2019). "Trump suggested his supporters want him to serve more than than 2 terms equally president". Business organisation Insider. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
33. ^ Croucher, Shane (September eleven, 2019). "Donald Trump Posts Image on Twitter, Instagram Joking That He'll Stand in 2024". Newsweek. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
34. ^ "H.J.Res. 15 (113th): Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President". Washington, D.C.: GovTrack, a project of Borough Impulse, LLC. 2013. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
35. ^ "Bill to Repeal the 22nd Amendment". Snopes.com . Retrieved October nineteen, 2018.
36. ^ potus_geeks (February 27, 2012). "The 22nd Amendment". Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved Oct nineteen, 2018.

External links [edit]

• The Annenberg Guide to the Usa Constitution: Twenty-second Amendment
• CRS Annotated Constitution: Xx-2nd Subpoena

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

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