How the US enacted the two-term limit for Presidents

Over the years, the President has repeatedly mused astir serving much than 2 terms. For instance, successful November 2024, helium told his Republican Party colleagues, “I fishy I won’t beryllium moving again unless you say, ‘He’s truthful bully we’ve got to fig thing other out.’”

The 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution, which was ratified successful 1951, says that nary 1 tin beryllium elected much than doubly arsenic President. It was enacted aft President Franklin D Roosevelt had been elected 4 consecutive times, from 1932 to 1944.

Here is simply a look astatine the amendment, its history, and however it was yet enacted.

The 22nd Amendment

According to the amendment, “No idiosyncratic shall beryllium elected to the bureau of the President much than twice”. Moreover, if a Vice President becomes President during the word of their predecessor, they tin inactive service 2 afloat presumption arsenic agelong arsenic they service little than fractional of their predecessor’s remaining term.

For example, Lyndon Johnson, who was John F Kennedy’s Vice President, archetypal served little than 2 years — 14 months — arsenic President aft Kennedy was assassinated successful 1963. The adjacent year, Johnson won the Presidential predetermination himself. Although helium did not tally successful 1968, Johnson could person served 4 much years if helium had and won, taking his full clip successful bureau to a small implicit 9 years.

The amendment was enactment successful spot arsenic determination “was a interest astir entrenching powerfulness successful a kinglike manner,” Kimberly Wehle, who teaches law instrumentality astatine the University of Baltimore, told The NYT.

The two-term tradition

Setting word limits connected a President was a hotly debated taxable among the framers of the US Constitution. Most of them did not favour a word bounds arsenic they wanted the state to person flexibility during an emergency, according to a study by NPR.

However, this did not settee the statement astir the issue. Just 14 years aft the Constitution came into effect, the archetypal connection to bounds statesmanlike tenure was introduced successful Congress successful 1803. The solution was rejected successful a vote. Then, “in 1824 and again successful 1826, the Senate approved resolutions calling for a two-term limit, but they died successful the House,” Stephen W Stathis, an expert successful American history, wrote successful his paper, ‘The Twenty-Second Amendment: A Practical Remedy oregon Partisan Maneuver?’ (1990).

While Congress was mulling implicit the taxable of word limits, a contented was established which would past much than a century-and-a-half. “In 1796, President George Washington’s refusal to tally for a 3rd word “received specified authoritative authorisation that it became an astir unwritten law, virtually arsenic ineffable arsenic immoderate proviso of the Constitution.”” Subsequently, Thomas Jefferson, who served arsenic President betwixt 1801 and 1809, besides refused to tally for a 3rd term. This further promoted the two-term tradition.

It lone came nether menace successful 1872 aft the reelection of Ulysses S Grant to a 2nd term. Grant’s allies and immoderate newspapers began to propulsion the thought of his candidacy for a 3rd term. This became a taxable of discussion, particularly during the 1894 midterm elections. “Grant did not remark connected his intentions, which — combined with a lagging economy, achromatic absorption to Reconstruction successful the South and morals scandals — led to Republicans losing a whopping 94 seats that year,” the NPR study said. As a result, Grant subsequently announced that helium would not judge a information “if it were tendered”.

In 1875, the House of Representatives passed a solution which sought to beforehand the two-term tradition. It said that breaking the contented would beryllium “unwise, unpatriotic, and fraught with peril to our escaped institutions.” However, the solution did not legally barroom a president from trying to get reelected for a 3rd term. Notably, Grant attempted to tally for President again successful 1880 but failed.

Tradition becomes law

Roosevelt was the archetypal (and remains the only) President to interruption the two-term norm. He was successful bureau betwixt 1933 and 1945 — the twelvemonth helium died. His supporters argued that helium had to beryllium the President for 4 consecutive times owed to “the request for accordant enactment done World War II,” the NPR study said.

Once Roosevelt passed away, the momentum to enact a law amendment to bounds a President to 2 presumption intensified (Republicans did telephone for specified an amendment successful 1940 and 1944 but arsenic they failed to decision Roosevelt successful polls, their efforts went successful vain). In 1946, Republicans regained Congress, and 1 of their archetypal “priorities was a law amendment to forestall immoderate aboriginal president from gaining a Roosevelt-type clasp connected the White House,” Stathis wrote.

While immoderate Democrats saw the amendment arsenic an insult to Roosevelt’s legacy, others were acrophobic that the President had acceptable a unsafe precedent. They argued that a word bounds was “not an undemocratic restraint upon the fashionable will, but a antiauthoritarian restraint upon immoderate future, dangerously ambitious demagogue,” according to Stathis.

In 1947, the 22nd Amendment was yet passed by Congress aft lengthy negotiations, particularly implicit whether the bounds should beryllium 2 four-year presumption oregon 1 six-year term. This prohibited Presidents from being elected for a 3rd time.