Can a President Run Again for Two Terms

1951 subpoena limiting presidents to 2 terms

The 20-2nd Subpoena (Subpoena XXII) to the United States Constitution limits the number of times a person is eligible for ballot to the office of President of the United states of america to two, and sets boosted eligibility conditions for presidents who succeed to the unexpired terms of their predecessors.^[1] Congress approved the Twenty-2nd Amendment on March 21, 1947, and submitted information technology to the country legislatures for ratification. That procedure was completed on Feb 27, 1951, when the requisite 36 of the 48 states had ratified the amendment (neither Alaska nor Hawaii had all the same been admitted as states), and its provisions came into force on that date.

The amendment prohibits anyone who has been elected president twice from being elected again. Under the amendment, someone who fills an unexpired presidential term lasting more than two years is also prohibited from being elected president more than once. Scholars debate whether the amendment prohibits affected individuals from succeeding to the presidency under any circumstances or whether it applies only to presidential elections. Until the subpoena's ratification, the president had not been subject area to term limits, but both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson (the first and 3rd presidents) decided non to serve a 3rd term, establishing a 2-term tradition that subsequent presidents followed. In the 1940 and 1944 presidential elections, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first president to win tertiary and fourth terms, giving rise to concerns about a president serving unlimited terms.^[two]

Text [edit]

Section i. No person shall be elected to the role of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which another person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. Only this Article shall not use to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall non prevent whatever person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term inside which this Article becomes operative from holding the part of President or interim 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 past the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within vii years from the date of its submission to united states of america by the Congress.^[3]

Background [edit]

The Twenty-second Amendment was a reaction to Franklin D. Roosevelt'south ballot to an unprecedented four terms equally president, but presidential term limits had long been debated in American politics. Delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 considered the consequence extensively (alongside broader questions, such as who would elect the president, and the president's role). Many, including Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, supported lifetime tenure for presidents, while others favored fixed terms. Virginia's George Mason denounced the life-tenure proposal as tantamount to elective monarchy.^[4] An early draft of the U.S. Constitution provided that the president was restricted to ane vii-year term.^[5] Ultimately, the Framers canonical four-year terms with no restriction on how many times a person could be elected president.

Though dismissed by the Ramble Convention, term limits for U.S. presidents were contemplated during the presidencies of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Equally his second term entered its concluding year in 1796, Washington was exhausted from years of public service, and his health had begun to decline. He was as well bothered past his political opponents' unrelenting attacks, which had escalated later the signing of the Jay Treaty, and believed he had achieved his major goals every bit president. For these reasons, he decided not to run for a third term, a decision he appear to the nation in his September 1796 Farewell Address.^[half-dozen] Xi 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 not stock-still by the Constitution, or supplied by practice, his office, nominally for years, volition in fact, go for life; and history shows how easily that degenerates into an inheritance.^[vii]

Since Washington made his historic announcement, numerous academics and public figures take looked at his decision to retire after 2 terms, and take, according to political scientist Bruce Peabody, "argued he had established a two-term tradition that served as a vital bank check against any i person, or the presidency as a whole, accumulating too much power".^[8] Various amendments aimed at changing informal precedent to constitutional police were proposed in Congress in the early on to mid-19th century, but none passed.^{[four] [9]} Iii of the next four presidents later Jefferson—James Madison, James Monroe, and Andrew Jackson—served two terms, and each adhered to the two-term principle;^[1] Martin Van Buren was the merely president between Jackson and Abraham Lincoln to be nominated for a 2d term, though he lost the 1840 election and then served only one term.^[9] At the outset of the Civil War the seceding States drafted the Constitution of the Confederate States of America, which in most respects resembled the United States Constitution, but limited the president to a single half-dozen-year term.

In spite of the strong two-term tradition, a few presidents before Roosevelt attempted to secure a third term. Following Ulysses South. 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 involvement in a third term for Grant evaporated in the calorie-free of negative public stance and opposition from members of Congress, and Grant left the presidency in 1877 after ii terms. Still, as the 1880 election approached, he sought nomination for a (non-sequent) 3rd term at the 1880 Republican National Convention, just narrowly lost to James Garfield, who won the 1880 election.^[9]

Theodore Roosevelt succeeded to the presidency on September 14, 1901, following William McKinley's 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, simply did run again in the election of 1912, losing to Woodrow Wilson. Wilson himself, despite his sick health post-obit a serious stroke, aspired to a tertiary term. Many of his advisers tried to convince him that his wellness precluded another entrada, merely Wilson nonetheless asked that his proper name be placed in nomination for the presidency at the 1920 Democratic National Convention.^[10] Democratic Party leaders were unwilling to support Wilson, and the nomination went to James Chiliad. Cox, who lost to Warren G. Harding. Wilson over again contemplated running for a (nonconsecutive) tertiary term in 1924, devising a strategy for his improvement, just again lacked any support; he died in February of that yr.^[xi]

Franklin Roosevelt spent the months leading up to the 1940 Autonomous National Convention refusing to say whether he would seek a third term. His Vice President, John Nance Garner, along with Postmaster General James Farley, announced their candidacies for the Autonomous nomination. When the convention came, Roosevelt sent a message to the convention saying he would run simply if drafted, saying delegates were complimentary to vote for whomever they pleased. This bulletin was interpreted to mean he was willing to exist drafted, and he was renominated on the convention'southward showtime ballot.^{[9] [12]} Roosevelt won a decisive victory over Republican Wendell Willkie, becoming the first (and to date simply) president to exceed eight years in function. 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, Roosevelt faced Republican Thomas Due east. Dewey in the 1944 ballot. Almost the finish of the campaign, Dewey announced his support of a constitutional amendment to limit presidents to two terms. Co-ordinate to Dewey, "four terms, or xvi years (a direct reference to the president's tenure in office 4 years hence), is the well-nigh dangerous threat to our freedom always proposed."^[fourteen] He as well discreetly raised the issue of the president's age. Roosevelt exuded enough energy and charisma to retain voters' conviction and was elected to a fourth term.^[15]

While he quelled rumors of poor health during the campaign, Roosevelt's health was deteriorating. On Apr 12, 1945, just 82 days after his 4th inauguration, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died, to be succeeded by Vice President Harry Truman.^[16] In the midterm elections eighteen months later, Republicans took command of the House and the Senate. As many of them had campaigned on the effect of presidential tenure, declaring their back up for a constitutional subpoena that would limit how long a person could serve as president, the issue was given priority in the 80th Congress when it convened in January 1947.^[8]

Proposal and ratification [edit]

Proposal in Congress [edit]

The Business firm of Representatives took quick activeness, approving a proposed constitutional amendment (House Joint Resolution 27) setting a limit of two iv-year terms for future presidents. Introduced by Earl C. Michener, the measure passed 285–121, with support from 47 Democrats, on Feb 6, 1947.^[17] Meanwhile, the Senate developed its ain proposed amendment, which initially differed from the Business firm proposal past requiring that the amendment be submitted to country ratifying conventions for ratification, rather than to the state legislatures, and past 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 upwards the bill, but a new provision was, nonetheless, added. Put forrard 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 function. The amended proposal was passed 59–23, with sixteen Democrats in favor, on March 12.^{[1] [18]}

On March 21, the Firm agreed to the Senate'southward revisions and approved the resolution to meliorate the Constitution. Afterward, the amendment imposing term limitations on hereafter presidents was submitted to u.s.a. for ratification. The ratification procedure was completed on February 27, 1951, 3 years, 343 days after it was sent to the states.^{[19] [20]}

Ratification by the states [edit]

A map of how us voted on the Twenty-second Amendment

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

1. Maine: March 31, 1947
2. Michigan: March 31, 1947
3. Iowa: April ane, 1947
4. Kansas: Apr 1, 1947
5. New Hampshire: April 1, 1947
6. Delaware: April two, 1947
7. Illinois: April 3, 1947
8. Oregon: Apr three, 1947
9. Colorado: April 12, 1947
10. California: April fifteen, 1947
11. New Jersey: April 15, 1947
12. Vermont: April 15, 1947
13. Ohio: Apr sixteen, 1947
14. Wisconsin: April 16, 1947
15. Pennsylvania: April 29, 1947
16. Connecticut: May 21, 1947
17. Missouri: May 22, 1947
18. Nebraska: May 23, 1947
19. Virginia: Jan 28, 1948
20. Mississippi: February 12, 1948
21. New York: March nine, 1948
22. South Dakota: January 21, 1949
23. North Dakota: February 25, 1949
24. Louisiana: May 17, 1950
25. Montana: January 25, 1951
26. Indiana: January 29, 1951
27. Idaho: January 30, 1951
28. New Mexico: February 12, 1951
29. Wyoming: Feb 12, 1951
30. Arkansas: February 15, 1951
31. Georgia: February 17, 1951
32. Tennessee: February 20, 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 amendment. On March 1, 1951, the Administrator of Full general Services, Jess Larson, issued a document proclaiming the 22nd Amendment duly ratified and part of the Constitution. The amendment was later on ratified by:^[3]
37. North Carolina: February 28, 1951
38. Southward Carolina: March xiii, 1951
39. Maryland: March 14, 1951
40. Florida: April xvi, 1951
41. Alabama: May 4, 1951

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

Effect [edit]

Considering of the grandfather clause in Section 1, the subpoena did non employ to Harry S. Truman, as he was the incumbent president at the fourth dimension it came into force. Truman, who had served about all of Franklin Roosevelt'southward unexpired fourth term and who was elected to a full term in 1948, was thus eligible for reelection in 1952.^[xiii] But with his task approval rating at around 27%,^{[21] [22]} and after a poor functioning in the 1952 New Hampshire primary, Truman chose not to seek his party'due south nomination. Since becoming operative in 1951, the subpoena has been applicable to vi presidents who have been elected twice: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Neb Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

Interaction with the Twelfth Amendment [edit]

As worded, the focus of the 22nd Subpoena is on limiting individuals from being elected to the presidency more than than twice. Questions have been raised nigh the subpoena's meaning and awarding, especially in relation to the 12th Amendment, ratified in 1804, which states, "no person constitutionally ineligible to the part of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."^[23] While the 12th Amendment stipulates that the constitutional qualifications of historic period, citizenship, and residency apply to the president and vice president, it is unclear whether someone who is ineligible to be elected president due to term limits could exist elected vice president. Because of the ambivalence, a ii-term quondam president could possibly exist elected vice president and then succeed to the presidency as a result of the incumbent's death, resignation, or removal from function, or succeed to the presidency from another stated function in the presidential line of succession.^{[9] [24]}

Some argue that the 22nd Amendment and 12th Subpoena bar any ii-term president from later serving as vice president besides as from succeeding to the presidency from any point in the presidential line of succession.^[25] Others debate that the original intent of the 12th Amendment concerns qualification for service (historic period, residence, and citizenship), while the 22nd Amendment, concerns qualifications for ballot, and thus a former two-term president is still eligible to serve as vice president. Neither amendment restricts the number of times someone can be elected to the vice presidency and and so succeed to the presidency to serve out the balance of the term, although the person could be prohibited from running for election to an additional term.^{[26] [27]}

The applied applicability of this distinction has not been tested, as no twice-elected president has ever been nominated for the vice presidency. While Hillary Clinton once suggested she considered onetime President Bill Clinton as her running mate,^[28] the constitutional question remains unresolved.^[1]

Attempts at repeal [edit]

Over the years, several presidents accept voiced their antipathy toward the amendment. Later leaving role, Harry Truman described the amendment as stupid and 1 of the worst amendments of the Constitution with the exception of the Prohibition Amendment.^[29] A few days earlier leaving role in Jan 1989, President Ronald Reagan said he would push for a repeal of the 22nd Amendment because he thought information technology infringed on people's democratic rights.^[xxx] In a November 2000 interview with Rolling Stone, President Bill Clinton suggested that the 22nd Amendment should be contradistinct to limit presidents to 2 consecutive terms merely then allow not-consecutive terms, because of longer life expectancies.^[31] Donald Trump questioned presidential term limits on multiple occasions while in office, and in public remarks talked about serving beyond the limits of the 22nd Subpoena. During an April 2019 White House event for the Wounded Warrior Projection, he suggested he would remain president for 10 to 14 years.^{[32] [33]}

The outset efforts in Congress to repeal the 22nd Amendment were undertaken in 1956, 5 years after the subpoena'south ratification. Over the next 50 years, 54 joint resolutions seeking to repeal the two-term presidential election limit were introduced.^[1] Between 1997 and 2013, José Eastward. Serrano, Democratic representative for New York, introduced 9 resolutions (one per Congress, all unsuccessful) to repeal the amendment.^[34] Repeal has also been supported past Representatives Barney Frank and David Dreier and Senators Mitch McConnell^[35] and Harry Reid.^[36]

See also [edit]

• Term limits in the United States
• List of political term limits

References [edit]

1. ^ ^{a b c d east} Neale, Thomas H. (Oct 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's third-term election and the 22nd amendment". Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: National Constitution Center. November 5, 2020. Retrieved Apr 29, 2022.
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Estimation" (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. August 26, 2017. pp. 39–twoscore. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
4. ^ ^{a b} Buckley, F. H.; Metzger, Gillian. "Twenty-2nd Amendment". The Interactive Constitution. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The National Constitution Center. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
5. ^ Get-go typhoon U.S.CONST., fine art. X, section 1.
6. ^ Ferling, John (2009). The Rising of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon. New York: Bloomsbury Printing. pp. 347–348. ISBN978-i-59691-465-0.
7. ^ Jefferson, Thomas (December 10, 1807). "Letter of the alphabet to the Legislature of Vermont". Ashland, Ohio: TeachingAmericanHistory.org. Archived from the original on January 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 January ten, 2017.
9. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Peabody, Bruce G.; Gant, Scott Due east. (Feb 1999). "The Twice and Future President: Constitutional Interstices and the Xx-Second Subpoena". Minnesota Police force Review. Minneapolis: Academy of Minnesota Constabulary Schoolhouse. 83 (3): 565–635. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
10. ^ Pietrusza, David (2007). The Year of the Vi Presidents. New York: Carroll and Graf. pp. 187–200. ISBN978-0-78671-622-7.
11. ^ Saunders, Robert K. (1998). In Search of Woodrow Wilson: Behavior and Beliefs. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 260–262. ISBN9780313305207.
12. ^ Rosen, Elliot A. (1997). "'Non Worth a Bullpen of Warm Piss': John Nance Garner equally Vice President". In Walch, Timothy (ed.). At the President's Side: The Vice Presidency in the Twentieth Century. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. pp. 52–53. ISBN0-8262-1133-X . Retrieved March twenty, 2018.
13. ^ ^{a b} "FDR'due south third-term determination and the 22nd amendment". Constitution Daily. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The National Constitution Center. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
14. ^ Hashemite kingdom of jordan, David G. (2011). FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 290. ISBN978-0-253-35683-iii.
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 January 14, 2021. Retrieved March twenty, 2018.
16. ^ Leuchtenburg, William E. "Franklin D. Roosevelt: Death of the President". Charlottesville, Virginia: Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
17. ^ Congressional Quarterly. (1947). Limitations of Presidential Tenure. Congressional Quarterly Vol. Iii. 92-93, 96.
18. ^ ^{a b} Rowley, Sean (July 26, 2014). "Presidential terms limited by 22nd Amendment". Tahlequah Daily Printing. Archived from the original on Jan xiv, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
19. ^ "22nd Amendment: Ii-Term Limit on Presidency". constitutioncenter.org. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: National Constitution Middle. Archived from the original on February xx, 2020. Retrieved June seven, 2020.
20. ^ Mount, Steve. "Ratification of Constitutional Amendments". usconstitution.cyberspace. Archived from the original on Apr 23, 2018. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
21. ^ Weldon, Kathleen (August 11, 2015). "The Public and the 22nd Amendment: Third Terms and Lame Ducks". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
22. ^ Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T. "Presidential Task Approval: F. Roosevelt (1941)—Trump". Data adjusted from the Gallup Poll and compiled by Gerhard Peters. Santa Barbara, California: The American Presidency Projection. Archived from the original on January xiv, 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 Jan 14, 2021. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
24. ^ Set up, Joel A. "The 22nd Amendment Doesn't Say What You Think Information technology Says". Blandon, Pennsylvania: Cornerstone Law Firm. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved Nov 6, 2017.
25. ^ Franck, Matthew J. (July 31, 2007). "Constitutional Sleight of Mitt". National Review. Archived from the original on June 13, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
26. ^ Dorf, Michael C. (August two, 2000). "Why the Constitution permits a Gore-Clinton ticket". CNN. Archived from the original on October 1, 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 Jan 14, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
28. ^ LoBianco, Tom (September 15, 2015). "Hillary Clinton: Bill as VP has 'crossed her mind'". CNN. Archived from the original on Jan fourteen, 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 Association for American Studies with the support of Carleton University. 29 (three): 133–148. doi:10.3138/CRAS-029-03-06. S2CID 159908265.
30. ^ Reagan, Ronald (Jan 18, 1989). "President Reagan Says He Will Fight to Repeal 22nd Amendment". NBC Nightly News (Interview). Interviewed by Tom Brokaw. New York: NBC. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
31. ^ "Clinton: I Would've Won Third Term". ABC News. December 7, 2000. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
32. ^ Einbinder, Nicole (June 17, 2019). "Trump suggested his supporters desire him to serve more than than 2 terms as president". Business organization Insider. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved September xiv, 2019.
33. ^ Croucher, Shane (September xi, 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 xiv, 2019.
34. ^ "H.J.Res. 15 (113th): Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second commodity of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve equally President". Washington, D.C.: GovTrack, a project of Borough Impulse, LLC. 2013. Archived from the original on January fourteen, 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 October xix, 2018.

External links [edit]

• The Annenberg Guide to the United States Constitution: 20-second Amendment
• CRS Annotated Constitution: Twenty-2nd Amendment

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution#:~:text=The%20amendment%20prohibits%20anyone%20who,elected%20president%20more%20than%20once.

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