Can a President Run Again After Completing 2 Terms?

1951 subpoena limiting presidents to two terms

The Twenty-second Amendment (Amendment 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 two, and sets boosted eligibility conditions for presidents who succeed to the unexpired terms of their predecessors.^[i]

Until the amendment'south ratification, the president had not been subject to term limits, but George Washington had established a two-term tradition that many other presidents followed. But in the 1940 and 1944 presidential elections, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the start president to win third and fourth terms, giving rise to concerns about a president serving unlimited terms. After Roosevelt'south 1945 decease, Republicans and bourgeois Democrats were swept into Congress in the 1946 elections and were in position to propose an amendment restricting the number of presidential terms.^[2] Congress approved the Twenty-second Amendment on March 21, 1947, and submitted it to the land legislatures for ratification. That process was completed on Feb 27, 1951, when the requisite 36 of the 48 states had ratified the amendment (neither Alaska nor Hawaii had yet been admitted equally states), and its provisions came into strength on that date.

The amendment prohibits anyone who has been elected president twice from being elected again. Under the subpoena, someone who fills an unexpired presidential term lasting more than ii years is also prohibited from being elected president more than in one case. Scholars debate whether the amendment prohibits afflicted individuals from succeeding to the presidency under whatsoever circumstances or whether information technology applies simply to presidential elections.

Text [edit]

Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than 2 years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than in one case. But this Article shall non employ to any person holding the function of President when this Article was proposed past the Congress, and shall non prevent any person who may exist holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the part of President or interim as President during the remainder of such term.

Section ii. This Commodity 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 past the Congress.^[3]

Background [edit]

The Twenty-second Amendment was a reaction to Franklin D. Roosevelt'southward election to an unprecedented four terms as president, but presidential term limits had long been debated in American politics. Delegates to the Ramble Convention of 1787 considered the issue 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.Due south. Constitution provided that the president was restricted to one 7-year term.^[5] Ultimately, the Framers approved four-yr terms with no restriction on how many times a person could be elected president.

Though dismissed by the Constitutional Convention, term limits for U.S. presidents were contemplated during the presidencies of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. As his second term entered its final year in 1796, Washington was exhausted from years of public service, and his health had begun to decline. 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 achieved his major goals as president. For these reasons, he decided non to run for a third term, a determination he announced to the nation in his September 1796 Farewell Address.^[half-dozen] Eleven years later, every bit Thomas Jefferson neared the halfway betoken of his second term, he wrote,

If some termination to the services of the master magistrate be not stock-still by the Constitution, or supplied by practice, his office, nominally for years, will in fact, become for life; and history shows how hands that degenerates into an inheritance.^[7]

Since Washington made his historic declaration, numerous academics and public figures have looked at his decision to retire after 2 terms, and accept, according to political scientist Bruce Peabody, "argued he had established a ii-term tradition that served as a vital check confronting whatever i person, or the presidency every bit a whole, accumulating likewise much ability".^[8] Various amendments aimed at irresolute breezy precedent to constitutional law were proposed in Congress in the early on to mid-19th century, merely none passed.^{[iv] [9]} Three of the next 4 presidents after 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 only president between Jackson and Abraham Lincoln to exist nominated for a 2d term, though he lost the 1840 election and so served merely one term.^[ix] At the offset 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, only express the president to a single six-yr term.

In spite of the strong two-term tradition, a few presidents before Roosevelt attempted to secure a 3rd term. Post-obit Ulysses S. Grant's reelection in 1872, there were serious discussions within Republican political circles about the possibility of his running once again in 1876. Only interest in a tertiary term for Grant evaporated in the light of negative public stance and opposition from members of Congress, and Grant left the presidency in 1877 after two terms. Fifty-fifty then, as the 1880 election approached, he sought nomination for a (not-consecutive) third term at the 1880 Republican National Convention, but 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 3rd (second full) term in 1908, but did run again in the election of 1912, losing to Woodrow Wilson. Wilson himself, despite his ill health following a serious stroke, aspired to a tertiary term. Many of his directorate tried to convince him that his health precluded another campaign, but Wilson nonetheless asked that his proper noun exist placed in nomination for the presidency at the 1920 Democratic National Convention.^[10] Autonomous Political party leaders were unwilling to back up Wilson, and the nomination went to James M. Cox, who lost to Warren G. Harding. Wilson again contemplated running for a (nonconsecutive) third term in 1924, devising a strategy for his comeback, but once again lacked any back up; he died in Feb of that year.^[11]

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, forth with Postmaster General James Farley, announced their candidacies for the Democratic nomination. When the convention came, Roosevelt sent a message to the convention saying he would run just if drafted, proverb delegates were free to vote for whomever they pleased. This message was interpreted to mean he was willing to exist drafted, and he was renominated on the convention's first ballot.^{[9] [12]} Roosevelt won a decisive victory over Republican Wendell Willkie, becoming the beginning (and to date only) president to exceed 8 years in office. His decision to seek a third term dominated the election campaign.^[thirteen] 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 election. Near the end of the campaign, Dewey announced his back up of a constitutional amendment to limit presidents to ii terms. Co-ordinate to Dewey, "4 terms, or sixteen years (a direct reference to the president's tenure in part four years hence), is the well-nigh dangerous threat to our liberty ever proposed."^[14] He likewise discreetly raised the upshot of the president's age. Roosevelt exuded plenty 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'due south wellness 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.^[16] In the midterm elections 18 months subsequently, Republicans took command of the Firm and the Senate. As many of them had campaigned on the consequence of presidential tenure, declaring their support for a constitutional amendment that would limit how long a person could serve as president, the effect 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 action, approving a proposed constitutional amendment (House Joint Resolution 27) setting a limit of two four-yr terms for future presidents. Introduced past Earl C. Michener, the measure passed 285–121, with support from 47 Democrats, on February 6, 1947.^[17] Meanwhile, the Senate adult its own proposed amendment, which initially differed from the House proposal by requiring that the amendment be submitted to country ratifying conventions for ratification, rather than to the country legislatures, and by prohibiting any person who had served more than 365 days in each of two terms from farther presidential service. Both these provisions were removed when the total Senate took upwards the bill, but a new provision was, however, added. Put frontwards past Robert A. Taft, it antiseptic 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.^{[ane] [18]}

On March 21, the House agreed to the Senate's revisions and approved the resolution to amend the Constitution. Afterward, the subpoena 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 later it was sent to united states of america.^{[19] [xx]}

Ratification past the states [edit]

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

Once submitted to usa, the 22nd Amendment was ratified by:^[3]

1. Maine: March 31, 1947
2. Michigan: March 31, 1947
3. Iowa: April 1, 1947
4. Kansas: Apr 1, 1947
5. New Hampshire: April i, 1947
6. Delaware: April 2, 1947
7. Illinois: April 3, 1947
8. Oregon: April 3, 1947
9. Colorado: Apr 12, 1947
10. California: April 15, 1947
11. New Jersey: April xv, 1947
12. Vermont: Apr 15, 1947
13. Ohio: April 16, 1947
14. Wisconsin: Apr xvi, 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: 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 United mexican states: Feb 12, 1951
29. Wyoming: February 12, 1951
30. Arkansas: Feb 15, 1951
31. Georgia: February 17, 1951
32. Tennessee: February xx, 1951
33. Texas: February 22, 1951
34. Utah: February 26, 1951
35. Nevada: Feb 26, 1951
36. Minnesota: February 27, 1951
    Ratification was completed when the Minnesota Legislature ratified the subpoena. On March ane, 1951, the Administrator of General Services, Jess Larson, issued a certificate proclaiming the 22nd Amendment duly ratified and office of the Constitution. The amendment was subsequently ratified by:^[3]
37. N Carolina: February 28, 1951
38. South Carolina: March 13, 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 action.^[18]

Effect [edit]

Because of the grandfather clause in Section 1, the subpoena did not utilise to Harry S. Truman, every bit he was the incumbent president at the time it came into strength. Truman, who had served near all of Franklin Roosevelt'due south unexpired quaternary term and who was elected to a full term in 1948, was thus eligible for reelection in 1952.^[13] Only with his task approval rating at around 27%,^{[21] [22]} and after a poor performance in the 1952 New Hampshire primary, Truman chose non to seek his party's nomination. Since becoming operative in 1951, the amendment has been applicable to half dozen presidents who take 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 existence elected to the presidency more than twice. Questions take been raised about the subpoena'south meaning and application, 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 twelfth Amendment stipulates that the ramble qualifications of age, citizenship, and residency utilise 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 ambiguity, a two-term quondam president could possibly be elected vice president and and so succeed to the presidency as a result of the incumbent'due south death, resignation, or removal from office, or succeed to the presidency from another stated part in the presidential line of succession.^{[9] [24]}

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

The applied applicability of this stardom has not been tested, as no twice-elected president has ever been nominated for the vice presidency. While Hillary Clinton one time suggested she considered former President Bill Clinton as her running mate,^[28] the ramble question remains unresolved.^[ane]

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 1 of the worst amendments of the Constitution with the exception of the Prohibition Amendment.^[29] A few days earlier leaving part in January 1989, President Ronald Reagan said he would button for a repeal of the 22nd Amendment considering he thought it infringed on people's autonomous rights.^[xxx] In a November 2000 interview with Rolling Stone, President Nib Clinton suggested that the 22nd Subpoena should exist altered to limit presidents to two sequent terms but and so allow non-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 Amendment. During an April 2022 White House upshot for the Wounded Warrior Project, he suggested he would remain president for 10 to xiv years.^{[32] [33]}

The first efforts in Congress to repeal the 22nd Amendment were undertaken in 1956, v years afterward the amendment's ratification. Over the next 50 years, 54 joint resolutions seeking to repeal the two-term presidential election limit were introduced.^[one] Between 1997 and 2013, José E. Serrano, Democratic representative for New York, introduced nine resolutions (one per Congress, all unsuccessful) to repeal the subpoena.^[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 United States
• Listing of political term limits

References [edit]

1. ^ ^{a b c d eastward} Neale, Thomas H. (October 19, 2009). "Presidential Terms and Tenure: Perspectives and Proposals for Modify" (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Congressional Enquiry Service, The Library of Congress. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
2. ^ "FDR'south 3rd-term election and the 22nd amendment - National Constitution Center". National Constitution Heart – constitutioncenter.org . Retrieved September xxx, 2021.
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Constitution of the U.s.a. 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. "20-second Amendment". The Interactive Constitution. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The National Constitution Center. Archived from the original on January fourteen, 2021. Retrieved March nineteen, 2018.
5. ^ Get-go draft U.South.CONST., art. X, section 1.
6. ^ Ferling, John (2009). The Ascent 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 10, 1807). "Letter to the Legislature of Vermont". Ashland, Ohio: TeachingAmericanHistory.org. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved March xix, 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 eastward f} Peabody, Bruce G.; Gant, Scott Eastward. (February 1999). "The Twice and Future President: Constitutional Interstices and the Twenty-Second Amendment". Minnesota Police Review. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Law 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-seven.
11. ^ Saunders, Robert K. (1998). In Search of Woodrow Wilson: Behavior 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 equally Vice President". In Walch, Timothy (ed.). At the President'due south Side: The Vice Presidency in the Twentieth Century. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Printing. pp. 52–53. ISBN0-8262-1133-X . Retrieved March 20, 2018.
13. ^ ^{a b} "FDR's 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 M. (2011). FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 290. ISBN978-0-253-35683-3.
15. ^ Leuchtenburg, William Eastward. "Franklin D. Roosevelt: Campaigns and Elections". Charlottesville, Virginia: Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 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. Three. 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 January 14, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
19. ^ "22nd Amendment: Two-Term Limit on Presidency". constitutioncenter.org. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: National Constitution Heart. Archived from the original on February 20, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
20. ^ Mount, Steve. "Ratification of Ramble Amendments". usconstitution.cyberspace. Archived from the original on April 23, 2018. Retrieved June ix, 2020.
21. ^ Weldon, Kathleen (Baronial xi, 2015). "The Public and the 22nd Amendment: Third Terms and Lame Ducks". Huffington Mail service. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
22. ^ Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T. "Presidential Job Approval: F. Roosevelt (1941)—Trump". Data adapted from the Gallup Poll and compiled by Gerhard Peters. Santa Barbara, California: The American Presidency Projection. Archived from the original on Jan 14, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
23. ^ "The Constitution: Amendments xi-27". America's Founding Documents. Washington, D.C.: National Athenaeum. Archived from the original on January xiv, 2021. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
24. ^ Set, Joel A. "The 22nd Amendment Doesn't Say What Y'all Think It Says". Blandon, Pennsylvania: Cornerstone Law Business firm. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
25. ^ Franck, Matthew J. (July 31, 2007). "Constitutional Sleight of Hand". National Review. Archived from the original on June thirteen, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
26. ^ Dorf, Michael C. (August 2, 2000). "Why the Constitution permits a Gore-Clinton ticket". CNN. Archived from the original on October ane, 2005.
27. ^ Gant, Scott East.; Peabody, Bruce G. (June xiii, 2006). "How to bring back Bill: A Clinton-Clinton 2008 ticket is constitutionally possible". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
28. ^ LoBianco, Tom (September 15, 2015). "Hillary Clinton: Pecker as VP has 'crossed her heed'". CNN. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
29. ^ Lemelin, Bernard Lemelin (Winter 1999). "Opposition to the 22nd Amendment: The National Committee Confronting Limiting the Presidency and its Activities, 1949-1951". Canadian Review of American Studies. Academy of Toronto Press on behalf of the Canadian Association for American Studies with the back up of Carleton University. 29 (3): 133–148. doi:x.3138/CRAS-029-03-06. S2CID 159908265.
30. ^ Reagan, Ronald (January 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 fourteen, 2015.
31. ^ "Clinton: I Would've Won 3rd 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 want him to serve more than 2 terms as president". Business Insider. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved September xiv, 2019.
33. ^ Croucher, Shane (September 11, 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 Us to repeal the 20-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an private may serve as President". Washington, D.C.: GovTrack, a project of Civic 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 xix, 2018.
36. ^ potus_geeks (February 27, 2012). "The 22nd Amendment". Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved October nineteen, 2018.

External links [edit]

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