Twenty-Second Amendment: Presidential Term Limits

The 22nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution restricts presidents to serving only two terms in office. Historically, presidents voluntarily adhered to this two-term limit for over 150 years. However, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's election for the fourth term prompted Congress to start drafting an amendment to formalize presidential term limits.

The states ratified the 22nd Amendment on February 27, 1951. The constitutional amendment limits the term of the United States president to two four-year terms and establishes several other limits on presidential service time.

This article outlines the 22nd Amendment and the historical context culminating in its ratification.

What the Twenty-Second Amendment Says

The 22nd Amendment states the following:

"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 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 apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

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."

What It Means

The main takeaways from the 22nd Amendment are as follows:

• No one can be elected president more than twice.

• If someone has acted as the president for more than two years (e.g., if a vice president becomes president), they cannot be elected president more than once.

It also clarified that the 22nd Amendment did not apply to the sitting or acting president when the states ratified it. President Harry S. Truman was president when the states ratified the 22nd Amendment in 1951.

The 22nd Amendment is relatively straightforward. The Supreme Court has not had to decide on presidential term limits. However, legal scholars have debated the 22nd Amendment's meaning and potential interpretations. Questions raised include the following:

• Could a two-term president become vice president?

• Suppose a two-term president became vice president. Could they become president if the sitting president can no longer discharge their duties?

• Could a two-term president serve as Speaker of the House, given that the Speaker is third in presidential succession? Can they serve as any officer or government official in the succession line?

For now, these questions remain unanswered. Once one of these situations arises, the Supreme Court will likely issue a ruling deciding it.

Historical Background of Presidential Term Limits

During the Constitutional Convention, the Framers extensively debated presidential term limits. James Madison's notes from the Convention indicate that the Framers held at least 60 votes about the following:

• The number of terms the executive should serve

• Re-elections

• Who could elect the president

The primary arguments for limiting the number of terms a president could serve centered around potential tyranny. When the Convention proposed the Constitution of the United States to the states for ratification, several debated whether to ratify it without specific term limits. Critics argued that a perpetual president presented a general threat to liberty.

Arguments for unlimited presidential re-eligibility were numerous. These arguments included the following:

• Limiting the number of terms would lead to corruption from the president. For example, they could use their position to increase their personal wealth or to help their friends and allies.

• The Constitution provided checks for a tyrannical president, such as impeachment.

• Unlimited re-eligibility reinforced democracy by allowing the governed to elect the person they believed was "worthy of their confidence" as often as they liked.

Ultimately, the Convention chose four-year terms for the president and did not restrict eligibility for reelection or the number of terms a president could serve.

Historical Tradition: Two-Term Limit

Although the Constitution originally did not specify term limits, the first President of the United States set a precedent that became a tradition regarding consecutive terms. The tradition lasted over 140 years before a president was elected for a third term.

In 1789, George Washington became the first president in American history. He served two full terms and announced in September 1796 that he would not seek a third term.

When he left office in 1797, he set a precedent for all future presidents. For the next 143 years, no president served more than two terms. Several American presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt, ran for a third term. Only one president, Grover Cleveland, won the presidency in nonconsecutive elections.

However, when World War II began in 1939, a president finally broke the trend of serving only two terms in office.

Breaking Tradition: Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt, often referred to as "FDR," was victorious in the 1932 presidential election and subsequently won his reelection bid in 1936.

Roosevelt became the first president to win a second reelection campaign in 1940. Two major historical events likely contributed to his third term:

• The United States was still recovering financially from the Great Depression.

• World War II began in Europe in 1939. Part of FDR's reelection campaign was his goal to keep America out of World War II.

Roosevelt's decision to run for a third term was controversial. The National Constitution Center notes that he lost several Democratic party supporters after he won for a third time.

Roosevelt won his fourth straight presidential election in 1944. After that, the push for term limits became more prominent. Thomas Dewey, the Republican nominee in the election, stated that FDR's four presidential terms represented "the most dangerous threat to our freedom ever proposed."

In 1945, 11 weeks into his fourth term, Roosevelt died. After FDR's death, Harry S. Truman became president.

The Push for the Term Limits

Roosevelt's four terms led to the proposal and ratification of the 22nd Amendment. However, the debate over term limits has existed since the Constitutional Convention. Since 1789, Congress has considered 270 proposals regarding term limitations.

House Republicans introduced a proposed amendment to Congress in 1947 that would eventually become the 22nd Amendment. The House and Senate debated the proposed amendment for approximately two months. After that, Congress proposed the amendment for ratification to the states. The states ratified the 22nd Amendment in 1951.

For more information about the Congressional debates regarding the 22nd Amendment, see The Twice and Future President: Constitutional Interstices and the Twenty-Second Amendment by Bruce G. Peabody and Scott E. Gant.

Post-Ratification Issues

After the 22nd Amendment's ratification, it still faced opposition. Two presidents, Truman and Andrew Johnson, considered running for third terms. Both presidents fell within the 22nd Amendment's exceptions to the prohibition against more than two terms.

Before President Ronald Reagan left office in 1989, he wanted to repeal the 22nd Amendment. He was not alone in this endeavor—both Congress and various presidents have made attempts in that direction. The arguments for repealing the 22nd Amendment are similar to those made in 1789, such as:

• Term limits potentially prevent consistent leadership during crises.

• It's unnecessary to prevent tyranny as the Constitution already provides for impeachment.

• It's counterproductive to democracy and may prevent people from electing the person they want to be president.

Despite these arguments and attempts, the 22nd Amendment remains part of the Constitution and prevents former presidents from running for reelection after serving their second term.