Can the Last President Become President Again

1951 amendment limiting presidents to two terms

The Twenty-2nd Subpoena (Amendment XXII) to the United States Constitution limits the number of times a person is eligible for election to the function of President of the Usa to ii, and sets additional eligibility conditions 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 two-term tradition that many other presidents followed. But in the 1940 and 1944 presidential elections, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first president to win tertiary and quaternary terms, giving rise to concerns about 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 propose an subpoena restricting the number of presidential terms.^[2] Congress approved the Xx-second Amendment on March 21, 1947, and submitted information technology to the state legislatures for ratification. That process 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 every bit states), and its provisions came into force on that appointment.

The amendment prohibits anyone who has been elected president twice from being elected once again. Under the amendment, someone who fills an unexpired presidential term lasting more than two years is as well prohibited from being elected president more than once. Scholars debate whether the subpoena prohibits affected individuals from succeeding to the presidency under any circumstances or whether it applies only 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 than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall exist elected to the role of the President more than once. Merely this Article shall non employ to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall non forbid any person who may be belongings the office of President, or interim as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting equally President during the remainder of such term.

Section two. This Article shall exist inoperative unless it shall have been ratified every bit an amendment to the Constitution past the legislatures of 3-fourths of the several states within vii years from the appointment of its submission to u.s.a. by the Congress.^[3]

Background [edit]

The Twenty-2nd Subpoena was a reaction to Franklin D. Roosevelt's ballot to an unprecedented four terms as president, but presidential term limits had long been debated in American politics. Delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 considered the event extensively (alongside broader questions, such as who would elect the president, and the president'south function). Many, including Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, supported lifetime tenure for presidents, while others favored stock-still terms. Virginia's George Stonemason denounced the life-tenure proposal as tantamount to elective monarchy.^[four] An early draft of the U.S. Constitution provided that the president was restricted to one seven-year term.^[5] Ultimately, the Framers approved four-year terms with no restriction on how many times a person could be elected president.

Though dismissed by the Constitutional Convention, term limits for U.Southward. presidents were contemplated during the presidencies of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. As his second term entered its final year in 1796, Washington was wearied from years of public service, and his wellness had begun to refuse. He was besides bothered by his political opponents' unrelenting attacks, which had escalated after the signing of the Jay Treaty, and believed he had accomplished his major goals equally president. For these reasons, he decided not to run for a third term, a conclusion he announced to the nation in his September 1796 Cheerio Address.^[6] Eleven years subsequently, 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 fixed by the Constitution, or supplied by do, his office, nominally for years, will in fact, go for life; and history shows how hands that degenerates into an inheritance.^[7]

Since Washington made his celebrated proclamation, numerous academics and public figures accept looked at his conclusion to retire after two terms, and take, according to political scientist Bruce Peabody, "argued he had established a 2-term tradition that served equally a vital check against any 1 person, or the presidency as a whole, accumulating likewise much ability".^[8] Diverse amendments aimed at changing informal precedent to constitutional constabulary were proposed in Congress in the early on to mid-19th century, just none passed.^{[iv] [ix]} Three of the next four presidents afterwards Jefferson—James Madison, James Monroe, and Andrew Jackson—served ii terms, and each adhered to the two-term principle;^[one] Martin Van Buren was the only president between Jackson and Abraham Lincoln to be nominated for a second term, though he lost the 1840 ballot and then served only one term.^[nine] At the outset of the Civil War the seceding States drafted the Constitution of the Confederate States of America, which in about respects resembled the United States Constitution, but limited the president to a single six-year term.

In spite of the potent 2-term tradition, a few presidents earlier Roosevelt attempted to secure a tertiary term. Following Ulysses Due south. Grant's reelection in 1872, there were serious discussions inside Republican political circles nearly the possibility of his running once again in 1876. But interest in a third 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. All the same, as the 1880 election approached, he sought nomination for a (non-consecutive) third term at the 1880 Republican National Convention, only narrowly lost to James Garfield, who won the 1880 election.^[ix]

Theodore Roosevelt succeeded to the presidency on September fourteen, 1901, post-obit William McKinley'south assassination (194 days into his 2d term), and was handily elected to a full term in 1904. He declined to seek a third (second total) term in 1908, just did run once again in the election of 1912, losing to Woodrow Wilson. Wilson himself, despite his ill wellness following a serious stroke, aspired to a third term. Many of his advisers tried to convince him that his health precluded another campaign, just Wilson notwithstanding asked that his name exist placed in nomination for the presidency at the 1920 Democratic National Convention.^[10] Democratic Political party leaders were unwilling to support Wilson, and the nomination went to James Thou. Cox, who lost to Warren K. Harding. Wilson once again contemplated running for a (nonconsecutive) tertiary term in 1924, devising a strategy for his comeback, simply again lacked any support; he died in February of that year.^[eleven]

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

Four years subsequently, Roosevelt faced Republican Thomas E. Dewey in the 1944 election. Near the end of the campaign, Dewey appear his support of a constitutional amendment to limit presidents to 2 terms. Co-ordinate to Dewey, "4 terms, or sixteen years (a direct reference to the president'south tenure in office four years hence), is the nearly dangerous threat to our freedom ever proposed."^[14] He also discreetly raised the issue of the president's age. Roosevelt exuded enough energy and charisma to retain voters' confidence and was elected to a fourth term.^[15]

While he quelled rumors of poor wellness during the campaign, Roosevelt's health was deteriorating. On April 12, 1945, only 82 days afterward 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 afterward, Republicans took control of the Firm and the Senate. As many of them had campaigned on the outcome of presidential tenure, declaring their support for a constitutional subpoena that would limit how long a person could serve every bit 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 Firm of Representatives took quick action, approval a proposed constitutional amendment (House Joint Resolution 27) setting a limit of two four-year terms for time to come presidents. Introduced by Earl C. Michener, the measure passed 285–121, with back up from 47 Democrats, on February 6, 1947.^[17] Meanwhile, the Senate adult its ain proposed amendment, which initially differed from the House 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 than 365 days in each of two terms from further presidential service. Both these provisions were removed when the full Senate took up the pecker, but a new provision was, even so, added. Put forwards 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 16 Democrats in favor, on March 12.^{[ane] [18]}

On March 21, the House agreed to the Senate'south revisions and approved the resolution to amend the Constitution. After, the amendment imposing term limitations on futurity presidents was submitted to the states for ratification. The ratification procedure was completed on Feb 27, 1951, iii years, 343 days afterwards it was sent to the states.^{[19] [20]}

Ratification past u.s.a. [edit]

A map of how the states voted on the Twenty-2d Amendment

In one case submitted to the states, the 22nd Subpoena 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 1, 1947
6. Delaware: April 2, 1947
7. Illinois: April 3, 1947
8. Oregon: April 3, 1947
9. Colorado: April 12, 1947
10. California: April 15, 1947
11. New Jersey: April 15, 1947
12. Vermont: April 15, 1947
13. Ohio: Apr sixteen, 1947
14. Wisconsin: April 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 ix, 1948
22. South Dakota: January 21, 1949
23. Due north Dakota: Feb 25, 1949
24. Louisiana: May 17, 1950
25. Montana: January 25, 1951
26. Indiana: January 29, 1951
27. Idaho: January thirty, 1951
28. New Mexico: February 12, 1951
29. Wyoming: February 12, 1951
30. Arkansas: February 15, 1951
31. Georgia: February 17, 1951
32. Tennessee: Feb 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 ane, 1951, the Administrator of General Services, Jess Larson, issued a certificate proclaiming the 22nd Subpoena duly ratified and part of the Constitution. The subpoena was subsequently ratified by:^[three]
37. North Carolina: February 28, 1951
38. South Carolina: March thirteen, 1951
39. Maryland: March xiv, 1951
40. Florida: April 16, 1951
41. Alabama: May four, 1951

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

Event [edit]

Because of the grandpa clause in Section 1, the amendment did not utilise to Harry S. Truman, as he was the incumbent president at the fourth dimension it came into force. Truman, who had served nearly all of Franklin Roosevelt'due south unexpired fourth term and who was elected to a full term in 1948, was thus eligible for reelection in 1952.^[13] Just with his job approval rating at around 27%,^{[21] [22]} and after a poor performance in the 1952 New Hampshire primary, Truman chose not to seek his party's nomination. Since becoming operative in 1951, the amendment has been applicable to 6 presidents who have been elected twice: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

Interaction with the 12th Subpoena [edit]

As worded, the focus of the 22nd Amendment is on limiting individuals from being elected to the presidency more than than twice. Questions take been raised about the amendment's meaning and application, especially in relation to the twelfth Amendment, ratified in 1804, which states, "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall exist eligible to that of Vice-President of the United states."^[23] While the twelfth Amendment stipulates that the ramble qualifications of historic period, citizenship, and residency apply to the president and vice president, it is unclear whether someone who is ineligible to exist elected president due to term limits could be elected vice president. Because of the ambiguity, a two-term former president could possibly be elected vice president and then succeed to the presidency as a result of the incumbent's death, resignation, or removal from role, or succeed to the presidency from another stated role in the presidential line of succession.^{[ix] [24]}

Some argue that the 22nd Amendment and 12th Amendment bar any ii-term president from later serving every bit vice president as well as from succeeding to the presidency from whatever 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 former two-term president is withal eligible to serve equally vice president. Neither subpoena restricts the number of times someone tin 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 be prohibited from running for election to an additional term.^{[26] [27]}

The practical applicability of this distinction has non been tested, every bit no twice-elected president has e'er been nominated for the vice presidency. While Hillary Clinton once suggested she considered sometime President Pecker Clinton as her running mate,^[28] the ramble question remains unresolved.^[one]

Attempts at repeal [edit]

Over the years, several presidents have voiced their antipathy toward the subpoena. Later on leaving function, Harry Truman described the amendment every bit stupid and one of the worst amendments of the Constitution with the exception of the Prohibition Amendment.^[29] A few days before leaving function in January 1989, President Ronald Reagan said he would push for a repeal of the 22nd Subpoena because he thought it infringed on people's democratic rights.^[30] In a November 2000 interview with Rolling Stone, President Bill Clinton suggested that the 22nd Amendment should be altered to limit presidents to two consecutive terms only so permit 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 2019 White Business firm event 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, five years later on the amendment's ratification. Over the next 50 years, 54 joint resolutions seeking to repeal the two-term presidential ballot limit were introduced.^[one] Betwixt 1997 and 2013, José E. Serrano, Democratic representative for New York, introduced 9 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]

Encounter also [edit]

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

References [edit]

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Neale, Thomas H. (Oct nineteen, 2009). "Presidential Terms and Tenure: Perspectives and Proposals for Modify" (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 Eye – constitutioncenter.org . Retrieved September 30, 2021.
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Constitution of the U.s.: Assay and Interpretation" (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 xiv, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
5. ^ First draft United states of americaCONST., art. X, department 1.
6. ^ Ferling, John (2009). The Rise 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 of the alphabet to the Legislature of Vermont". Ashland, Ohio: TeachingAmericanHistory.org. Archived from the original on Jan 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 January x, 2017.
9. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Peabody, Bruce G.; Gant, Scott E. (February 1999). "The Twice and Future President: Constitutional Interstices and the Xx-2d Amendment". Minnesota Law Review. Minneapolis: Academy of Minnesota Police force 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 Half dozen Presidents. New York: Carroll and Graf. pp. 187–200. ISBN978-0-78671-622-vii.
11. ^ Saunders, Robert Thousand. (1998). In Search of Woodrow Wilson: Behavior and Beliefs. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 260–262. ISBN9780313305207.
12. ^ Rosen, Elliot A. (1997). "'Not Worth a Pitcher 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 Printing. pp. 52–53. ISBN0-8262-1133-X . Retrieved March xx, 2018.
13. ^ ^{a b} "FDR's third-term decision and the 22nd amendment". Constitution Daily. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The National Constitution Center. Archived from the original on January xiv, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
14. ^ Hashemite kingdom of jordan, David M. (2011). FDR, Dewey, and the Ballot of 1944. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 290. ISBN978-0-253-35683-3.
15. ^ Leuchtenburg, William E. "Franklin D. Roosevelt: Campaigns and Elections". Charlottesville, Virginia: Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. Archived from the original on January fourteen, 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. III. 92-93, 96.
18. ^ ^{a b} Rowley, Sean (July 26, 2014). "Presidential terms limited by 22nd Subpoena". Tahlequah Daily Press. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
19. ^ "22nd Amendment: Ii-Term Limit on Presidency". constitutioncenter.org. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: National Constitution Eye. Archived from the original on February 20, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
20. ^ Mount, Steve. "Ratification of Constitutional Amendments". usconstitution.internet. Archived from the original on April 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 fourteen, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
22. ^ Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T. "Presidential Job Approval: F. Roosevelt (1941)—Trump". Information adapted from the Gallup Poll and compiled past Gerhard Peters. Santa Barbara, California: The American Presidency Project. Archived from the original on January xiv, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
23. ^ "The Constitution: Amendments 11-27". America'south Founding Documents. Washington, D.C.: National Archives. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved March xi, 2018.
24. ^ Set, Joel A. "The 22nd Amendment Doesn't Say What Y'all Call back It Says". Blandon, Pennsylvania: Cornerstone Law Firm. Archived from the original on January xiv, 2021. Retrieved November vi, 2017.
25. ^ Franck, Matthew J. (July 31, 2007). "Ramble Sleight of Hand". National Review. Archived from the original on June 13, 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 Eastward.; Peabody, Bruce G. (June 13, 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 xv, 2015). "Hillary Clinton: Pecker as VP has 'crossed her mind'". CNN. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
29. ^ Lemelin, Bernard Lemelin (Wintertime 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 back up of Carleton Academy. 29 (iii): 133–148. doi:ten.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 vii, 2000. Archived from the original on January fourteen, 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 Prototype on Twitter, Instagram Joking That He'll Stand in 2024". Newsweek. Archived from the original on January xiv, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
34. ^ "H.J.Res. 15 (113th): Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the 20-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 Civic Impulse, LLC. 2013. Archived from the original on January fourteen, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
35. ^ "Beak to Repeal the 22nd Amendment". Snopes.com . Retrieved October 19, 2018.
36. ^ potus_geeks (February 27, 2012). "The 22nd Subpoena". Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved October nineteen, 2018.

External links [edit]

• The Annenberg Guide to the Usa Constitution: Twenty-second 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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