Twenty-Second Amendment (National Constitution Center)
Twenty-Second Amendment (Britannica)
Twenty-Second Amendment Annotated (United States Congress)
How FDR Served Four Terms as President (History)
How the 22nd Amendment Came into Existence (Constitution Daily)
22nd Amendment and how it Came About (NPR)
Common Interpretation: The Twenty-Second Amendment (National Constitution Center)
Amendment Twenty-two to the Constitution was ratified on February 27, 1951. It establishes term limits on those elected president, and outlines an accompanying series of stipulations regarding the eligibility of succession for unfinished presidential terms. The question of having term limits on elected officials harkens back to the first debates surrounding the Constitution’s ratification. By the laws enacted beneath the previous Articles of Confederation, the office of President did not exist, as the Congress wielded both legislative and executive authority. When the concept of an individual holding the title of president was created, the Framers differed in several ways as to how they would be elected, and for how long. Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, for instance, envisioned a president who would be nominated by the Congress to serve for life. This raised concerns that the United States would effectively turn into an “elective monarchy,” but other proposals for presidential terms were also met with divided reception. It was eventually determined that presidents would be voted for by the people through the Electoral College system, and the prospective president-elect would not be bound by term limits. The decision for George Washington – the First President of the United States – to voluntarily step down from office after two terms, established an unofficial tradition for future presidents to serve for no longer than two terms. For one-hundred and fifty years, this system seemed to sustain itself with little to no trouble. But it was the uniquely chaotic circumstances of the 20th century that would raise greater questions regarding term limits. Continue reading from Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum
On November 5, 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt won a third term in office—an unprecedented act that would be barred by a constitutional amendment a decade later.
Roosevelt’s decision to break the precedent set by George Washington was made in July 1940, as the United States neared its entry into World War II.
The third-term decision dominated his election campaign against the Republican contender, Wendell Wilkie. In the end, Roosevelt won the election by a wide margin, and he was able to win a fourth election in 1944.
But the popular fallout about the concept of a long-term president led to the ratification of the 22nd amendment in 1951.
“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,” the amendment read, in a clear reference to Roosevelt.
So why were people so upset with Roosevelt’s decision to seek a third term, and even more people opposed enough to approve a constitutional amendment?
Franklin Roosevelt wasn’t even the first Roosevelt to seek a third term in the White House. His distant cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, ran unsuccessfully as a third-party candidate in 1912, after declining to run in 1908. President Ulysses S. Grant also sought a third term in 1880, but he lacked enough party support to get a nomination.
The first president, Washington, set the two-term precedent in 1796 when he decided to pass on a third term, setting up a scramble between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in the fall race. Continue reading from Constitution Daily, the National Constitution Center's Blog
