When Did Term Limits For Presidents Start in the United States?

The original Constitution of the United States didn't contain a term limit for the President.

The issue was certainly discussed amongst the Founding Fathers, though there was no consensus. Some supported lifetime Presidential appointments, while others wanted term limits.

In the end, the original Constitution included four-year terms for the President with no limits on the number of terms that they could win.

President George Washington, the first President of the United States, elected not to run for a third term due to declining health and his opinion that he had accomplished his goals.

Washington stepping down after his second term established a tradition of the President serving two terms, though nothing was ever formalized.

The issue of term limits surfaced during the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson, though he also decided not to seek a third term.

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The issue of term limits wouldn't really surface again for a number of decades.

Ulysses S. Grant looked for a time that he would seek a third term, though he would decide not to run a third time.

Theodore Roosevet sought a third term in 1912, though he would lose to Woodrow Wilson.

Woodrow Wilson wanted to run for a third time in 1920, though he didn't have the backing of his party.

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Franklin D. Roosevelt would be the US President that was directly responsible for the 22nd Amendment, which limits the President to two terms in office.

Roosevelt, the former Governor of New York, would win four elections and spend well over a decade in office. Roosevelt would win elections in 1932, 1936, 1940 and 1944.

Members of the Republican Party were clamoring for term limits for the President, mainly due to how badly Roosevelt was beating them. Even in his fourth President campaign, Roosevelt secured over 80% of the electoral votes. He was unstoppable.

Roosevelt's health was rapidly deteriorating when he won the 1944 election, and he would die less than three months after his inauguration. Republicans seized on this opportunity and campaigned heavily on the issue of Presidential term limits in the following midterm elections. The Republicans took control of the House and Senate, and the move to limit future Presidents to two terms was underway.

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Approving a proposed constitutional amendment is a long and time-consuming task.

On February 6th, 1947, the House passed a measure that would limit future Presidents to two terms. In March of 1947, the Senate approved a modified amendment.

This isn't enough to pass an amendment - 75% of state legislatures also have to approve an amendment.

The first state approvals came in March of 1947, when Maine and Michigan both approved the 22nd Amendment.

By the end of 1947, 18 of the required 36 states had approved the amendment, but things would slow to a glacial pace after that.

On February 27th, 1951, Minnesota's legislature would approve the amendment, and they would become the 36th state to do so.

On March 1st, 1951, the Amendment was duly ratified and included as part of the Constitution.

After the amendment was ratified, five more states - North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, Florida and Alabama - would approve the amendment.

Oklahoma and Massachusetts would both reject the amendment, while five states took no action.

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The subject of term limits for Presidents has come up again this year, with former President Donald Trump looking to be on the verge of securing a second term in the White House.

Amendments are extremely difficult to pass into law, and even if the Republicans control both the House and the Senate, an Amendment that increases the number of terms that a President can serve will almost certainly fail in state legislatures.

Filed under: General Knowledge