When George Washington took the Presidential Oath of Office for the second time in 1793, he did so reluctantly. He had served his first term as the first President of the United States with distinction, and proved himself to be a very capable leader. But a second term? He wasn’t really in favor of that. The Colonists-recently-turned-Citizens, however, would not be denied and support for Washington was overwhelming (as a 100% vote in the Electoral College would bear out), and so he served.
When election time came again in 1796, the luster of Washington’s leadership had dimmed just a bit, and even this most-loved-of-Presidents had his detractors. But there was no question that the First President could, and would, be elected again if he so chose. He did not so choose, and without expressly saying so, set a “two-term” precedent of that would stand for nearly 150 years.
There were some Presidents who sought to serve more than Washington’s self-imposed 8 years (President Ulysses Grant and President Theodore Roosevelt come immediately to mind), but none did…until Franklin Roosevelt was elected to a third term in 1940 and a fourth in 1944. Of course, by 1944, our 32nd President was in very poor health, and would serve only a few months of his 4th term before his death in April of 1945.
Based on the timing of events, I would guess that President Truman had barely been sworn into Office when Congress went to work on what would become the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It essentially mandated that…well…it’s short, we’ll just write it out:
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 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.
Section 2. 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.
The Amendment was passed by Congress in March of 1947, and became law on February 27, 1951, when 75% of the States (Minnesota being the 36th) ratified it.
There are some who claim that the 22nd Amendment may not cover all contingencies. For example, a person serves two terms as President and is then selected as a Vice Presidential candidate. As first-in-line to become President, what if something happens to the actual President in his first year? The answer may lie back in the 12th Amendment, which states that only people eligible to be President can run for Vice President. But even that’s a bit nebulous, which is why we have the Supreme Court.
The 22nd Amendment had its detractors back then, and it still does. Some have said that it dimishes the “will of the people”, who may want someone in Office for more than two terms. Others say that mandated term limits hamstring 2nd-term Presidents (which is probably true), robbing them of some of their ability to do work.
But for now, the 22nd Amendment stands. And that means re-elected Presidents will continue to be associated with water fowl that limp. Congress can be fun!
