How long is a presidential term

Though the Constitutional Convention had agreed not to set term limits for the president, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson established a precedent by bowing out after just two. Ulysses S. Grant , for example, had taken a break after his second term ended in , and campaigned for a third one in He nearly won the nomination at that year's Republican National Convention, but lost it to James Garfield.

Theodore Roosevelt also declined to seek a third term after his two were over, only to change his mind a few years later. He ran as a third-party candidate for his newly established Progressive Party in , but Democrat Woodrow Wilson came out on top.

Things changed in the s, when Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt clinched his third, and then fourth, presidential victory. Between the fallout from the Great Depression and U. Ratified February 27, 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 President more than once.

But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by 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. Congressional opponents of the 22nd Amendment argue that it restricts voters from exercising their will.

As Rep. John McCormack, D-Mass. One of the most high-profile opponents of the two-term limit for presidents was Republican President Ronald Reagan , who was elected to and served two terms in office. In a interview with The Washington Post, Reagan lamented the lack of focus on important issues and lame-duck presidents , who have no power to effect change because everyone knows their term is coming to an end since they can't be reelected.

They send senators up there for 30 or 40 years, congressmen the same. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile.

Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights.