-
George Washington's Farewell Address
From: www.earlyamerica.com
Washington retired after two terms. This establishes a precedent for his successors. If two terms were good enough for Washington, then it would be good enough for anyone to follow him. -
Thomas Jefferson Reinforces Washington's Retirement
From: Wikipedia
Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1807 "if some termination to the services of the chief Magistrate be not fixed by the Constitution, or supplied by practice, his office, nominally four years, will in fact become for life." He believed that if the President was not limited to a certain time in office, there would inevitably be a person to hold office for the remainder of their life. A new president would only be elected after the previous one had died. -
Ulysses S. Grant Seeks Third Term
From: Wikipedia
Ulysses S. Grant becomes the first president to seek a third term. This breaks the unspoken rule established by Washington that presidents should only serve two terms. Grant, however, narrowly loses his party's nomination and fails to attain a third term. -
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Takes Office for the First Time
From: Wikipedia
Roosevelt was elected to office for the first time. This is an important event in the history of this amendment because he would become the first president to be elected to more than two terms. -
FDR Wins His Third Election
From: www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu
FDR breaks the precedent set by Washington and was elected to his third term. He is the now the only precedent to serve more than two terms. -
Roosevelt Elected to a Fourth Term
From: www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu
FDR firmly establishes that he doesn't believe it is time for him to step down. He defeats Thomas E. Dewey and is elected to his fourth term. -
FDR Dies
From: www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu
Franklin Delano Roosevelt has a massive stroke and dies two and a half hours later. Harry Truman assumes the oval office. Roosevelt's death so soon after his election prompted Congress to propose an ammendment limiting presidential terms to prevent incumbents from choosing their successor. -
The 22nd Amendment is Proposed
From: Wikipedia
On March 24, 1947, Congress proposed an amendment limiting the terms that a president can serve. The proposed amendment limiting the amount of president terms to two was then sent to the states. -
The 22nd Amendment is Ratified
From: www.usconstitution.net
Almsot four years after it was proposed, the 22nd Amendment was ratified by the 36th state, Minnesota, giving it the 3/4 of states necessary to ratify the amendment. 41 states in total approved the amendment , 2 rejected it, and 5 states took no action on the amendment. -
Attempted Repeals of the 22nd Amendment
From: Wikipedia
There have been several attempts at repeal the 22nd amendment since it has been passed. The movement first became prominent with the election of Ronald Reagan as many people wished for him to serve a third term. Rep. Jose Serrano has also introduced legislation every two years since 1997 in attempts to repeal the ammendment, but all such movements have failed so far.
