Congress passed the 22nd Amendment in 1947, creating a two-term limit for American presidents as a check the power of America’s chief executive.
But President Trump has not ruled out seeking a third term in office even though the Constitution does not allow it.
Here’s what to know about presidential term limits and why they exist.
Has the U.S. always had term limits?
Until Congress passed the 22nd Amendment, presidents had largely recognized the precedent established by the nation’s first president, George Washington. In 1796, he declined to seek a third term in office, citing the importance of peaceful transfers of power and the potential for presidential tyranny.
Washington’s decision was seen at the time as a guard against the dangers of autocracy, from which the young republic had recently sought to freed itself by declaring independence from the British Empire in 1776.
Did any presidents try to break with tradition?
Washington’s two-term precedent didn’t stop some of his successors from trying for a third.
After serving two consecutive presidential terms, from 1901 to 1909, Theodore Roosevelt returned to the campaign trail in 1912 as a third-party candidate seeking a third term. He was unsuccessful. Before that, Ulysses S. Grant, the former Civil War general, had sought a third term in 1880, but his party declined to give him the nomination.
Have any presidents won a third term?
Only one American president has served more than two terms in office: Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was elected to a third term as the United States neared the decision to formally enter World War II, and Roosevelt used the global crisis to justify breaking with Washington’s precedent. He would go on to handily win a fourth term in 1944, but died not long after it began.
Despite the backdrop of war, the implications of Mr. Roosevelt’s four terms rattled American political circles, who feared the phenomenon could easily snowball into a long-term unchecked presidency.
In light of this, Congress passed the 22nd Amendment, which says that no person shall be elected to the office of president more than twice.
Do other countries have term limits?
Political scientists who study major democracies argue that term limits deny voters the chance to reward or punish leaders for their performance in their final term. They also say that imposing term limits risks ousting popular politicians and encouraging final-term leaders to ignore public opinion.
Still, many democracies have embraced term limits in an effort to prevent leaders from amassing too much power. Kenya and Indonesia are among those that have set two-term limits for their chief executives.
Rwanda is one of the few countries that has gone the other way, altering its Constitution a decade ago to relax term limits and allow its longtime president, Paul Kagame, to extend his tenure.
Those countries, like the United States, are presidential systems, with much of the governing power concentrated in the hands of the chief executive. In countries with parliamentary systems, the government is led by a prime minister — who comes from the political party or alliance with the most legislative seats — and the rules around term limits tend to be different.
In Germany, there are no term limits, but the chancellor, the country’s top elected official, must retain the support of the Parliament. Angela Merkel served for 16 years as chancellor until 2021, when she stepped down. In all, the party she led won four general elections.
Similarly, there are no term limits in Canada or Britain, but the prime ministers there must retain the support of the governing party. Margaret Thatcher won a third term as Britain’s prime minister in 1987 and said she planned to “go on and on.” Her party’s lawmakers toppled her three years later.
