Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution sets rules about how many times someone can be elected as President of the United States. Before this amendment, there were no limits on how many times a person could be president. Now, a person can only be elected president twice.

Congress approved this amendment on March 21, 1947, and it was officially added to the Constitution on February 27, 1951, after enough states agreed to it. The amendment also says that if someone becomes president and serves more than two years of another president's term, they can only be elected president one time.

Before this rule, Franklin D. Roosevelt was the only president to be elected four times. His long time in office made people worry that a president could keep serving forever without limits. This amendment was created to make sure no one could become president for too many years, keeping the government fair and changing leaders regularly.

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The Twenty-second Amendment limits how many times someone can be elected President of the United States. According to this amendment, no person can be elected President more than two times. If someone has served more than two years of another President's term, they can only be elected President one time. This amendment does not apply to the President in office when it was proposed.

This amendment only becomes effective if three-fourths of the states agree to it within seven years from when Congress sends it to the states.

Background

The Twenty-second Amendment was created because Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president four times, more than anyone before him. Before Roosevelt, many leaders and documents had talked about limiting how long a president could serve. Some early leaders thought a president should only serve one term, while others believed there should be no limit.

Presidents like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson chose not to run for a third term, setting an example that many followed. However, some presidents after them tried to serve longer, but people and other leaders often discouraged them.

Roosevelt’s choice to run for a third and then a fourth term made many feel that a clear rule was needed. After Roosevelt passed away during his fourth term, Congress decided to make a change. They proposed the Twenty-second Amendment to ensure that no president could serve more than two terms.

Proposal and ratification

The U.S. House of Representatives approved an idea to change the Constitution. The idea limited future presidents to two four-year terms. This idea was introduced by Earl C. Michener and passed with a vote of 285 to 121 on February 6, 1947. The Senate made some changes but later agreed with the House. On March 21, 1947, both groups approved the change and sent it to the states.

The states had until February 27, 1951, to vote on this change. By that date, 36 out of 48 states had agreed, making it official. Minnesota was the last state needed. After Minnesota agreed, the change became part of the Constitution. Two states, Massachusetts and Oklahoma, did not agree, and five others did not vote.

Effect

The Twenty-second Amendment did not apply to Harry S. Truman because of a special rule. Truman had almost finished Franklin Roosevelt’s term and was elected for a full term in 1949. He could have run again, but he decided not to.

Since the amendment became active in 1951, it has prevented six presidents who were elected twice from running for a third term: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. The current president, Donald Trump, who was elected for two non-consecutive terms, is also not allowed to run for a third term.

Interaction with the Twelfth Amendment

See also: Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution § Interaction with the Twenty-second Amendment

The 22nd Amendment limits how many times a person can be elected president. But people sometimes wonder what this means for the vice presidency, because of the 12th Amendment. The 12th Amendment says that anyone who cannot be president for certain reasons also cannot be vice president.

This makes some people ask: could a former two-term president become vice president and then become president if something happens to the current president?

Some think the 22nd Amendment means a former two-term president cannot be vice president or later become president this way. Others think the 12th Amendment only cares about basic things like age and citizenship, not term limits, so a former president could still be vice president. So far, no one has tested this because no former president has tried to become vice president and then president.

Attempts at repeal or reform

Some presidents have talked about changing this rule. After leaving office, Harry S. Truman thought the amendment was one of the worst parts of the Constitution. In 1989, Ronald Reagan said he would try to remove the rule because he felt it limited people’s democratic rights. In 2000, Bill Clinton suggested changing the rule so presidents could serve more than two terms if there was a break in between.

Efforts to change the rule began in 1956. Over the years, many attempts were made in Congress to remove the two-term limit. In 2025, a new proposal was made to allow a president to serve a third term if their first two terms were not one after the other. This was intended to let the current president serve another term.