You've probably heard the rumor or the hypothetical "what if" at a dinner party: could a popular president just... keep going? Maybe the country is in a crisis, or maybe people just really like the person in charge. But the short answer is basically no. Since 1951, the rules have been pretty ironclad.
Still, the question of can a president run for a third term pops up every few election cycles. It’s usually fueled by supporters who want more of a good thing or critics who are terrified of a "dictator in the making." To really get why we have these rules, you have to look at a guy named FDR and a massive shift in how America thinks about power.
The Rule That Changed Everything: The 22nd Amendment
For a long time, there wasn't actually a law saying you couldn't be president forever. George Washington just decided he’d had enough after two terms. He was tired, honestly. He wanted to go back to Mount Vernon. Because he was "The Father of His Country," everyone else just followed his lead for about 150 years. It was a "gentleman’s agreement."
Then came Franklin D. Roosevelt.
FDR didn't just break the tradition; he shattered it. He won in 1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944. He led the country through the Great Depression and most of World War II. People loved him, but a lot of other people were absolutely spooked. They saw a "president-for-life" scenario unfolding.
After FDR died in office in 1945, Congress moved fast. They didn't want another four-term president. So, they wrote the 22nd Amendment. It was ratified in 1951, and it’s the reason why, legally, the door is shut.
What the law actually says
The wording is kinda specific. It doesn't just say "two terms."
- No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.
- If you take over for another president (like a VP does) and serve more than two years of their term, you can only be elected once on your own.
- But if you serve less than two years of someone else’s term, you can still run for two full terms of your own (totaling a maximum of 10 years).
The "Vice President Loophole" (Or Is It?)
Here is where things get nerdy and a bit complicated. Some people ask: "Wait, if a two-term president can't be elected president, could they be elected Vice President and then just... wait?"
It sounds like a clever workaround. You’d have a popular former president as the VP, the sitting president resigns, and boom—third term.
But the 12th Amendment throws a massive wrench in that plan. It says that "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President." Since a two-term president is ineligible to be elected president, most scholars—like those at the National Constitution Center—argue they can't be VP either. It’s a legal dead end.
Why Some People Want to Repeal It
Believe it or not, there have been dozens of attempts to get rid of the 22nd Amendment. Even Ronald Reagan, towards the end of his second term, thought it was a bad idea. He argued that it took away the people’s right to vote for whoever they wanted.
The argument for keeping it is usually about preventing tyranny. If a president stays in power for 20 years, they control the courts, the military, and the bureaucracy for a generation. It makes it really hard for any opposition to ever win again.
Real-world examples of the "Lame Duck" problem
One of the biggest downsides to the two-term limit is the "lame duck" effect. In the last two years of a president's second term, everyone knows they're leaving.
- Congress starts ignoring their budget requests.
- Foreign leaders start waiting to deal with the next person.
- The president loses their "leverage" because they can't threaten to beat opponents in another election.
How Other Countries Do It
The U.S. is actually pretty strict. In many parliamentary systems, like the UK or Canada, a Prime Minister can stay as long as their party keeps winning. Margaret Thatcher served for 11 years; Pierre Trudeau served for 15.
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In some places, like Mexico, you get one six-year term (the sexenio) and that is it. No second chances. The U.S. middle ground—eight years—is meant to provide stability without creating a monarch.
The Bottom Line on Running for a Third Term
If you’re wondering if a current or former two-term president can run for a third term, the answer is a hard no. Unless the Constitution is amended again—which requires two-thirds of Congress and three-fourths of the states (basically impossible in today's political climate)—the two-term limit is here to stay.
What you can do next
If you're interested in how executive power works or want to see if the rules might ever change, here’s how to stay informed:
- Track Constitutional Amendments: Keep an eye on the Congress.gov database for any newly proposed resolutions to repeal the 22nd Amendment. They are rare but happen more often than you'd think.
- Study the 12th Amendment: Read up on the interaction between the 12th and 22nd Amendments to understand the legal debate regarding former presidents serving in the line of succession.
- Compare Global Systems: Look into the term limits of G20 nations to see how different "checks and balances" affect political stability compared to the American model.