Ronald Reagan once said, “Man is not free
unless the government is limited.” This essentially means that Amendment 22
protects our rights by ensuring that our government will not become a monarchy
and be reigned by a dictator.
On
the 27th of February 1951, Amendment 22 was
passed. It limited the presidential term limit to 8 years. This means, a
presidential candidate could only be elected for a maximum of 2 times during
their lifetime.
Former
president George Washington set a standard of sorts during his command over
America; his action was the forefather of what is now known as Amendment 22.
Washington, after serving 2 terms, refrained from running for a 3rd time in the United States
presidential election of 1796 . The key reason why he did not run for the
presidency was that he did not want to give the appearance of establishing a
monarchy. It would defeat the purpose if he did, because the whole reason for their (American citizens) residence in America was because they fought for a democracy.
The successors of the presidential seat
maintained and adopted the 2 year term precedent that had been set by
Washington until Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected four times! (Yes, I said 4.) This occurred in
years 1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944. His estimated seat time was 12 years and 42
days, for he died before he could finish his fourth term as president. We can
conclude that FDR was not in favor of a 2 year presidential term limits. There
also were many presidents who sought a third term, and did not agree with the 2
year term limit but all of them failed except FDR.
On the 21st of
March in 1947, Congress proposed what is now known as Amendment 22. Since this
proposition took place not to long after FDR’s death, it would not be
irrational to presume that this proposition was because of FDR’s prolonged "reign" in office.
Ratification of Amendment 22 took place
on the 27th of February in 1951. The text states, “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 the President more than once.”
