22nd Amendment

The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, ratified on February 27, 1951, limits the Presidential term. It provides that no person may be elected President more than twice. No Vice President who succeeded to the office of President, nor any other person in the line of succession who acted as President, and served for more than two years of a term to which someone else had been elected, could be elected to the Presidency more than once.

The wording of the amendment clarifies two situations: When a President dies or leaves office during his term, the Vice President succeeds to the office and becomes President, rather than simply acting as President. On the other hand, anyone else in the line of succession becomes acting President.

Could a former President run for the Vice Presidency, then succeed to the Presidency and serve a third term? The 12th Amendment provides that “no person Constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the United States.” If a President is deemed to be “ineligible to the office” after two terms, this provision would prevent electors in the electoral college from electing that person Vice President.

Could a former President be appointed under provisions of the 25th Amendment to the Vice Presidency, then consented to by Congress? Could he then become President in the event of a vacancy? Again, if a two-term President is deemed “ineligible to the office,” Congress could not elect the ex-President to the Vice Presidency.

However, a former President who then was named to the cabinet or who became Speaker of the House or president pro tempore of the Senate would be in the line of succession to become acting President in the event of a double vacancy. Such positions are not covered by the 12th Amendment, which deals only with the election of Vice Presidents.

See also Succession to the Presidency; Term of office, Presidential; Vice President