Why does the President have term limits but not Congress?

Answer 1

Congress consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Senators typically serve six year terms and State Representatives serve for 2 year terms. State Representatives can run every 2 years if they really wanted too, however; if they do a bad job at serving the people, or they just don't like him/her they can vote them out in 2 years. If people could vote for the same President every year, it wouldn't be a democracy anymore, it would be more like a Dictatorship.

Another Explanation:

The President has term limits because Congress and the States ratified the Twenty-Second Amendment establishing a maximum of two terms in 1947. Prior to that, a President could serve as many times as he was elected. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected four times; his successor, Harry Truman, thought that gave the executive branch too much power and pushed for change.

Congress has never attempted to amend the Constitution to establish term limits for themselves.

In 1992, voters in the state of Arkansas passed a state constitutional amendment limiting their US Congressmen to three terms of office, but the Supreme Court declared the action unconstitutional and nullified the amendment (US Term Limits v. Thornton, (1995))

Answer 2

The Constitution didn't establish term limits for Congress; as with the US President, term limits can only be imposed by constitutional amendment. Further, the US Supreme Court held it is unconstitutional for states to set term limits on Senators and Representatives in US Term Limits v. Thornton, (1995), because their qualifications are outlined in the US Constitution. The Seventeenth Amendment (1913) provided for election of US Senators by popular vote, superseding the constitutional clauses allowing state legislatures to elect Senators, so that right is reserved for the people.

Case Citation:

US Term Limits Inc., v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (1995)

Answer 3

I am not sure if this is the official reason, but I suspect because the Constitution was drafted by members of the first and second Continental Congress. The Founders did not foresee a day when these members would be exclusively government employees. They envisioned senators and congress people as folks with "real jobs", and would have to find other means to actually make money, which would have a dampening effect on their ability to participate, especially long-term.

Now that we have full-time politicians, who get paid and voted in regardless of their actions, they will never leave. If it is left up to the Senators and Congress-people themselves, there never vote in term limits for themselves.

Answer 4

A President who has no term limit may be able to become effectively a dictator, which has happened in many countries. Even when elections are held, there are many ways that opposition parties can be intimidated or suppressed, and when a ruler is in power for a very long time, there is a tendency to create political machines which are overwhelming. In the case of members of Congress, no single member of Congress exercises enough power as to present a similar danger. Congress has a hundred Senators and over 450 representatives.