Why can't Presidents serve more than 2 terms per lifetime?

Answer 1

A tradition of presidents serving two terms only began with George Washington. Until President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to his fourth term during World War II, there was no actual restriction in American law about how many terms a president could serve.

"After Roosevelt's death, the newly Republican 80th United States Congress desired to establish a firm constitutional provision barring presidents from being elected more than twice. The rationale was a concern that without limits, the presidential position could become too similar to that of a benevolent dictator lasting not just four years but a lifetime, and that the position could become too powerful and upset the separation of powers.

The result was the 25th amendment which ordinarly limits a president to two term.

Answer 2

Historians point to George Washington's decision not to seek a third term as evidence that the founders saw a two-term limit as convention and a bulwark against a monarchy; his Farewell Address, however, suggests that it was because of his age that he did not seek re-election. Thomas Jefferson also contributed to the convention of a two-term limit; in 1807 he wrote, "if some termination to the services of the chief Magistrate be not fixed by the Constitution, or supplied by practice, his office, nominally four years, will in fact become for life." Jefferson's immediate successors, James Madison and James Monroe, also adhered to the two-term principle.

Prior to Franklin D. Roosevelt, few Presidents attempted to serve for more than two terms. Ulysses S. Grant sought a third term in 1880 after serving from 1869 to 1877, but narrowly lost his party's nomination. Theodore Roosevelt succeeded to the presidency upon William McKinley's assassination and was elected in 1904 to a full term himself, serving from 1901 to 1909. He sought to be elected to a (non-consecutive) term in 1912 but lost to Woodrow Wilson. In 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the only president to be elected to a third term; supporters cited the war in Europe as a reason for breaking with precedent. In the 1944 election, during World War II, he won a fourth term, but suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died in office the following year. Thus, Roosevelt was the only President to have exceeded the limit later provided by the Twenty-second Amendment prior to its ratification.

Answer 3

The 22nd amendent of the US Constitution prevents the president from being elected to more than two terms.

Added:

The reason that no president can be elected for more than two terms is to keep this country a democracy. It was set down by George Washington that no president should have more than 2 terms. The reason he said this was because imagine, if you will, that a president who got power hungry ran for a third term and the people liked them. What would keep him for going for a fourth term if the people still liked him? And after that what would keep him from taking over the government entirely and this country becoming a monarchy or other form of government that only allowed that individual's family to run it?

It is simply a safeguard against such individuals that can be charming (like Hitler was) and manipulative, from taking over the government and reducing this country to a very old type of government which would take away our rights as Americans.- Also its freaking stupid. it would end up being more or less a Dictatorship. like Santa Anna.-TaisukeGames

Answer 4

It is feared that if a President can be elected for an unlimited number of terms, that President may become so powerful as to become effectively a dictator, and even if elections are held, it will become impossible to defeat the entrenched power of the incumbent President. We have seen this happen in many countries. Even Saddam Hussein held elections, although there was no chance that anyone other than him would be elected.

Answer 5

Because when George Washington was president he established a precedent saying that no presidents could last for more than two terms

Answer 6

Due to the law