Can anyone tell me why American presidents cannot have more then 2 terms in office?

Question

This i am asking because FDR ran for 4 terms but no one can now and I want to know why?

Answer 1

The two term limitation was added as an amendment to the constitution after the death of FDR for a few reasons. First, because of the age requirements for president - more than two terms in office would make them very elderly. Secondly, it was put into place to limit the power of one president which could lead to an imbalance of power. If a president could run continuously, you could end up with a dictator on your hands. As it is, no one president can be in office for more than 8 years in a row - limiting how much power he can wield. That is also the reason Congress is termed differently from the president - so that he can not control them any more than they can control him. It is all a balance of power. Just an interesting side note, when we have a Dem as a president, congress is usually Rep in majority and vise versa when we have a Rep. pres. Hope that helps you understand better. Happy Holidays.

Answer 2

After the American Revolution, the founding fathers feared that a person who became president could become like a king or dictator if he stayed in power too long (this has hapened in other so-called democracies). They had a 'gentleman's agreement' that no one would serve for more than two terms. All presidents up to FDR abided by this 'gentleman's agreement'. During WW II, the politicians and the people didn't want to "change horses in the middle of a war", so FDR was elected to a third and fourth term. After the war, people were frightened by how easily on man could take and hold the reins of power for so long (16 years). They decided that the 'gentleman's agreement' no longer sufficed to prevent this from happening, so the 22nd Amandment to the Constitution was proposed, and ratified by the necessary 2/3 of the States, limiting all future Presidents to two terms in office. Therefore no one man can serve for more than eight years (either consecutively or seperately).

Answer 3

Two corrections:
The maximum amount of time is ten years, not eight. Technically if President Bush resigned on January 21, 2007 Vice president Richard Cheney could serve the remaining two years of Bush' second term plus two of his own for a total of ten years.
The country was not at war when FDR was elected to his third term. He was elected to a third term in 1940, and was sworn in on January 20, 1941. The US entered World War 2 in December 1941

Answer 4

Having sampled FDR, the American people re-evaluated Washington's Cincinatus-like position that two terms are enough.
Remember, our founding fathers didn't have to check Wickipedia to find out about Cincinatus.

Answer 5

FDR, Franklin Roosevelt had 4 terms and died in office, after his death an ammendment was passed limiting the terms to 2 elected and one half or less of anothers term if the preseident dies in office.

Answer 6

THERE IS A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT THAT PREVENTS THIS. IT WAS PUSHED BY THE REPUBLICANS
AFTER NOT KNOWING IF EISENHOWER WAS GOING TO BE A REPUBLICAN OR A DEMOCRAT & FEARED NOT BEING ABLE TO GET THE WHITE HOUSE BACK FOR A LONG TIME. REMEMBER THE DEMS WERE IN POWER FROM THE 1932 ELECTION.

Answer 7

FDR got four terms because it was a time of war. The senate and house temporarily nullified the constitutional amendment for the benefit of the US. Washington was asked to serve a lifetime, and he refused, saying two terms was enough...the constitution was modified to concede that Washington knew what he was talking about.

Answer 8

To stop presidents like George Bush ruining the country

Answer 9

its because of the charter(constitution) change


Read Article II, plus the 12th, 20th and 22nd Amendments to the Constitution.

Answer 10

The 22nd Amendment limits a President to two terms.

UPDATED RESPONSE:

Ya gotta love the mistake of nature that thumbs downed my absolutely correct answer.