Why was FDR the first and last president to be elected to a 3rd and 4th term of office?

Question

I once heard that when Reagan was President, they condidered altering the Constitution to allow him the opportunity to run for a 3rd term. Why didn't they?

Answer 1

George Washington set the precedent of only serving two terms and almost all subsequent presidents honored that tradition voluntarily. Theodore Roosevelt tried to run for a third term but failed. (His first term started when McKinley was assassinated, He ran successfully for a second term, then retired but tried to come back four years later. When the Republican Party would not nominate him he ran as an independent and threw the election to Wilson.) Franklin Roosevelt ran for his first term in 1932 and again in 1936. His New Deal policies made him so popular that he was able to break tradition and run for a third term in 1940. Then in 1944 the USA was in the midst of World War II and he was able to get elected again on the premise that there should be a continuity of leadership until the war was over. Of course we know that he died in office during his fourth term and Truman finished it out. There is speculation that FDR knew his health was bad and that he probably would live to finish his term but he thought he had a better chance of winning for the Democrats than any other candidate. It is notable that he was more careful in picking a vice presidential candidate for that election.

After the war the Republican Party won control of Congress and pushed through a constitutional amendment limiting the president to two terms. They were afraid that the Democrats would continue to find candidates that would promote New Deal policies and get elected forever. Ironically it was ratified in time to affect Eisenhower who himself was popular enough to get reelected indefinitely.

Since then all presidents have been limited to two terms by the constitution. One result of this is that second term presidents are often considered "lame ducks" for all four years. In some ways this increases their power because they are no longer accountable to the electorate. On the other hand since they don't have the option of running again, lobbyists and special interest groups start to look for the next candidate. The president loses some of his leverage with the political establishment.

As for Reagan, consider that it takes 2/3rds of both houses of Congress to propose an amendment and 3/4ths of the legislatures of all the states to ratify it. While Reagan was very popular he didn't have that kind of support in either Congress or the States. And even lawmakers that agreed with and supported the policies of Reagan might have had serious reservations about going back to the way it was before Roosevelt for the very reasons that prompted their predecessors to vote for the two term limit in the first place.

Answer 2

FDR was elected to 3rd and 4th terms because the U.S. was in a time of economic crisis in the depression and then in the second world war. He went against George Washington's saying that two terms is enough for any one. People were so shocked at that that they amended the Constitution to limit a president to two terms (excepting Truman, who was in office at the time; Truman decided against taking advantage of the exception and did not run for a third term). They didn't re-amend the Constitution for Reagan because a person would have to be very special or the times very special. It was mildly shocking that FDR was elected to four terms. It would be very shocking if any one were allowed to do it again. This is the way we will lose our freedom.

Answer 3

FDR didn't want to back down and break the pace of the war while it still going on. The "Big Three" (US, USSR, UK) relied too heavily on each other. They wanted to amened the constitution for Reagan because he was doing so well negotiating with Gorbachev. They were afraid that if he left, all the forward progress that had been made would be undone. Luckily, Bush Senior was a good enough negotiator that this didn't happen.

Answer 4

yes fdr was the only president elected 4 times. they ditn change the constitution cuz thye did not want to establish dynasties int eh american presidency

Answer 5

it was a mistake , they lost count and before someone on holiday told them it was 4