The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution – Time for Change?

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Stephen R. Rolandi
November 17, 2025

“My reason for fixing them in office for a term of years, rather than for life, was that they might have an idea that they were at a certain period to return into the mass of the people and become the governed instead of the governors which might still keep alive that regard to the public good that otherwise they might perhaps be induced by their independence to forget.” – Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), Third President of the United States (1801-09)

Our third president’s admonition about the dangers of unlimited terms of office for the Presidency of the United States has relevance today in light of a recent proposed constitutional amendment permitting a third term for the President as well as the incumbent President’s statements indicating his interest in possibly running for a third term. This month’s column deals with this issue.

Text of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution (proposed 1947; ratified 1951)

The 22nd Amendment contains two sections; the operative portion is found in Section 1:

“No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice and no person who has held the office of President or acted as President for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person who may be holding the office of President or acting as President during the term within which this Article become operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.”

Background of the 22nd Amendment

Our first President, George Washington, served two terms in office (1789-97) and declined to seek a third term. In so doing, a two term precedent was set. Sixteen of our Presidents either were elected to or served two terms of office (to name just a few: Jefferson; Monroe; Jackson; Lincoln; Grant; Wilson; Eisenhower; Reagan; Clinton; Bush 43 and Obama). Two Presidents (Cleveland; Trump) were elected to two nonconsecutive terms. President Franklin D. Roosevelt broke this tradition when he was elected to a third (1940) and a fourth term (1945) during World War II.

After the conclusion of the Second World War, Congress sought to limit the number of terms a President could serve by its passage of the 22nd Amendment. The amendment limits the number of terms a President can be elected to; in addition it makes it possible for a person to serve up to ten years. This can happen if a person (most likely the Vice President) succeeds a President who can no longer serve out their term. At the time of the ratification of this amendment, the incumbent President serving as POTUS was Harry S. Truman (1945-53) who was exempt from the provisions of this amendment. The first President who this amendment applied to was Dwight D. Eisenhower who served from 1953-1961.

Criticisms and Potential Problems with the 22nd Amendment

Like other term-limit ideas and proposals found in numerous elected positions in state and local governments, the 22nd Amendment has an antidemocratic character to it. Some will argue that the people should be able to vote and give a popular President a third term. Others will argue that the demands of the contemporary Presidency are more than any one individual can handle for eight years, particularly when an incumbent President is in their late 70s or early 80s.

Since 1985, there have been many attempts by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress to either modify or remove this amendment. These efforts began when Ronald Reagan was serving his second term from 1985-89. Some analysts contended that if the 22nd Amendment term limit were not in place in 1988, 2000, or 2016, then Presidents Reagan, Clinton and Obama respectively would likely have won a third consecutive term. To date, no changes have been made.

There is some debate as to how the 22nd Amendment works with the 12th Amendment, which limits who can become Vice President to only those persons who meet the requirements of being President. In this debate, the central question is whether the 12th Amendment is imposing requirements on eligibility for holding the office of POTUS or merely imposing requirements on being elected to the office of POTUS.

Another side of the debate argues that the 22nd Amendment explicitly uses language that “no person shall be elected” and is therefore providing guidance on elections. Those supporting this side of the debate point out that no person who has served two terms as President has ever tried to become Vice President (note: I do not include the case of former President Gerald R. Ford who candidate Ronald Reagan seriously considered to be his running mate at the 1980 Republican National Convention. Reagan ultimately chose George H. W. Bush to be his running mate. Ford only served the balance of Richard Nixon’s term from 1974-77).

Another “wrinkle” in this debate, as advanced by litigation attorney Joel A. Ready, is that the 22nd Amendment was ratified prior to passage of the 25th Amendment that defined Presidential succession and disability. If a person is “chosen” by Congress to fill a vacancy (for example, when Gerald Ford became an unelected Vice President in 1973 and unelected President in 1974), does Congress’ act of “choosing” the President mean the same as “electing” the President?

In a recent interview and her newly released book, Associate Justice Amy Comey Barrett was asked her view about a potential President Trump third term candidacy, and she appeared to indicate that the language of the 22nd Amendment seemed clear and would preclude a Trump third term candidacy.

Readers should be aware that in January 2025, Representative Andrew Ogles (R-Tenn.) proposed a constitutional amendment (H.J. Res. 29) that stated that no person shall be elected President more than three times with specific disqualifications for those who have served two consecutive terms. At the moment, passage of this proposed amendment appears unlikely.

But the debate continues and like most things in this life, time will tell.

For further reading and research:

I recommend the following sources to learn more about this constitutional amendment as I believe it will be receiving a great deal of public attention over the course of the next few years:

• Jack N. Rakove, “The Annotated U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence, Harvard University Press (2009)
• Arley Ballenger, “The Legal 3rd-Term: Examining Pathways to an Extended Presidency,” Independent Publisher (2025)
• Benjamin Kingsley, “Beyond Two: A Biography of the 22nd Amendment, Independent Publisher (2025)”
• Martin B. Gold, “The Twenty-Second Amendment and the Limits of Presidential Power, Lexington Books (2019)”

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Author: Stephen R. Rolandi retired in 2015 after serving with the State and City of New York. He holds BA and MPA degrees from New York University and studied law at Brooklyn Law School. He teaches public finance and management as an Adjunct Professor of Public Administration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY) and Pace University. Professor Rolandi is a Trustee of NECoPA and the New Amsterdam History Center; President-emeritus of ASPA’s New York Metropolitan Chapter and past Senior National Council Representative. He has served on many association boards and is a frequent guest commentator on public affairs and political issues facing the nation and New York State. You can reach him at: [email protected] or [email protected] or 914.441.3399 or 212.237.8000.

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