What if the 22nd amendment set a max of four terms?

Hey if FDR already set a precedent, why ground future presidencies to two. What if the 22nd amendment passes but says presidents can serve a maximum of four terms?
 

Pangur

Donor
Who could have got four terms?

Truman? Lost reelection
Eisenhower? Health rules him out
Kennedy? Dead
LBJ? Did not run for full 2th term
Nixon? Enough said
Carter? Lost reelection
Regan? Health rules him out
Bush? Lost reelection
Clinton? MAYBE
Bush? Too unpopulator
Obama? MAYBE
Trump? Too early to say
 
Reagan was pretty popular, could he have attempted to run in '92?

Clinton and Obama were both young and decently popular enough to attempt a third term, the latter especially on the youth point.

Another consideration is how the tempo of presidential administrations would go. Now that the second term isn't where their legacy is set in stone, now that the lame duck period is far away, it might go differently for some of these guys.
 

Pangur

Donor
Reagan was pretty popular, could he have attempted to run in '92?
He was in the early stages of dementia in his last few months in office so he is a non starter

Clinton and Obama were both young and decently popular enough to attempt a third term, the latter especially on the youth point.

Thats the first hurdle (health would be as important as age) the second is to get reelected another two terms. They both may well have got third term, any more dont know.


Another consideration is how the tempo of presidential administrations would go. Now that the second term isn't where their legacy is set in stone, now that the lame duck period is far away, it might go differently for some of these guys.

True enough re 2th term however the lame duck term would not be a 4th term - same differnce really
 
Reagan was pretty popular, could he have attempted to run in '92?

His Alzheimer's was pretty bad by then. As Pangur mentions, his health rules him out from a third term.

As is, FDR really was an exception. I could MAYBE see Clinton or Obama running for a third term, but I doubt any future President would have the right conditions to repeat FDR's success.
 

Pangur

Donor
His Alzheimer's was pretty bad by then. As Pangur mentions, his health rules him out from a third term.

As is, FDR really was an exception. I could MAYBE see Clinton or Obama running for a third term, but I doubt any future President would have the right conditions to repeat FDR's success.

It was indeed and yes FDR success success was IMHO pure fluke in the ways that world affairs turned out
 
Oh right, that's what I meant. '92 was when Bush was running for reelection. Yeah, Reagan was popular enough to get to three terms. He was kinda like the GOP FDR for the 20th century.
 
A Nixon without Watergate is another option here.

The other thing about a four term limit is that Presidents defeated after one term (Ford, Carter, Bush Senior) become realistic possibilities for a future come-back, a la Grover Cleveland.
 
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So was the polio or w/e it was that got to FDR in the end

FDR's mind was fine, even though his physical health was failing.

In the case of Reagan, if he was starting to get a bit doddery in 1984, it is going to be an issue in 1988. Probably not enough to lose him the election, but enough to make those around him think twice (and a Reagan that can run again is going to have more Iran-Contra stuff thrown at him too).
 

Pangur

Donor
A Nixon without Watergate is another option here.

The other thing about a four term limit is that Presidents defeated after one term (Ford, Carter, Bush Senior) become realistic possibilities for a future come-back, a la Grover Cleveland.
Granted and equally a situation where LBJ was reelectable in 1968 may not be that hard to construct. In my first post I opted for what was as it where rather than what could have been re odds of our terms
 

TruthfulPanda

Gone Fishin'
When there was no limit nobody got elected for three terms. Did even anybody run for three? The 22nd was a knee-jerk reaction, albeit can be perceived as nipping a possible problem in the bud.
So, no 22nd does not mean that anybody runs, let alone gets elected three times. Four times seems to be ASB ... FDR was a fluke.
 
The Lewinskygate aside, who doesn't want the End of History of the late '90s to continue? Imagine the nasty shocks Bill would face in 2001...

When there was no limit nobody got elected for three terms. Did even anybody run for three? The 22nd was a knee-jerk reaction, albeit can be perceived as nipping a possible problem in the bud.
So, no 22nd does not mean that anybody runs, let alone gets elected three times. Four times seems to be ASB ... FDR was a fluke.

Hilariously enough, his big-gov cousin, Teddy, ran for a third term in 1912. And on a third party, too.
 
Hey if FDR already set a precedent, why ground future presidencies to two. What if the 22nd amendment passes but says presidents can serve a maximum of four terms?

This would be pointless. The amendment was very definitely meant as a posthumous slap at FDR, not just a way of preventing the extremely unlikely contingency of someone actually seeking even more terms than he did.
 
This would be pointless. The amendment was very definitely meant as a posthumous slap at FDR, not just a way of preventing the extremely unlikely contingency of someone actually seeking even more terms than he did.

What if Truman did a really good job in his second term and seriously considers to seek reelection
 
Except if another crisis like the Great Depression hits the US.

Perhaps. But I feel that it was a perfect storm of long-time GOP incumbency, a charismatic Roosevelt, the Great Depression, AND WW2 that resulted in FDR getting 4 terms as President. I find it difficult to imagine all those factors coming together again, but who knows?
 
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