Ever feel like history is just a series of "unspoken rules" until someone finally decides to ignore them? That’s basically the story of Franklin D. Roosevelt. For about 150 years, American presidents followed a polite, gentlemanly tradition: you do two terms, and then you go home. George Washington started it, and everyone else just kinda went along with it.
Then came FDR.
He didn't just serve three terms; he was elected to four. He’s the only president to serve 3 terms (and a fourth), effectively holding the keys to the White House from 1933 until his death in 1945. It’s a feat that’s literally impossible today because of the 22nd Amendment, but at the time, the rules were surprisingly... blank.
Breaking the "Washington Rule"
Honestly, before 1940, the two-term limit was just a vibe. There was no law. George Washington was tired and wanted to go back to Mount Vernon, so he declined a third term. This set a precedent that felt as solid as stone. Even big personalities like Ulysses S. Grant and Teddy Roosevelt (FDR’s cousin) thought about or tried for a third term, but they couldn't pull it off. They either lacked the party support or just flat-out lost the election.
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FDR was different. He was navigating the Great Depression, and by the time his second term was winding down, World War II was exploding in Europe.
People were scared. The "don't swap horses in midstream" logic became the winning argument. In 1940, he defeated Wendell Willkie, and suddenly, the 150-year-old tradition was dead. He wasn't just a president anymore; he was becoming a fixture of the American government.
Why did he keep running?
A lot of people think it was just a power grab. While he certainly liked being in charge, his supporters argued that the world was too chaotic for a brand-new leader.
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- The Great Depression: The New Deal was still being hammered out, and the economy was fragile.
- The Nazi Threat: By 1940, France had fallen, and Britain was under siege. FDR felt he was the only one who could navigate the looming war.
- Political Vacuum: The Democratic party didn't really have a "Plan B" successor who could guarantee a win.
The Pushback and the 22nd Amendment
Not everyone was cheering. His opponents were terrified. To them, a president serving twelve, sixteen, or twenty years sounded a lot less like a democracy and a lot more like a monarchy or a dictatorship. Republican nominee Thomas Dewey famously called the prospect of a fourth term the "most dangerous threat to our freedom ever proposed."
When FDR died just 82 days into his fourth term, the country had a collective realization: maybe we should write this down. Congress didn't waste much time. By 1947, they proposed the 22nd Amendment. It was ratified in 1951, and it's pretty clear: no one can be elected president more than twice. Period. If you take over for someone else and serve more than two years of their term, you can only be elected once on your own.
What This Means for Today
Because of what FDR did, the modern presidency is strictly capped. No matter how popular a leader is, they have a "best by" date. This creates a weird dynamic where second-term presidents are "lame ducks" almost immediately, but it also prevents the kind of entrenched power that people feared in the 1940s.
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If you’re looking at how this impacts your understanding of U.S. politics, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Check the math on "years": A president can technically serve up to 10 years if they were a VP who took over mid-term (for less than two years) and then won two elections.
- Historical context matters: Term limits were a direct reaction to one specific man and one specific era of crisis.
- Tradition vs. Law: FDR proved that "unwritten rules" only work until someone decides they don't apply anymore.
To really get a feel for how much the country changed under the only president to serve 3 terms, you should look into the "First 100 Days" of his first term. It set the blueprint for how every president since has been judged. You can also research the 22nd Amendment's ratification process to see which states were the most vocal about stopping a "president for life."
Keep an eye on current debates too—every few years, someone in Congress proposes repealing the 22nd Amendment, usually when their own party has a popular incumbent. It never goes anywhere, but it's a reminder that the "ghost of FDR" still haunts the halls of the Capitol.
Next Steps:
- Review the specific text of the 22nd Amendment to understand the "10-year rule" exception.
- Compare FDR’s 1940 election results with his 1932 landslide to see how the public’s appetite for a third term shifted.
- Explore the history of the "New Deal" to see why voters felt FDR was indispensable during the 1930s.