Twenty-second Amendment ratified

February 26, 1951

Reacting to FDR's unprecedented four terms, the United States formally limited presidents to two terms in office. Never again would Americans be able to elect a Roosevelt who refused to leave. The amendment made the presidency, paradoxically, both more and less powerful: each occupant more visible but certain to leave, a lame duck from the moment of reelection. George Washington's precedent was finally law.