In this Book
- Presidential Term Limits in American History: Power, Principles, and Politics
- Book
- 2011
- Published by: Texas A&M University Press
- Series: Joseph V. Hughes Jr. and Holly O. Hughes Series on the Presidency and Leadership
summary
This study explains the importance of presidential tenure to the development of the American exclusive and political history and considers its saliency today. In it Michael Korzi lays out the major theoretical issues that frame the history and debates on this issue and traces them forward from the perspective of the founding generation, examining the tenures of royal governors and state governors after them, and then the debates over tenure at the Constitutional Convention. It is common knowledge that the decisions of Washington and especially Jefferson to step down after serving two terms as president, established the "two term" tradition. Korzi looks behind those decisions to consider the challenges to that tradition by those, on the one hand, who preferred a one term presidency and those, on the other, who advocated presidents serving more than two terms.
He then recounts the "perfect storm" that allowed Franklin Roosevelt to shatter the two-term tradition in 1940. This election is critical not just because the two term tradition falls but because the arguments surrounding FDR’s election to a third term would reinforce tensions within the American political value system that have been prevalent since the founding. The Hamiltonian argument for leadership in a time of crisis would prevail, but Jeffersonian concerns about a consolidation of executive power would also strongly resonate.
Korzi shows that in their quest to keep Roosevelt in office, FDR and his supporters made critical errors of judgment in 1943–44. Not only did Roosevelt pursue a fourth term against long odds that he would survive it, but he put little effort into the selection and policy education of Vice President Truman, who by his own admission was woefully unprepared to assume the presidency when the president died in April 1945. Korzi's analysis offers a strong challenge to Roosevelt biographers who have generally whitewashed this aspect of his presidency and decision making.
In an extended analysis of one of the least-discussed amendments to the Constitution, Korzi situates the 22nd Amendment within the long history of debates and reservations about executive tenure. He shows that, while the amendment was indeed partly vindictive and political, Republicans were at the same time making arguments in keeping with a strong theoretical strain in American political thought, one to which they, as a party, had largely subscribed throughout their history.
Finally, Korzi considers the implications of the 22nd Amendment for contemporary politics, addressing the conventional wisdom that presidents become "lame ducks" upon winning a second term, key reform proposals such as a six-year, one-term presidency, and the proposal for "rotation" (that is, a president being eligible to serve only two out of any four terms). The study concludes with an affirmation of the two-term rule, arguing that, despite some serious drawbacks, it offers a fitting balance for a nation with a conflicted history of restraining as well as enabling executive power.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Acknowledgments
- pp. ix-x
Additional Information
ISBN
9781603442800
Related ISBN(s)
9781603442312
MARC Record
OCLC
723107334
Pages
192
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No