The two-term limit was informally established by George Washington when he made known his intention to leave office after eight years. While no provision was made in the Constitution for political parties, forces at odds over government policies had coalesced into the Federalist and Republican Parties by the time of the next election in 1796. (The Republicans were later renamed the Democratic -Republicans and had morphed into today's Democrats by the time of Andrew Jackson.)
Before the 22nd AmendmentAlthough Washington disdained partisanship, his decisions had predominantly aligned him with the Federalists, led by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton and Vice-President John Adams. The latter was narrowly elected President over Republican leader Thomas Jefferson in the first truly partisan contest.
Four years later, however, Jefferson easily defeated Adams, served two terms, and was in turn succeeded by Republicans James Madison and James Monroe for two terms each. At that point, it was clear that, while the two-term tradition was being respected by Presidents, no such restraint was being applied, consciously or unconsciously, to the party labels by the electorate.
The Federalist Party offered its last Presidential candidate in 1816. In the strange election of 1824, four Democratic-Republicans sought the office, with none achieving the required electoral college majority. The House of Representatives chose John Quincy Adams over Jackson, although the latter had received the most popular and electoral votes.
The disappointed Jackson and his embittered supporters worked over the next four years to have their party's candidate chosen by a convention and secured the 1828 nomination. Adams's supporters dubbed themselves the National Republicans and renominated the incumbent. This time, Jackson decisively defeated Adams, and the National Republicans lasted only through one more election.
When Jackson's two terms were over, his Vice-President, Martin VanBuren ran successfully as the Democratic nominee. The principal opposition party would be the Whigs until the advent of the modern Republican Party in 1856. For the first time, there would be a revolving door for the parties at the White House. Whig Wiliam Henry Harrison ousted Van Buren in 1840, Democrat James K. Polk was elected in 1844, Whig Zachary Taylor triumphed in 1848, and Democrat Franklin Pierce won in 1852.
The new Republican Party ran its first Presidential candidate, John C. Fremont, in 1856 in a losing fight. But the unique circumstances of secession and a divided Democratic Party brought Republican Abraham Lincoln to office in 1860 in the first of six consecutive victories for the party. Only Grover Cleveland's two non-consecutive terms interrrupted the Republican control of the White House until 1912, as Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, and William Howard Taft won elections.
T.R., who had honored Washington's two-term precedent in turning over the office to Taft, was so enraged at his former Cabinet member's policies, that he first sought the Republican nomination and then ran as a third party candidate in 1912. The split gave the White House to Democrat Woodrow Wilson, who was reelected in 1916.
The Republicans then ran off three more victories with Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover. Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Hoover in the depths of the Great Depression in 1932 and, with Europe and China already in World War II, ran successfully for a third term in 1940. The two-term tradition was a major issue in the campaign and cost FDR even some of his oldest supporters, but he won by comfortable popular and electoral college majorities. He was reelected in 1944 but died the following April.
Restoring Tradition
When the Republicans regained control of Congress in 1947 for the first time in 16 years, they initiated a Constitutional Amendment to codify the the two-term limit. The 22nd Amendment was duly passed by Congress and ratified by the required number of states. Although Roosevelt's successor, President Harry S. Truman, was exempt from its provisions, he stepped down after almost eight years in 1953.
From that point on, a party has held the White House for more than two consecutive terms only once. Republican George H.W. Bush won election in 1988 following Ronald Reagan's triumphs in 1980 and 1984. Other than that, the Republican candidate was elected in 1952 and 1956, the Democrat in 1960 and 1964, the Republican in 1968 and 1972, the Democrat in 1976, 1992, and 1996, and the Republican in 2000 and 2004.
With one exception, the electorate seems to have added a party two-term limit for the White House to go along with the 22nd Amendment.
Source: u-s-history.com
