Presidential and Vice Presidential Terms and Tenure

Publication Date: February 2001

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Government

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Abstract:

Presidential and vice presidential terms and tenure are governed by Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, and the 20th and 22nd Amendments to the Constitution. Article II prescribes a four year term. Section 1 of the 20th Amendment provides that terms of office for the President and Vice President end at 12:00 noon on January 20th of each year following a presidential election. From 1789 through 1940, chief executives adhered to a self-imposed limit of two terms. That precedent was broken by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was elected four times (1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944).

The 22nd Amendment, proposed and ratified following the Roosevelt presidency, provides that "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice ...." Further, Vice Presidents who succeed to the presidency can be elected to two full terms as President if they have served less than two years of their predecessor's term (up to 10 years of service). If they have served more than two years of a predecessor's term, they can be elected to only one additional term (between four and eight years of service, depending on when the Vice President succeeded to the presidency).

It is unclear whether a two-term President could succeed to the presidency from the vice presidency or some other office in line of succession; experts disagree on whether this would be constitutional. Proposals for change have included both repeal of the 22nd Amendment and the two-term limitation, and substitution of a single six-year term for the President.