<P> Section 1 . No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once . But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term . </P> <P> Section 2 . This Article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three - fourths of the several states within seven years from the date of its submission to the states by the Congress . </P> <P> Notwithstanding that the Twenty - second Amendment was clearly a reaction to Franklin D. Roosevelt's election to an unprecedented four terms as president, the notion of presidential term limits has deep roots in American politics . Delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 considered the issue (alongside broader questions, such as who would elect the president, and the President's role) extensively . Many--including Alexander Hamilton and James Madison--supported a lifetime appointment for presidents, while others favored fixed terms appointments . Virginia's George Mason denounced the life - tenure proposal as tantamount to establishment of an elective monarchy . Ultimately, the Framers approved four - year terms with no restriction on the amount of time a person could serve as president . </P> <P> Though dismissed by the Constitutional Convention, the concept of term limits for U.S. presidents took hold during the presidencies of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson . As his second term entered its final year in 1796, George Washington was exhausted from years of public service, and his health had begun to decline . He was also bothered by the unrelenting attacks from his political opponents, which had escalated after the signing of the Jay Treaty, and believed that he had accomplished his major goals as president . For these reasons, he decided not to stand for reelection to a third term, a decision he announced to the nation through a Farewell Address in September 1796 . Eleven years later, as Thomas Jefferson neared the half - way point of his second term, he wrote, </P>

The 22 amendment was passed as a reaction to what event