<P> In spite of the strong two - term tradition, a few presidents prior to Franklin Roosevelt did attempt to secure a third term . Ulysses S. Grant, after having served as president from 1869 to 1877, sought nomination for another term at the 1880 Republican National Convention, but narrowly lost to James Garfield, who would go on to win the 1880 election . Given the Republican Party's dominance during that period, had Grant been nominated, he might well have won a third term . </P> <P> Theodore Roosevelt succeeded to the presidency on September 14, 1901, following William McKinley's assassination (194 days into his second term), and was subsequently elected to a full term in 1904 . While he declined to seek a third (second full) term in 1908, Roosevelt did seek one four years later, in the election of 1912, where he lost to Woodrow Wilson . Wilson himself sought nomination to a third term in 1920, at the Democratic National Convention; he deliberately blocked the nomination of the former Secretary of the Treasury, his son - in - law William Gibbs McAdoo, the front - runner . Although seriously ill at the time, Wilson anticipated that the party would side with their sitting president were the convention deadlocked . Wilson was too unpopular even within his own party at the time, and James M. Cox was nominated . He would again contemplate running for a nonconsecutive third term in 1924, devising a strategy for his comeback, but again lacked any support and died at the beginning of the year . </P> <P> Franklin D. Roosevelt spent the months leading up to the 1940 Democratic National Convention refusing to state whether he would seek a third term . His Vice President, John Nance Garner, along with Postmaster General James Farley, announced their candidacies for the Democratic nomination . When the convention came, Roosevelt sent a message to the convention, saying he would run only if drafted, saying delegates were free to vote for whomever they pleased . The delegates issued 946 votes for Roosevelt, 72 for Farley, and 61 for Garner; they replaced Garner with Henry A. Wallace as the vice presidential nominee, and Farley resigned as postmaster general . In the 1940 general election, while Republican Wendell Willkie received six million more votes than the previous Republican candidate (Alfred Landon) had in 1936, Roosevelt still won decisively, taking 38 of 48 states . His supporters cited impending war as a reason for breaking with precedent, while Willkie had run against the principle of a third term . Roosevelt was the first president elected to a third term, and remains the only one to exceed eight years in office . </P> <P> Four years later, in the election of 1944, Roosevelt defeated New York governor Thomas E. Dewey to win an unprecedented fourth term . While he effectively quelled rumors of his poor health during the campaign, Roosevelt's health was in reality deteriorating . On April 12, 1945, only 82 days after his fourth inauguration, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died . </P>

Last us president to serve more than two terms