George J. Mitchell Quotes
I didn't want to make it a lifetime thing. I don't believe in statutory term limits, but people can limit themselves if they want to, and that's what I decided to do.
Mitchell, George J. Interview. Academy of Achievement, 8 June 2002.
These were a set of laws governing their colony that the people voted. It appears to be the earliest legislation on term limits in America.
This quotation perhaps was the most critical in Roosevelt’s political career. After winning the presidential election in his own right, that evening at a press conference he called, he not only committed to serving only two terms—then a custom and not law as it would be after WWII—but he also committed that his first three and a half years where he was not elected but assumed the presidency upon McKinley’s assassination would count as a full elected term. He therefore in 1908 could not run again even though the public wanted him to, and he might have liked another term. More important historically was 1912. Roosevelt had chosen his close friend and colleague William Howard Taft to succeed him and with Roosevelt’s support he was elected in 1908. But Taft’s wife who had always been his closest political advisor and reviewer of all his policies and speeches, had a stroke shortly after Taft was elected. Taft’s performance as President was very disappointing to Roosevelt, and he ran against Taft in the 1912 Republican nominating campaign. The very conservative Republicans were against Roosevelt, but many of those who liked him were distressed that he was reneging on his pledge not to run for a 3rd term. Roosevelt lost, and famously started the Bull Moose Party and ran against Taft and Wilson. He outpolled Taft but with the split Republican vote, Woodrow Wilson won the Presidency. This pledge haunted Roosevelt for the rest of his life.
_0_thumbnail_47x47.jpg){kind=small}
When he became president himself, he not only served 10 years but changed the constitution so that he could serve forever and was still President over 20 years later. See {636079} for a similar view of term limits
Her call for term limiting the presidency was a harbinger of the 22nd Amendment.
See {639169} and {639180} for more on Roosevelt’s feelings about the vice presidency.
Later, Eisenhower changed his mind and ran for the Republican Presidential Nomination. Truman, who had always been a strong Eisenhower enthusiast, felt that Eisenhower had lied to him and was distrustful of the General ever after.
The amendment was pushed by the Republicans in reaction to FDR's four terms, but its practical effect was to limit presidents Eisenhower and Reagan, both Republicans, to 2 terms while they each could have won a third term. Roosevelt had won 4 terms and traumatized the Republicans prompting them to term limit the American Presidency.
George John Mitchell Jr. is an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. A leading member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from Maine from 1980 to 1995 and as Senate Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995. He briefly served as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maine from 1979 to 1980.
