Some Presidents Day Trivia -- Two Term Limits

Another reason I support Hillary is that I was deprived, by the foolish 22nd Amendment, of the right to vote for Bill Clinton for a 3rd term.

The 22nd Amendment -- a 2-term limit for Presidents (but not for Dick Cheney) --- was passed in 1951.

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The 22nd Amendment has served its intended purpose. It has prevented a single individual from dominating Presidential politics. It has also made it harder for a political party to win 3 straight Presidential elections.

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Of the 33 Presidents elected prior to the passage of the 22nd Amendment in 1951 -- 10 Presidents were re-elected:

Washington
Jefferson
Madison
Monroe
Jackson

Lincoln
Grant
McKinley
Wilson
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Out of those 10 Presidents who were re-elected, and did not (or could not) seek a third term -- the President who followed them was of the same party in 9 of the 10 cases. In other words, all of those parties were given a "third" term.

The 10th instance was Woodrow Wilson -- Democrat. In the election of 1920, Calvin Coolidge, Republican Senator of Ohio beat James Cox -- Democratic Governor from Ohio.

(George Washington, of course, voluntarily left office after 2 terms, creating a precedent that Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Grant and Wilson followed. (Neither Lincoln nor McKinley completed their 2nd terms. FDR was reelected for a third term and did not complete his 4th term.)

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Since the passage of the 22nd Amendment in 1951, 5 Presidents were re-elected:

Eisenhower
Nixon
Reagan
Clinton
George W. Bush.

Only Ronald Reagan's successor, George H.W. Bush, was of the same party.

Eisenhower (R) was suceeded by Kennedy (D)

Nixon (R) did not complete his 2nd term, and the next election was won by Carter (D)

Clinton (D) was succeeded by George W. Bush (R)

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George W. Bush's re-election in 2004 marked the first time in American History that a re-elected President of one party (Clinton) was followed in office by a re-elected President of another party (Bush).

Democrat Republicans -- won 7 straight elections -- Jefferson (1800,1804) Madison (1808, 1812), Monroe (1816, 1820) J.Q. Adams (1824). The Election of 1800 and the Election of 1824 both were decided by the House of Representatives.

Repblicans --- won 6 straight elections -- Lincoln (1860, 1864), Grant (1868, 1872), Hayes (1876), Garfield (1880). In the Election of 1876, it appeared that the Democratic candidate had won Florida, and therefore won the election. However, a committee of Congress was formed to examine disputed results, and decided to give the Florida votes to the Republican.

Democrats -- won 5 straight elections -- FDR (1932, 1936, 1940, 1944) Truman(1948).

Republicans -- won 4 straight elections -- McKinley (1896, 1900), Theodore Roosevelt (1904), Taft (1908).

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It appears that in the Election of 2008, two incumbent Senators will be running against each other. That has never happened before.