2025-05-01T17:26:00Z

---

This article is part of our 'Time-Travel Thursdays' series, where we dive deep into The Atlantics archives to draw parallels with the present. If you're interested in exploring historical contexts, make sure to sign up for updates here.

It has been just over one hundred days since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, and already, he is contemplating the prospect of a third presidential term. This ambition, while seemingly outrageous, brings to light a historical precedent that challenges conventional wisdom about presidential terms in American governance.

Historically, the idea of a president seeking a third election was, for a long time, met with a strong cultural resistance. Nearly a century ago, prominent historian John Bach McMaster predicted in the pages of The Atlantic that such a move would likely be met with significant opposition. He wrote, Should the time come when a president who has twice been elected to office seeks a third election, he will surely meet great opposition, for the no-third-term doctrine is still strong.

However, just 13 years later, during the tumultuous times of World War II, McMasters prediction was put to the test. In 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt made history by winning an unprecedented third term, securing 55 percent of the popular vote and an astonishing 85 percent in the Electoral College. The writer Gerald W. Johnson poignantly noted the historic significance of this election, stating, 27 million voters trampled down the thitherto sacred third-term tradition in order to relect the chief New Dealer.

At that time, Roosevelt's decision to seek a third term broke no legal boundaries, as the two-term limit was merely a tradition established by George Washington, who voluntarily stepped down after two terms in office. The historical attempts of two former presidentsUlysses S. Grant in 1880 and Theodore Roosevelt in 1912to reclaim the presidency for a third, nonconsecutive term ended in failure. Roosevelts victory was not entirely unexpected; it was foreshadowed by journalist J. Frederick Essary, who asserted just a year into FDRs second term that If Mr. Roosevelt runs a third time, he will be renominated and relected.

Roosevelt would go on to win a fourth term in 1944, during a time when the nation was deeply engaged in World War II. The public was largely unaware of his deteriorating health, and he passed away less than three months after beginning his fourth inauguration in April 1945. Following his death and the post-war period, there was renewed fervor to formalize what McMaster had referred to as the unwritten law of the Republic. The founding fathers had contemplated including a term limit in the original Constitution to prevent an overreaching president from resembling a monarch. Consequently, in 1951, the ratification of the Twenty-Second Amendment solidified this limit, stating that no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.

In practice, this amendment imposes a seemingly strict barrier against a third term for President Donald Trump. However, that has not deterred him or his ardent supporters from speculating about the possibility of another run in 2028. In an interview with NBC News last month, Trump remarked, Im not joking. There are methods which you could do it. His statement was further underscored by the launch of Trump 2028 merchandise on his official retail website, seemingly a nod to his intentions.

When asked by The Atlantics Ashley Parker about the prospect of a third term, Trump downplayed the idea, stating it was not something that Im looking to do. Yet, he expressed curiosity, adding, That would be a big shattering, wouldnt it?

Some of Trumps supporters have proposed potential strategies to navigate around the Twenty-Second Amendment, suggesting that he could run for vice president alongside a candidate like J. D. Vance. If Vance were to win, Trump could resign from the vice presidency, subsequently assuming the presidency without technically being elected to the office again, although this approach might be complicated by the Twelfth Amendment, which states that no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. Alternatively, Trump could simply decide to run for president and challenge the Supreme Court to disqualify him in the midst of an election.

If the Supreme Court were to overlook the constraints imposed by the Twenty-Second Amendment, the ultimate decision on whether Trumps two terms are sufficient would rest in the hands of the voters. While Trumps popularity has not reached the heights that FDR enjoyed during his presidency, history reveals that one should not hastily conclude that the public will uphold long-standing limitations on presidential terms. As Essary noted back in 1937, It is difficult to believe that the mass of the people care very deeply about the third term in itself; there is nothing in our experience as a nation to prove that they do care. This sentiment raises intriguing questions about the current political climate as Trump contemplates his own legacy and future.