What are the reasons a President may only serve 2 terms?

Question

is this law specifically for 2 terms in a row, or can a former President run for another term years later?

Answer 1

It's in the Constitution. Read it. A President can not rerun for office after serving once.

Answer 2

It's part of the system of checks and balances - to stop a president becoming to power hungrary and turning into a dictator. They can serve a maximum of 2 terms, one after the other or with a gap.

Answer 3

It was put in the Constitution to keep someone from becoming a dictator.

Answer 4

the reason behind term limit is to prevent political dynasty... it depends on each countries' constitution but basically it is to prevent concentration of power to one person.

Answer 5

to prevent a populist president from becoming a virtual tyrant.

The 2 term limit was imposed after FDR, who was wildly popular with the people, had served for 16 years and whose reign was only ended by his death.  The politicians of all political sides of the aisle thought that FDR was horrible, but they could not get rid of him due to his popularity with the people.  So after his death, they voted in the term limit to ensure for future generations that it could never happen again.  

During FDR's reign we also saw how a president who was in office for longer than 2 terms could successfully upset the "checks and balances" of the system by eventually being able to put in enough patsy judges to vote for anything he wanted.  There is a lot more to the consequences of FDR's long reign as well, but that is one example to get your started.

no it is not 2 terms in a row.  the 22nd amendment states that a president can only be elected twice and does not need to be consecutive, or once if he has served more than 2 years due to the death of the previous president (ie he was VP, and the prez was shot during his 1st year)

Answer 6

To prevent another FDR who was in control for over 16 years.  They decided that since the founding fathers served no more than two terms than that should be the natural limit.  This prevents a form of Dictatorship from happening.

Answer 7

2 terms total....thank God!

Although if Bill Clinton ran again I would SO vote for him.

Answer 8

We need to pass a law that some Presidents can't  serve one term.    No man has the right to go around acting like he's President when he hasn't  been elected.   Arrogance and public office spell disaster.