| Presidential Term Essay, Research Paper
Although the debate over term limits dates back to the birth of our nation, the problems still exist. Term limitation is not strictly a modern topic. The presidential term limit also aroused debates amongst the founding fathers of the United States (Milkis 36). The president of the United States is elected by the entire nation, therefore government is kept near to the people. The people have the right to choose and judge who they will and will not elect into office. The presidential term limit should be bolished because it prevents and deprives society of experienced servants.
Term limitations reduce the incentives for political accountability. Our founding fathers believed that imposing term limits would create enhanced participation in government and greater representation of the people. Arguments between our founding fathers were common especially when they were creating the presidency. Our fore fathers had many ideas about term limitations, some for the limitation and some for no limit, in 1797 the convention voted to have only one term (Milkis 36). Many delegates saw that the advantages of reeligibility were powerful, but the issue remained. Reeligibility will not only give the nation a way to keep a good president in
office, it also gave the executive who is running for office a good motive to good behavior and to do everything to the best of his ability once in office. Reeligibility would also give an executive with ambition and avarice a good motive to be reelected. The issue still remained alive. According to Noah Webter the president of the United States of America is elective (McCormick 41). If the president of the Unites States of America is able to lead the nation into prosperity and progress there is no reason why he should be restricted to a two four years term.
There have been great presidents in the United States that could have served for more then two terms. All of which gave something to this country. There are eight out of forty two man who are considered the strongest. George Washington being one of the most obvious ones. Second we have Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Harry Truman (Judson 106). All of these man are perfect examples of presidents who could have served the United States of America for more then two terms, but only on of them did. It was Franklin D. Roosevelt, he was elected to office for four terms (Nelson 374). Out of these great presidents most
did not peruse the third term either because they died or because they just followed tradition. The tradition being that since Washington no one was elected for more then two terms (Pious 64). That was in till Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected for a third term in 1941 (Bernstein 90).
The only president who has been elected to serve for more then two term is Franklin D. Roosevelt. Franklin Roosevelt has served for three presidential terms and served for three months of his fourth term. Unfortunately he died during his fourth term. Never the less he was a great president with many accomplishments. Franklin made such a great impression on the American political system that in the most recent survey of historians, he ranked as the second greatest president in history, surpassed only by Abraham Lincoln (Milkis 279). Americans had doubts about him, but they had a reason the ranks of unemployed numbered 15 million (Milkis 280). He revived the press conference which had declined during presidents Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover (Judson
107). Just one of the many accomplishments that prove that someone who has been in office for more then to term can do a lot for the United States. President Roosevelt took office in 1933 during the midst of the great depression. We entered World War II during his term. President Roosevelt also led Congress in developing new federal programs and agencies. There are fifteen laws that Congress passed that are known as the New Deal. The New Deal was a series of legislative acts, executive orders, and proclamations that
sought not only to secure individual security but also to remedy the economic problems of the Great Depression. The centerpiece of Rossevelt s program was the Social Security Act, which proposed to create a comprehensive federal system of old age and unemployment insurance. All of these accomplishments show that there capable executives who contribute to our country when they serve for more then two terms.
There are procedures that would eliminate and take out praetorian presidents. This process is called impeachment. A member can be impeached because of serious abuse of power, high crimes, misdemeanors; impeached meant had to be done by the house and tried by the senate (Milkis 37). If there was someone who was not qualified and got elected for a third term, there would be a way to take him out of office.
Under the twenty second amendment no man could be elected for more then two terms. (Remy 796). This restricted anyone from becoming president more then twice, thus keeping out some qualified man out of office for a third term if they would choose to run. The twenty second amendment also states that anyone who succeeds to the presidency and serves for more then two years of the term may not be elected more then one more time (Remy 796). That meant that no one could be president for more then 10 years regardless of the circumstance. The twenty second amendment was passed in 1951, after president Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected for a fourth term in 1944. It took a while before it was passed. The twenty second amendment was passed because Congress feared that the president might become somewhat like a king or a dictator. Congress also
feared that the Executive branch was gaining to much power.
Limiting the number of terms an executive can be elected for the presidency is not right because it limits their abilities and the time they have to make our country a better place. The government is just scared that with no limits the government would decline into a dictatorship. If our government is as stable and firm as we say it is then there is no reason to put useless restrictions. There is a way to keep unworthy man out of office once
office. The whole country does not have to suffer because a couple congress man are scared and insecure of our government. Abolishing the presidential term limit will benefit us all in the near future by letting capable, hard working executives to rule for as along as our nation believes he s doing a good job.
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