At least we can take heart that the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1951,
limits the President to two terms. As Bush himself says, after the Midterm Elections in 2006,
"I’m gonna be quacking like a duck." This means that because he’s term-limited he becomes
a "lame duck" for the last two years, with much less power—rather like a time-serving bureau
crat. The two-term limit used to be just a tradition started by George Washington. But FDR
violated it to be elected to FOUR terms, only to die at the beginning of the fourth. The fear
was that an unscrupulous Man On A White Horse could always declare that exceptional circum
stances justified the violation of the tradition, and he might fool or coerce the voters into
effectively electing him President-For-Life, like Saddam Hussein. Ironically, the impetus behind
the Amendment was a Republican Congress that wanted posthumous revenge on FDR! Still,
it’s a sensible prohibition that impartially yanks temptation beyond the reach of both good and
bad Presidents. We don’t want another King Georgie!
At least we can take heart that the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1951,
limits the President to two terms. As Bush himself says, after the Midterm Elections in 2006,
"I’m gonna be quacking like a duck." This means that because he’s term-limited he becomes
a "lame duck" for the last two years, with much less power—rather like a time-serving bureau
crat. The two-term limit used to be just a tradition started by George Washington. But FDR
violated it to be elected to FOUR terms, only to die at the beginning of the fourth. The fear
was that an unscrupulous Man On A White Horse could always declare that exceptional circum
stances justified the violation of the tradition, and he might fool or coerce the voters into
effectively electing him President-For-Life, like Saddam Hussein. Ironically, the impetus behind
the Amendment was a Republican Congress that wanted posthumous revenge on FDR! Still,
it’s a sensible prohibition that impartially yanks temptation beyond the reach of both good and
bad Presidents. We don’t want another King Georgie!