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FEDERAL TERM LIMITS The Twenty-Second Amendment To The United States Constitution says that no person can be elected President Of The United States more than twice. Term limits are a particularly important issue in the United States . President George Washington originally started the tradition of informal Presidential term limits by refusing to run for a third term. The short-lived Confederate States Of America adopted a six-year term for their President and Vice-President, and barred the President from seeking re-election. This innovation was endorsed by many American politicians after the war, most notably by Rutherford B. Hayes in his inaugural address. Though Hayes' proposal did not come to fruition, the government of Mexico adopted the Confederate term and limit in its 1917 Revolutionary Constitution . Franklin Roosevelt was the first and only American President to successfully break Washington's tradition, and he died in office while serving his fourth term. Congressional term limits were featured prominently in the Republican Party 's Contract With America in the 1994 Election campaign, and may well have contributed to the Republican Revolution , as the Republicans wrested control of the House Of Representatives from the Democratic Party for the first time since the 1952 Elections . The Republican leadership brought to the floor of the House a Constitutional Amendment that would limit House members to six two-year terms and members of the Senate to two six-year terms. However, this amendment did not gain the approval of U.S. Term Limits , the largest private organization pushing for Congressional term limits. (U.S. Term Limits wanted House members to be limited to ''three'' two-year terms.) With the Republicans holding 230 seats in the House, the amendment ''did'' receive a simple majority in the House. However, a two-thirds majority (290 votes) is required to pass a constitutional amendment, and thus the bill failed. The concept subsequently lost momentum by the mid 1990s. In May 1995, the '', that states cannot impose term limits upon their Federal Representatives or Senators . Currently, term limits at the federal level are restricted to the executive branch and some agencies. The U.S. Congress , however, remains without electoral limits. STATE TERM LIMITS Term limits for state governors or others within the state Executive Branch and other high constitutional offices have existed since the beginning of the United States . One of the first such limits of its kind, the Delaware Constitution Of 1776 , limited the Governor to a single three-year term; currently, the governor of Delaware can serve two 4-year terms. As of present, there are 36 states have adopted term limits of various types for their governors. One variation allowed a governor to be re-elected, but only to non-consecutive terms. (To circumvent this provision, George Wallace , the Governor of Alabama , announced in 1966 that voters should elect his wife, Lurleen Wallace , their next governor. It was clear during the campaign that Mrs. Wallace would only be a Titular governor, and thus she was elected the first female governor of Alabama.) Beginning in the 1990s , term limit laws were imposed on twenty State Legislatures through either successful referendums, legislative acts or State Constitutional changes. Since 1997 , however, six state legislatures have either overturned their own limits or State Supreme Courts have ruled such limits unconstitutional. In 2002 the Idaho Legislature became the first legislature of its kind to repeal its own term limits, enacted by a public vote in 1994 , ostensibly because it applied to local officials along with the legislature. State legislatures with term limits The following 15 legislatures have term limits:
Overturned state legislative term limits The following six legislatures have had their term limits nullified:
MUNICIPAL TERM LIMITS In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , the mayor cannot be elected 3 consecutive times, but there is no limit on how long any individual can serve as mayor. Frank Rizzo was elected mayor there in 1971 and 1975 , then tried and failed to get the 3-consecutive ban overturned. Therefore, he could not run for that office in 1979 . REFERENCES SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS |
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