Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution
The amendment prohibits any individual who has been elected president twice from being elected again. Under the amendment, an individual who fills an unexpired presidential term lasting greater than two years is also prohibited from winning election as president more than once. Scholars debate whether the amendment prohibits affected individuals from succeeding to the presidency under any circumstances or whether it only applies to presidential elections.
Presidency of Harry S. Truman
The 1946 mid-term election left Republicans in control of Congress for the first time since the early 1930s. Truman initially hoped to work Republican leaders in Congress, focusing on the passage of housing programs and other potential areas of common ground. Truman and the 80th Congress were able to agree on a balanced budget, albeit one that spent less on defense and some other programs that Truman favored. Congress also assented to the creation of the Hoover Commission, which proposed a series of reorganizations to the executive branch. However, the 80th Congress proved strongly resistant to Truman's policies. One of its first major acts was to approve what would become the Twenty-second Amendment, which created presidential term limits. The amendment was designed by Republican leaders as an implicit rebuke to Franklin Roosevelt, the only president who had ever served more than two terms. The Twenty-second Amendment was ratified by the requisite 36 states on February 27, 1951. A major area of contention was Truman's attempts to use price and wage controls to restrain inflation. Congress also passed bills designed to cut taxes, weaken the Interstate Commerce Commission, reduce the number of employees covered by Social Security, and amend the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (also known as the Wagner Act); all of these bills, except for the revisions to the Wagner Act, were vetoed by Truman in 1947. Upon returning to session in 1948, Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1948, another major tax cut; Truman again vetoed the bill, but this time his veto was overridden by Congress.