Constitution
Amendment 22: Presidential Term Limits
Text from National Archives. Explanation last updated September 29, 2026. How we check this
Banaka study guide
In plain English
The Twenty-Second Amendment limits a person to being elected President no more than twice. It also says that a person who has held the office, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which someone else was elected may be elected only once.
It was passed by Congress on March 21, 1947 and ratified on February 27, 1951. In practice it means no one can serve more than about ten years.
The text
As printed by the source cited at the end of this page, with its original spelling, capitalization and punctuation.
Section 1
No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
Section 2
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.
Explained section by section
Two elections, with a limit on inherited time
Under the first clause a person cannot be elected President more than twice. The second clause covers Vice Presidents who take over: someone who served more than two years of a term to which another person was elected may be elected only once more.
Someone who served two years or less of another’s term could still be elected twice. That is why the maximum possible tenure is ten years.
The exemption for the sitting President
The section exempts whoever was President when Congress proposed the amendment, and anyone holding the office during the term in which it took effect, from its limits. In practice that meant Harry Truman was not barred from running again.
Ratification deadline
Section 2 says the article is inoperative unless it is ratified within seven years of its submission to the states. It was ratified in less than four.
Context and current status
George Washington set a two-term tradition when he declined a third term in 1796. Franklin D. Roosevelt broke it by winning four elections between 1932 and 1944, and Congress responded after World War II.
Current textual status: in force. The amendment applies to election to the office, not to service as Vice President.
Terms to know
- Term limit
- A legal cap on the number of terms a person may serve in an office.
- Acted as President
- Exercised the powers of the presidency, for example after the President’s death, without being elected to it.
Common misconceptions
“The Twenty-Second Amendment says a President may serve only two terms, full stop.”
It limits how many times a person may be elected and adds a special rule for successors. Its effect is at most about ten years in office.
How it connects
Links to related provisions and documents, with the reason each one matters here.
- Article IIArticle II of the United States ConstitutionArticle II, Section 1 sets a four-year term and did not itself limit the number of terms.
- Amendment 25Presidential Disability and SuccessionThe Twenty-Fifth Amendment governs succession and vacancies, the situations the Twenty-Second Amendment’s second clause addresses.
- Federalist No. 70The Executive DepartmentFederalist No. 70 defends an energetic single executive; Hamilton defended the President’s re-eligibility in the essays that follow, a feature the Twenty-Second Amendment later limited.
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Sources and corrections
- Text: National Archives. Checked against the source on September 29, 2026.National Archives transcription of the engrossed Constitution, with original spelling and capitalization. The signature block and the Convention's interlineation note are not reproduced.
- Amendments 11-27: A Transcription — National Archives
- The Interactive Constitution: Twenty-Second Amendment — National Constitution Center
Educational material, not legal advice. Spotted a mistake? Tell us; corrections change this page’s update date.