Trump not the first president to ponder a third term: A look at the leaders who weren’t ready to surrender power
There’s no comparison between George Washington and Donald Trump that comes out well for the current president.
Washington was a war hero, a general who led the tattered, hungry, battered American forces to victory in the Revolutionary War, defeating the greatest military power in the world.
Trump ducked military service, claiming he was suffering from bone spurs. He later said pursuing women in Manhattan and avoiding STDs was his own personal Vietnam.
Washington was nonpartisan. He is the only president who did not belong to a political party, and he warned against the rise of such organizations.
Trump, who was a Democrat and an independent before settling on the Republican Party, has been hyper-partisan during his political career. He disparages and insults Democrats and accuses them of all manner of crimes and
There are other sharp differences between them. George Washington was married just once and enjoyed a long, loving relationship with Martha.
Trump is on his third wife, and he has cheated on all of them.
Washington famously was unable to tell a lie. Trump is either indifferent to telling the truth or unable to tell the difference.
Washington was unopposed in his two elections. After guiding the United States to victory over England, he was the most admired man in the fledgling nation. He was elected by almost unanimous acclaim in 1788-89 and 1792.
Trump waged three bitter campaigns for the presidency, stunning the world by winning the Electoral College in 2016 to earn a first term despite losing the popular vote by nearly 3 million.
He was soundly drubbed in 2020 by former Vice President Joe Biden, who swept Trump out of office by a margin of more than 7 million votes and a solid win in the Electoral College.
Trump became the first president since Democrat Grover Cleveland to regain the White House in 2024, edging Vice President Kamala Harris by 1.5 percent of the popular vote. He has tried to claim a mandate based on a comfortable win in the Electoral College, 312-226.
Trump and his backers are once again raising the idea that he could be on the ballot in 2028, saying there are ways around the 22nd Amendment, which limits a president to two terms.
Once again, that’s the exact opposite of Washington, who rejected the idea of serving a third term. He had earlier turned down the offer to be called by various royal terms, insisting that president was sufficient in a democratic republic.
Trump, of course, would love to be labeled King Donald. Some of his most slavish supporters, including billionaire and real-life James Bond villain Elon Musk, have already used that term for him.
It seems incredibly unlikely that Trump will be allowed to seek a third term, but the last decade has taught us that there are no traditional guidelines for him. He can be convicted of 34 felonies, face other criminal and civil cases, brag about sexually abusing women and spew hatred and anger before adoring masses, and emerge largely unscathed.
None of that seems to matter to his ardent worshipers.
Presidents were not prohibited from serving three terms for most of our history. But Washington set an example that almost all followed.
There were some exceptions. Ulysses S. Grant served from 1869-77, and quietly pursued the Republican nomination in 1880. He led on the first ballot during the Republican National Convention, but fell short of the number of votes needed.
Finally, Rep. James Garfield of Ohio was nominated and went on to win the presidency. Garfield was assassinated during his first year in office, while Grant retired from public life.
He joined a Wall Street investment firm that failed, leaving him destitute. Grant was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1884, and turned to the pen to keep his family afloat. Grant wrote a series of magazine articles and then converted them into a book, “The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant.” It is considered the finest autobiography written by a president, although he wrote more about his service during the Civil War than he did about his presidency.
He completed the book as the cancer tore through his system. Grant used topical applications of cocaine to ease the pain in his throat as he completed the book, dying days after it was completed.
His friend Mark Twain helped market it, targeting Civil War veterans. It was a major bestseller, earning his widow, Julia Dent Grant, enough money to retire comfortably.
As far as Trump, whose name is on several books, it’s doubtful he has ever read one, much less written one.
One other president wanted a third term. Theodore “Don’t Call Me Teddy” Roosevelt took office in 1901 after the assassination of President William McKinley. TR — a nickname he approved of — was the opposite of Trump in many ways, even if both were native New Yorkers.
He was the youngest president ever, just 42 when he took office. John F. Kennedy, at 43, is the youngest person elected president. Trump, at 78, was the oldest person elected president. If he serves this entire term, will pass Biden, who left the White House at 82, as the oldest man to hold the office.
Roosevelt was a war hero, an author and an outdoorsman. He also was a liberal who campaigned against big business and the destruction it can cause. He was a champion of the environment and an admirer of men like Gifford Pinchot and John Muir.
TR served almost all of McKinley’s second term, and was elected in his own right in 1904. He was just 50 in 1908 and widely popular; a third term was his for the asking.
But he stepped aside, and helped his friend William Howard Taft win the GOP nomination and the presidency. Roosevelt went in search of adventure and big game.
By 1912, he was deeply dissatisfied with Taft’s connections with the wealthy and powerful, and decided to seek a third term. While he was the popular choice of most Republicans, Taft and party bosses denied him the nomination.
Roosevelt was outraged by the machinations used to cheat him out of the Republican nod, so he formed a third party, the Progressive Party, nicknamed “The Bull Moose Party” after his self-described vigor, and entered the race.
While Roosevelt and Taft shared more than 50 percent of the vote, with TR getting many more Electoral College votes, Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson was the beneficiary, claiming the White House with just 41.8 percent of the vote.
South Dakota and California refused to accept Taft and placed Roosevelt’s name on the ballot as the Republican candidate. Since our state does not allow write-in votes, Taft did not receive a single vote in South Dakota in 1912. Roosevelt, a former Dakota Territory resident, carried the state.
He finished a solid second nationally. It was the last time a Democrat or Republican was not first or second on the ballot.
Roosevelt was considering another run for the White House in 1920, but his body, worn down from years of rugged living and illness, would not hold up. He died in his sleep in 1919, just 60 years old.
While Theodore Roosevelt sought a third term, his cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt actually claimed one, followed by winning a fourth term.
FDR (seen above in a public domain photo posted on wikimedia commons) was elected in 1932 to lead America out of the Great Depression, and to inspire and bolster a country that was downcast and doubting its own future. He worked to lift the country’s economy and spirits, and found he loved being president.
With the storm clouds of World War II gathering, Roosevelt decided to seek a third term. It was a controversial choice, but voters ignored the experts and historians and returned FDR to office.
In 1944, despite a serious decline in his health, he chose to run again. Roosevelt was elected in a close race with former prosecutor and New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey.
He vowed to guide the nation to victory in WWII, but FDR’s body, worn down from more than two decades battling polio and the stresses of a dozen years in office, failed. He died in April, less than three months after taking the oath of office for a fourth time. FDR was just 63.
Republicans had been unable to defeat FDR when he was alive, but they struck a blow against him two years after he died. They controlled Congress and passed the 22nd Amendment, limiting a president to two terms.
Since then, no one has challenged it. Dwight Eisenhower was old and in declining health when he finished his second term in 1961. Ronald Reagan was in his 70s — which was considered elderly in the 1980s — and he supported his vice president, George H.W. Bush in the 1988 election.
Kennedy was assassinated, Lyndon Johnson, who served slightly more than five years, was rejected by the Democrats when he sought another term in 1968, and Richard Nixon, ravaged by self-inflicted wounds, resigned in his second term. Both Jimmy Carter and Bush the First were defeated when they ran for a second term.
Bill Clinton, who had been impeached and assailed for his role in a sex scandal, back when that was a bad thing, did not consider challenging the Constitution in 2000. Neither did George W. Bush, who was widely unpopular when his second term ended in 2009.
Barack Obama was just 55 when his eight years in office ended, and he could have had a legitimate chance at winning again. But he scoffed when asked if he ever considered it.
Joe Biden wasn’t even able to run for a second term, being forced to surrender the Democratic nomination. His long political career ended on Jan. 20.
Trump, however, is enjoying the drama around speculation that he could somehow overturn the law and run again. He must have gotten used to that with the many escapes he has managed when it seemed he was out of legal options.
Will he run in 2028? The answer is almost certainly no. The Constitution forbids it, and voters might be weary of him and his outrageous behavior by then. He also will be 82, and age might spell an end to his career.
If the two-term limit is dropped, Clinton, W. and Obama are eligible again. Obama would be just 67 in 2028, so maybe he would be ready for another go at it. Don’t expect that to happen, but it is interesting to consider.
Washington left office with the admiration of his country and respect of the men he served with. He helped form the presidency and did so without creating a monarchy or a cult of personality.
That’s what America needs and wants, now more than ever.
Fourth-generation South Dakotan Tom Lawrence has written for several newspapers and websites in South Dakota and other states for four decades. He has contributed to The New York Times, NPR, The London Telegraph, The Daily Beast and other media outlets. Do not republish without permission.
