Suppose Herbert Hoover had run for President, and won, in 1952, after the passage of the 22nd Amendment. How would the amendment have applied to him? Was Truman the only exception to the amendment, or would they not have counted Hoover’s first term?
Herbert Hoover can be found here.
I wouldn’t have voted for Hoover, he sucks!
Hoover would have been entitled to run in 1952, despite the 22nd Amendment, for the very good reason that he only served one term. And at the time, he was the only living ex-President, so the 22nd excluded nobody from running until 1960, when Ike was prohibited.
It’s an irony that a constitutional amendment passed by Republicans to prevent the Democrats from putting in another FDR took until this year to have effect against a Democrat. The only two men it’s applied to have been Eisenhower and Reagan. It’s debatable whether Nixon could have run again in 1976 or 1980, given that he had been elected to two terms, even though he resigned before his second term was half over.
Nixon was barred by the specific language of the Amendment, which speaks of being elected twice. It doesn’t limit terms, per se.
Interesting, DS. So you could envision a scenario in which Joe Nobody, backed by Ed Famousandpopular, who also serves as his running mate, runs for President, is elected, resigns a few days into his term, and is succeeded by Ed Famousandpopular. Next election, Harry Whoozhee runs with Sam Resigner, and is duly elected. Sam, living up to his name, resigns, Ed is appointed VP, then Harry resings and Ed gets another term. And Ed could continue this, under the terms of the 22nd, as long as he had an adequate supply of electable sock puppets?
Could Gerald Ford run for and serve two full terms?
Intriguing…