February 27: The 22nd Amendment
In 1951, the 22nd Amendment set term limits on the presidency: “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 President more than once.” Prior to the ratification of the 22nd Amendment, Franklin Roosevelt, the 32nd President, had been elected to four terms. This made him the first person to exceed the two-term precedent that President George Washington set by announcing his retirement in 1796. The people chose to solidify this principle with the 22nd Amendment, ensuring that nobody else would break from Washington’s example.