Franklin Daleno Roosevelt Four Term US President

Franklin D Roosevelt, Four-Term US President

The name Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) is perhaps one of the most famous US presidents for leading the country through the economic depression and winning World War II.

However, there is another record held by FDR, as Roosevelt is familiarly called, namely that he is the only US president to serve four terms.

As a result, FDR became the US president with the longest term from 1933 until his death in 1945. So how did FDR rule for up to four terms?

FDR was first sworn in as president of the United States on March 4, 1933, at a time when the United States economy was at its lowest point.

At that time, 13 million Americans were unemployed, agricultural prices had fallen by 60 percent, industrial production had fallen by half since 1929, 2 million people were homeless, and almost all banks were bankrupt.

In the first 100 days, FDR proposed various programs to restore the business and agricultural sectors, create jobs, and ensure that people did not lose their farmland or their homes.

This success in improving the economy saw Roosevelt re-elected for a second term in 1936 by a very convincing margin of votes.

In addition to fixing the economy, Roosevelt also developed a foreign policy called the "good neighbor" policy.

With this policy Roosevelt tried to make peace with all countries including the aggressor countries.

He also championed neutrality laws to keep the US away from war in Europe, but at the same time help the countries that were under attack.

When France fell and Britain was attacked by Germany in 1940, Roosevelt provided all sorts of assistance except the military.

However, this US neutrality ended after on December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. The day after Roosevelt declared war on Japan followed by a declaration of war from Germany.

By then, Roosevelt was already serving as US president for his third term. By the time the Allies had begun to control the war, in 1944 Roosevelt won his fourth term.

Back to the original question, why did Roosevelt rule the US for up to four terms?

The main reason is that during Roosevelt's tenure there was no written rule about limiting the term of office of a US president.

All presidents before Roosevelt served only two terms because they followed George Washington's precedent.

The first US president voluntarily refused to run for a third term in 1797.
At that time, two terms of office were only an unofficial rule, because there were no official documents governing the matter.

The new two-term rule emerged after the US constitution was amended for the 22nd time in 1951 in response to the fact that Roosevelt served four terms in what some saw as an attempt to preserve power.

In fact, FDR is not the only US president to try his luck for a third term in office.

His cousin Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) tried to run for a third term in 1912 but was defeated by Woodrow Wilson with 435 to 88 electoral votes.