I Don’t Think So

While reading the news yesterday I came across this article from the BBC:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx20lwedn23o

It is about whether or not President Trump can be president for a third term. I thought, “No you can’t!” but then read the article to see what it had to say.

Apparently, President Trump has been making comments about wanting to be president for a third term (or more) since becoming the President this time around. That doesn’t really surprise me. He is all about being in power, and therefore being President gives him that place of power that many people long for. He is very similar to Putin in that way. When Putin was elected to be the leader of Russia there were also term limits in place, but Putin has found interesting ways of getting around them he was elected. Now, Putin is basically a dictator. Of course, he signed a law limiting him to only 2 more terms, but that doesn’t mean things won’t change before those terms are up, as has happened in the past. President Trump has very similar personality traits to Putin and so wanting something similar is not out of character for him.

But can it happen? The answer is realistically, NO.

The 22nd amendment in the Constitution prevents anyone from serving more than 2 terms (or 6+ years if one takes over from a previous president mid-term). Therefore, without changing the constitution it can’t happen. But could that happen? NO. It takes way too much political clout to get an amendment added to the Constitution. President Trump doesn’t have that kind of backing.

I don’t get why anyone would want anyone to serve more than 2 terms. I mean, we have a nation that has done pretty well overall with the 2 term limit. It wasn’t even a law until 1951. All the presidents prior basically followed George Washington’s stance that two was enough, and to allow others to run the government. Except for Roosevelt, who server just over 3 terms, after passing away shortly into his fourth, but there were special circumstances there. Also, some literature seems to say that there were a lot of people that were a bit annoyed that Roosevelt stayed in office that long.

I want to see change occur in the political arena. It is good to have new blood there. Of course, that required Americans to vote in new blood, which we don’t see to be doing recently. I think that it is important to vote in people that want to see the country be a better nation, and will work with the people to become a better nation. This is what Jesus did when training His disciples. He wanted the world to be a better place. He wanted people to look after each other and help each other and to reach out to those that were different than each other. I like those ideals, and I think that a President that felt similarly would be a good President. Some of you might feel that mixing church and politics isn’t right, and I get that. I have written about that before as well. I don’t want my President to be preaching the requirement of the Gospel. What I am saying is that I would like a Presidents that acts in a way similar to Jesus.

Sorry for the aside there. Someone wanting to serve for more than 2 terms as President sounds to me like someone that has power issues. Someone that needs the attention placed on themselves. The same can be said for other people in government. I think that limits for senators and congresspeople would be a good thing as well at both the state and federal level. I am not sure how that will ever change, but by putting limits on terms you get a sense of urgency to make a difference. I think that is one reason having limits on a President is good, especially for those that seek attention. They know they will only have so much time to make a name for themselves. The same could then be said for the other areas of government. Yes, you need time to learn the system, so maybe you have longer term limits at the state level, and then they get shorter as you move up higher in the government system. At that early stage, you can learn the ropes, hone one’s skills, and then be able to make a focused impact when you reach higher levels.

I don’t know. What I do know, is that I am thankful that Presidents, whether I like them or not, can’t be in office for more than 2 terms.

Interesting note for those that don’t read the BBC article and don’t know the Constitutional amendments by heart – I learned that the 12th amendment states that “no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of president shall be eligible to that of vice-president of the United States”. So, you can’t become VP or President through an odd loophole that way. I thought that was interesting.