FDR WINS FOURTH TERM
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On November 7, 1944, Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the first POTUS to be elected to four terms. In 1940, FDR had been elected to a third term and served as commander=in-chief for most of the Second World War.
FDR defeated Republican challenger Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York by an electoral vote of 432 to 99. Dewey was the first presidential candidate born in the 20th century and the Election of 1944 would be the last time the Democrats would win every state in the "solid south."*
FDR was the beneficiary of the founding fathers' decision not to restrict the length of service of the chief executive officer of the nation. President George Washington, however, set the precedent of serving no more than two terms.
On February 27, 1951, the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified limiting the office of the Presidency to two terms. Senator John F. Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) voted for the amendment and even as president said "I think two terms are enough."
*The Solid South was the unified support of the Democratic Party by southern states following the Civil War. The end of the SS as a political entity came with the support of civil rights by the Kennedy=Johnson administrations & the return of white southerners to the Republican Party.
*The Solid South was the unified support of the Democratic Party by southern states following the Civil War. The end of the SS as a political entity came with the support of civil rights by the Kennedy=Johnson administrations & the return of white southerners to the Republican Party.
SOURCE
"Election of 1944: Four Terms for FDR", United States History, www.u-s-history.com/
