A Two Term Limit?

Yesterday, as I watched the Inauguration of Barack Obama into his second term as President, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy. This shouldn’t seem too weird to anyone, considering we at #INN have helped share and expose two major political scandals, countless lies, and glaring infringements on the Bill of Rights and civil liberties by the current administration. But if these facts were the cause of my uneasiness then every morning I roll out of bed I should be feeling this way, and I don’t. No, there is something about a President’s second term that fills me with fear.

When the Constitution was written nothing about term limits was included. President Washington, believing that no one man should have too much power, graciously chose not to seek a third Presidential term, setting a precedent followed respectfully by most Presidents and the American people until FDR was elected to four terms. After that, Congress passed the 22^nd Amendment and the states later ratified it, stating that no President could serve more than two terms. With all of Congress’ good intentions, they may have actually eliminated a major political check and balance…

Setting a two term limit for Presidents means that if a President is elected for a second term then they have free reign to do whatever they want. Since they don’t have to fear re-election, and the possibility of impeachment over policy is nearly none, a President in their second term can do essentially whatever they would like, to some extent. The American government was set up the way that it was because the Founding Fathers did not trust any man with a lot of power, and neither should we. By setting a two term limit, and electing a President to a second term, any president, Republican or Democrat, we are giving them that power that we should be fearing.

Am I suggesting we abolish term limits? Of course not. Eight years is far too much time for someone to be in control of a country as it is. We should think how George Washington thought, that no man should have unfair power or be guided by concealed ambition. We must guard our political power, and constantly be weary of those who seek it.

We as the American people should take charge and refuse to elect Presidents to a second term, even if we love their policies. This way, we would keep them constantly accountable and worried about re-election. Rather than changing the law, let’s start a trend. This will help keep Presidents from becoming tyrants and dictators; enacting drastic changes they know may be unpopular and agenda-driven. It will also help us avoid scandals and terrible decisions like those made by past Presidents in their second terms.

Working backwards, we see in George W. Bush’s second term and last six months in office he passed a 700 billion dollar stimulus that added to our debt, did very little to fix the economy, and made his Republican base abandon him. When you are not accountable to those who put you in office, you are not truly following democracy.

In Bill Clinton’s second term, we had the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and the bombing of Baghdad to distract from impeachment proceedings that resulted in many civilian and innocent injuries and deaths. Ronald Reagan’s second term brought the Iran Contra affair. Richard Nixon’s second term saw his resignation after the Watergate scandal.

Lyndon B. Johnson saw most of the Vietnam War in his second term, including sending the first combat groups into action. Johnson, however was constitutionally allowed to seek a third term at the time, since he served less than 24 months of JFK’s Presidential term.

Unfortunately, I struggle to bring myself to trust our current President with a second term in office. However, I don’t trust any President with a second term. No man should have that kind of power. And if we don’t think a President should serve for as many terms as he wants, and become something of a king, and we don’t want to give them nearly unlimited power with a second term and term limits, then we as Americans must hold them to just one term a piece. Let’s put the power back in our hands, not theirs.