If President Ford won in 1976, was he eligible for reelection in 1980?
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  If President Ford won in 1976, was he eligible for reelection in 1980?
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Author Topic: If President Ford won in 1976, was he eligible for reelection in 1980?  (Read 669 times)
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bronz4141
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« on: March 27, 2023, 02:55:50 PM »

He was elevated to President because President Nixon resigned in August 1974 and he had to fill the remainder of the 1973-77 term...had he won in 1976 to a full term (he would not be reelected, as he was not elected to president)

Would he be eligible for reelection in 1980 or would he be barred?
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TDAS04
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« Reply #1 on: March 27, 2023, 03:24:14 PM »

No, if you serve more than two years as President, you're only eligible to be elected for one more term.

That's why LBJ was eligible for reelection in 1968 (he had served under two years of Kennedy's term), while Truman would not have been in 1952 had the 22nd amendment applied to him.  (However, it didn't, so Truman was hypothetically eligible to seek two more terms, since the 22nd hadn't yet gone into effect.  Eisenhower, however, was ineligible for a third term.)
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Skill and Chance
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« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2023, 05:34:08 PM »
« Edited: March 31, 2023, 05:46:53 PM by Skill and Chance »

No, if you serve more than two years as President, you're only eligible to be elected for one more term.

That's why LBJ was eligible for reelection in 1968 (he had served under two years of Kennedy's term), while Truman would not have been in 1952 had the 22nd amendment applied to him.  (However, it didn't, so Truman was hypothetically eligible to seek two more terms, since the 22nd hadn't yet gone into effect.  Eisenhower, however, was ineligible for a third term.)

Does this also mean Herbert Hoover (who lived to 1964!) would have theoretically been able to serve 2 more terms if he had run in 1952 or later?  LOL at him getting elected again in the 50's though.

EDIT: No, it looks like the total exemption was written to cover only Truman, because he was president when Congress proposed the amendment.  Had it taken decades to ratify, it  looks like it would have also allowed a future president to finish a 3rd+ term in office if they were already elected to one, but not to run for a 3rd+ term after it took effect.
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President Johnson
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« Reply #3 on: April 01, 2023, 01:09:07 PM »

He wasn't eligible in 1980, as already said. In my view 1980 would have been a clean Democratic sweep in such a scenario anyway, with Republican fatigue after three terms and the late 1970s malaise at home and abroad.

Interesting though is that Ford could have served more than ten years as president under a not so unrealistic scenario: If Reagan indeed picked him for vice president in 1980 and if Reagan subsequently died in the assassination attempt. Ford would then have became the 41st president in March 1981, and after a very likely reelection leave office in 1989. So he would have been president from August 1974 to January 1977 and March 1981 to January 1989. Just a little over 10 years in total, or 3,749 days to be exact.
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