| Show washington gLon Would nL take k it but bul he oppose the idea tom jefferson on oil the oilier hand wits was dead set against it old hickory y jackson a sill single le six year terin ilayev indorsed endorsed Indor sed it EDITORS rOl TORS NOTE this Is the sec rc onil ond in a i series saries of three articles trac me ing ing the lie develt development tens in american tri history of the f ird rd term isme iilo what ifft itulid JK washington rt ash knifton think about it jeffer ann jackson anil and others the fil article especially pertinent perthie nt ais 0 o present election your year is ell 1 I as al a sy strictly impartial rp re ti tic of tio the th third I 1 term subject taking tabing no staat for or against again it it ii AND VIEWS i OV OF THU THE presidents PRE IF IE YOU aro are opposed to the idea of any president socking seeking to have more than eight years in the white house the chances are arc that you will cite the case of george washington as your strongest argument the father ot of our country declined to run for a third term so why depart from the precedent which ho he established you will ask if however you believe that thero there is no real objection to having a chief executive serve more than two terms you will also turn to the arat president you will point out that washington retired alter after two terms not because he was opposed to a president serving moro than eight years but because he was worn out with the labors in the service of the th nation and looked forward to a peaceful old age at mount vernon differed with jefferson more than that you will quote this letter which washington wrote to lafayette on april 28 1788 though I 1 cannot have time or room to sum up the arguments in this letter there cannot in my judgment bo be the he least danger that tho the president will by any practicable intrigue ever bo be able to continue himself ono one moment in office much less perpetuate himself in it but in the last stage of corrupt morals and practical depravity and even then there hero Is as much danger that any species of domination would prevail though when a people have become incapable of governing themselves and fit for a master it Is of little consequence from what quarter he comes mes under any extended view of tills this part of the subject 1 I can see no propriety in pro eluding ourselves from the services of any man who in some great emergency shall bo be deemed universally most capable of serving the public the president who even moro more than washington established the no term tradition w was a s thomas jefferson writing to washington on an may 2 1788 in I 1 regard to the new constitution the sage of monti mantl cello expressed his dissatisfaction with the perpetual re rc euga ability of the president I 1 because thomas rn he feared that it would make nn an jeff erson office for life so soho he said he hoped that before there Is danger of this change taking place in the office of president the good sense and tree free spirit of our countrymen will make the change necessary to prevent it toward the close of his second term in domce when the legislatures of vermont new jersey and pennsylvania sent him resolutions ask ing him to be a candidate again jefferson Jeffer sion replied to all of them with a letter which contained this paragraph that I 1 should lay down my charge at a proper period la Is as much a duty as to have borne it faithfully if some sense termination to the services of the chief magistrate Magis frate be not fixed by the he constitution or supplied by practice his office nominally tour four years will in fact become for life and history shows how flow cas aas liy fly that degenerates into an inheritance believing that a representative government re at short periods of lection election e Is that which produces the greatest sum of happiness to mankind I 1 feel it a duty to io do no act which shall essentially impair that hat principle and I 1 should unwillingly be the per son on who disregarding the sound precedent set by an illustrious predecessor washington should furnish the farst example of pro elongation lon gation beyond the ilia second term of office 11 during old hickory jacksons first administration he sent a message to congress in 1829 1820 recommending that the electoral college be abolished that the president be elected by dir direct ct vote and that he be limited to a single term of either four our or six elx years five years later lie ho sent another message to congress which con tamed tills this all the ho reflection I 1 havis have enado upon tile subject increases my conviction that tile best interests of tile ho country will lie be promoted noted by tile tho adoption of plan which anvill secure in ill nil all contingencies that important right of sovereignty to the direct control of tile people could tills this ho be attained and tile bernis erina ot of those officers bo be limited to 1 n single period of elther cither four or sk six years I 1 think our liberties would bould possess tin nn additional safeguard jacksons recommendation of a single six year term for presidents was echoed 40 years later inter when ru ilu Ui erford B D dinyes tn in tits his inaugural address said in furtherance of the reform we seek and in other important respects a change of great importance I 1 recommend nn an amendment to tho the constitution prescribing a term of six years for the presidential office and forbidding a reelection re election 1 in 1001 indiscreet friends ot of president mckinley began talking about his becoming a candidate aga again thereupon cupon the president prom promptly PUY scotched scorched scot ched that talk by issuing a public statement in which ho he said 1 I regret that the suggestion tio n of a third term has been made I 1 doubt whether I 1 am called upon to give it notice but there are ww now questions of the gravest importance before the administration and the ho country and their just consideration should not bo be prejudiced in tile the public mind by even the suspicion of the thought of a third term in view of a long settled conviction I 1 will not bo be a candidate for a third term terin the candidacy of theodore roosevelt on the bull moose ticket in 1012 revived agitation over a third term one of tho the planks in the platform adopted by we uie democrats at balti more favored a single presidential term and urged tho the adoption of on an amendment to the constitution making tho the president ineligible for roe ro re e and pledging their candi date to this Ns principle A short time before the inauguration of woodrow wilson the senate passed a joint resolution proposing a constitution al amendment limiting tho the dent to a single sl alc year term while this resolution was pending in the house mr wilson wrote a letter to A mitchell Ml palmer a representative from pennsylvania as follows the question la Is simply this shall our presidents be tree free so far as the law is concerned to seek a second term of four our years or shall they be limited by constitutional amendment to a single term of four our years or to a single term extended to six years admitted ills quandary four years Is too long a term for or a president who is not the tru true e spokesman of the people who Is pj imposed upon and I 1 does not lead it I 1 Is too short for or a president who Is j doing or attempting a great work r of reform and I 1 who has not hot had 0 4 time to finish it to change the term to six years would be t to increase crease the 1 likelihood I 1 of its ita being woodrow allson too long without any assurance that it would in happy cases be long enough A fixed constitutional limitation to a single term of office Is highly arbitrary and unsatisfactory from every point of view favored two terms put the present customary limitation of two terms into tho the constitution it if you do not trust the people to 0 o take care of them selves but make it two terms not one because four years la Is often too long and give tho the Preil president dent a chance to win the full service by proving himself fit for it As things stand now tho the people might more likely be cheated than served by further limitations of the presidents eligibility ills fl power in their behalf would be immensely weakened no one will fear a president ident except those whom he bo can make fear the elections we singularly bellemur bel belle leour our own principles by seeking to determine by fixed constitutional provision what the people shall determine ine fortham for themselves and are perfectly competent to deter determine mlle for themselves we cast a doubt upon the whole theory of popular government ne released leased by western newspaper unini |
