ABSTRACT
The founders created the president as the representative of the entire people, the one who would lead, protect, and uphold the American vision of its nationhood. Removal of the temptation to be reelected would save the country from the whims of mere popular favor and, Andrew Jackson seemed to be saying, save presidents from their own ambitions. Prospects for passage in the House looked good until President Woodrow Wilson, who had won on the 1912 Democratic platform that called for the single six-year term, threw his weight against it to preserve his reelection options in 1916. The proposed amendment changes the length of terms of members of the House of Representatives from two years to four years, running concurrently with the term of the president. The founders created the president as the representative of the entire people, the one who would lead, protect, and uphold the American vision of its nationhood.
