WHAT IF a POTUS was allowed a third term

Found this else where - (probably more "just for fun")

How would history in America have changed if we allowed 3 Presidential terms instead of 2?


answered by Timothy Turner, former High School Teacher at DigiPen Institute of Technology (2013)

I largely agree with the other answers, but let's play with this:

1. Republicans limit presidential terms after FDR to 3 terms instead of 2, as actually happened.
2. Truman runs against Eisenhower in 1952. Eisenhower wins as a popular war hero. No change to history.
3. Eisenhower reluctantly runs for a 3rd term in 1960 against young war hero JFK. Eisenhower wins. History has changed.
4. The United States successfully invades Cuba near the Escambre Mountains, avoiding the Bay of Pigs. With no Communist Cuban government, there is no Cuban Missile Crisis. Eisenhower shifts US policy to create an anti-communist North American Treaty Organization in addition to NATO and SEATO.
5. Lee Harvey Oswald shoots President Eisenhower from the 6th floor of the Gettysburg shoe warehouse in 1963. The nation mourns.
6. Vice President Richard Nixon assumes the presidency taking a hard anti-Communist line. He focuses on alliance-building instead of a Space Program for a non-existent Missile Gap.
7. In 1964, the US government chalks up an incident in the Gulf of Tonkin to inadequate training. The United States remains in an advisory role in Vietnam.
8. In 1964 Richard Nixon is re-elected to a second term promising “Strength through Peace". Barry Goldwater is Vice President.
9. Vietnam falls to Communism in 1966. Nixon goes to China in 1967, it is hailed as a great diplomatic failure.
10. Richard Nixon is elected to a 3rd term in 1968. The government passes the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Civil Rights act in March 1969. It is considered the crowning achievement of Nixon's career.
11. In November, 1969 Americans stop Thanksgiving dinner to watch on live TV as Pavel Checkov becomes the first man on the Moon “We come spreading knowledge for the peace-loving peoples of the world".
12. The 1972 election sees South Dakota Governor George McGovern run against Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew. Democrat McGovern wins when a break-in at the Watergate Hotel leads investigators to uncover Agnew's dark history of bribery and tax fraud. Agnew is soon forgotten.
13. President McGovern focuses on food security and poverty in the US and throughout the Americas. His skillfull handling of Communist revolutions in Central America, combined with his foreign aid programs and the history of the “Cuban Restoration" combined with America's moral standing from never participating militarily in Vietnam convinces Soviet agents to abandon operations in the Americas.
14. In 1975, Americans land a man on the Moon. President McGovern gives a speech which is derisively called the “little guys finish last" speach.
15. In 1976, President George McGovern defeats California Governor Ronald Reagan. Georgia's governor Jimmy Carter is appointed Vice President.
16. In 1979, the Iranian Revolution holds American diplomats hostage in the US Embassy. President McGovern orders an American strike “Operation Eagle's Claw" which successfully rescues some of the hostages. McGovern's poll numbers soar.
17. In 1980, McGovern defeats Ronald Reagan again for a 3rd term. McGovern turns to building up Africa, focusing on economic investment, food security, and an African Treaty Organization.
18. In 1981, a crazed lunatic attempts to shoot President McGovern at a speaking engagement at the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. McGovern's polls rise astronomically.
19. In 1984, Vice President Jimmy Carter runs against Senator Anne Armstrong, winning on his outstanding foreign policy credentials, economic vitality, and the overall American sense of well-being.
20. In 1988, the space shuttle Challenger explodes revealing systemic problems in a poorly run catch-up space program. On top of a struggling economy, it's a foregone conclusion that he loses that year's election.
21. The 1988 presidential election goes to Senator Anne Armstrong running on strong minority credentials as the first female president and from Nixon's Civil Rights Act. George H. W. Bush is appointed Vice President.
22. In 1990 there is no Gulf War.
23. Increasing American focus is placed on the need to compete with the Soviet Union in Space. President Armstrong doubles-down on President McGovern’s Great Africa foreign policy.
24. President Armstrong is re-elected in 1992, running against Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton.
25. 1994, the Yugoslavian Crisis escalates between Soviet Premier Gorbachev and the United States as an arms buildup and threats of nuclear war race through Europe. A crisis is averted. She gives the “Come to Peace" speech - “If you truly desire peace, come to this city, come to this table, Mr. Gorbachev tear down these missiles.”
26. In 1995, the Soviet Union collapses under the increasing American “Domino Effect" in South America and Africa. The Yugoslavian Crisis is said to have pushed them to the breaking point.
27. President Armstrong also wins re-election in 1996 as the Berlin Wall is torn down.
28. In 2000, Vice President George H.W. Bush declines to run citing health and age he addresses the public “Read my lips: no new terms". Secretary of State John McCain runs, defeating Governor Walter Mondale.
29. In the wake of the Soviet collapse, there's a general era of hope and goodwill, with nothing major to mark or mar the McCain presidency. No one plots attacks on America's World Trade Center. McCain wins re-election in 2004.
30. In 2008, McCain runs with rising young Republican star Barack Obama as Vice President running against Walter Mondale again. A major recession hits in 2008, causing the administration to struggle. McCain and Obama roll out a Great America plan in homage to McGovern's Great Africa plan to stimulate the economy with improved healthcare security.
31. McCain wins re-election in 2012, in a close election against Democrat Mitt Romney.
32. In 2016, Democrat Mitt Romney runs in against Republican Vice President Barack Obama, citing the dangers of one-party rule and the dangers of Mexican immigration. Nobody cares much about the immigration issue because McGovern's aid programs have greatly improved the economies of American nations and there really is no major border crisis. The two parties are so similar and on such friendly terms, nobody is much concerned about one-party control.
33. President Obama extends the Great America Healthcare plan. His administration is known for assisting former Soviet states to integrate into the Treaty Organization system and his reconciliatory approach to China. He pushes for a European Union, but with the collapse of the Soviet Union, many European nations see little need, combined with a growing resentment for the US involvement in the Yugoslavian Missile Crisis of 1994 which pushed Europe to the brink of nuclear war.
34. 2017 President Obama normalizes relations with China inspiring the phrases “Only Obama could go to China".
35. 2018 The presidential election is heating up with President Obama on a platform of Civil Rights, and International Reconciliation and a scattering of unlikely challengers. Americans trust their government and are largely appreciated abroad, except in Western Europe where many are fearful that America and the Treaty Organizations are a little unhinged and a bit of a loose cannon. (A major European movement is forming “Get us out of NATO"). American political parties are much closer politically and their dialogue is cordial. Americans routinely vote for presidents by character rather than by party.

Summary:

This was a bit of an experiment. I agree that in reality, there probably would have been fewer changes. I did a bit of late-night crash research and some intentional twisting of events so don’t blame me for breaking history. If I could change anything, I'd balance out the parties more, but I think I've ended up with a party that really combines most of the best of the two and… well… a party that is good but not quite as good.

 

Election - definitely not

Terms - 25 years would be good
and if someone resigned or died
there term would not "filled out"

rather the "replacement" would begin a new 25 year term

 

Every POTUS has drastically aged during his term (s)