113
votes
Accepted
Why is "president for life" in China such a big deal?
Putin is de facto leader for more than 3 mandates (not much big difference from "for life") and I do not remember to be illustrated so harshly
Consider revisiting your news sources somewhat. There ...
- 30.5k
106
votes
Accepted
Doesn't the 22nd amendment prevent Donald Trump from running for president again in 2024?
The bolded part doesn't apply to President Trump. Specifically, it includes the following:
of a term to which some other person was elected President
President Trump is only serving in the term to ...
JJJ♦
- 38.7k
101
votes
Accepted
Can an exiting US president curtail access to Air Force One from the new president?
Air Force One isn't an airplane, it's the callsign for whatever US Air Force airplane the President happens to be flying in. Currently, the airplane most often used as Air Force One is a VC-25A, and ...
- 4,875
73
votes
Is there a legal way for US presidents to extend their terms beyond two terms of four years?
The short answer is no. The longer answer is that this framing isn't particularly helpful.
There are a number of overlapping factors that prevent the president from legally suspending elections like ...
- 2,854
68
votes
Accepted
Can an impeached President run for a second term?
Answer: During an impeachment trial, the Senate can "disqualify" an officeholder from holding any public office again, but that is a separate vote from their "removal".
Article 1, Section 3, Clause 7 ...
- 6,422
53
votes
Accepted
Legally speaking in the United States, could a former two-term president be vice president?
The last sentence of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution states that
But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-...
- 594
50
votes
Accepted
In the US, can a former president run again?
Prior to the passage of the twenty-second amendment, Grover Cleveland served non-consecutive terms (and Franklin Delano Roosevelt served four terms). So clearly it was legal then.
The active ...
- 89.2k
48
votes
Why is "president for life" in China such a big deal?
There will be others wanting power in China. If the President has a 10 year maximum term then those others can hope to gain power keeping out of trouble, biding their time, building networks of ...
- 113k
48
votes
Accepted
Would a President get to fill a Supreme Court vacancy just after he lost an election in November/December?
A lame duck President could nominate someone to Supreme Court vacancy, but the Senate may or may not confirm.
This happened in 1800 when John Adams lost his re-election. Chief Justice Oliver Elsworth ...
44
votes
Is it possible to call an Early Election in the US?
If the president and vice president both want to replace themselves, they do not need the cooperation of Congress; they can just resign.
But there is no mechanism for calling elections to replace ...
- 17.3k
44
votes
Accepted
Can the current President of the United States block the transfer of their office to the next elected president?
Under section 1 of the 20th Amendment,
The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d ...
- 13.8k
32
votes
Doesn't the 22nd amendment prevent Donald Trump from running for president again in 2024?
The bolded section does not preclude somebody from serving two non-consecutive terms, it says that if somebody serves or acts as president for more than half of a term without being elected president (...
- 1,319
24
votes
Accepted
Three Term US Presidential Loophole
This is one of the cases that the framers of the 22nd Amendment to the US constitution (the law in question) had already considered:
... no person who has held the office of President, or acted as ...
- 21.1k
22
votes
Accepted
How could a lack of term limits lead to a "dictatorship?"
As an empirical fact, the very same person is much more likely to win an election if that person in an incumbent than if that person is not and there is an open race, or a candidate is challenging an ...
- 70.9k
21
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to call an Early Election in the US?
Short answer: No the constitution doesn't expect or allow for this.
But you ask for a hypothetical case in which (for some unspecified reason) Congress, the Vice President and the President wish to ...
- 113k
21
votes
Can an exiting US president curtail access to Air Force One from the new president?
Other answers covered the technicality around the call sign but regarding your point about the plane being a ”mobile command center of the head of the US armed forces” it's important to note that, ...
- 30.4k
20
votes
Why is "president for life" in China such a big deal?
Why "president for life" in China is such a big deal?
— Because the increasing shift towards a dictatorship state¹ may trigger a chain of uncontrolled events that, in turn, would undermine the ...
20
votes
Is there a legal way for US presidents to extend their terms beyond two terms of four years?
The Constitution sets a presidential term at 4 years, and the 22nd amendment pretty firmly sets a two-term maximum:
No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no ...
- 23.7k
19
votes
Doesn't the 22nd amendment prevent Donald Trump from running for president again in 2024?
This clause would be for a Vice President who becomes president. If Pence had become President for two years and a day because something happened to Trump, then Pence could only be elected once as ...
- 4,874
17
votes
Accepted
On what grounds can President Obama run for a third time?
The 22nd amendment is the only law preventing him from running for a third term.
In theory, they could amend the constitution to allow him to run for a third term. There are a couple problems ...
- 89.2k
16
votes
Has President Joe Biden made any public statements on wanting to run for a second term?
Has President Joe Biden made any public statements on wanting to run for a second term?
Yes, Joe Biden says he expects to run for reelection in 2024, March 25, 2021.
“My plan is to run for ...
- 32.7k
14
votes
Accepted
How many terms can a former vice-president president serve?
A vice president who assumes the office of president to finish out a term may serve a maximum of 10 years. If there are two years or less remaining in the term of the president who left office, the ...
- 827
13
votes
Is it possible to call an Early Election in the US?
According to Wikipedia, a very similar scenario as JamesK answer almost happened:
In his book The Shadow Presidents, which he published in 1979, Michael
Medved describes a situation that arose ...
- 231
13
votes
Would a President get to fill a Supreme Court vacancy just after he lost an election in November/December?
There are no rules or limitations about when, where or who a President can nominte to a Supreme Court vacancy other than that the acting President must make the nomination and the current Senate must ...
- 1,961
12
votes
Accepted
Is a Vice President term limited in the same way the President is?
The Vice-President is not term limited as Vice-president. The term limitation comes from the 22nd Amendment, which says nothing of the Vice-President. It reads, in whole:
AMENDMENT XXII
Section 1.
No ...
- 4,700
12
votes
Can the US president change TIME to avoid leaving the office?
No.
This is like asking if the President can change the meaning of the words in the constitution by redefining English.
The words "noon" "20" "day" and "January" have common meanings. Playing games ...
- 113k
12
votes
In the US, can a former president run again?
The US has a presidential term limit of two terms; it doesn't matter whether or not the terms are consecutive. If you've served two terms, you can never again be President; if you haven't served two ...
- 13.8k
11
votes
Is there a legal way for US presidents to extend their terms beyond two terms of four years?
Absolutely. There's a simple loophole in the 22nd amendment which allows this to occur:
No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice
And combined with the 25th ...
- 227
11
votes
Accepted
Does the US have 2 presidents until Jan 20?
The president-elect has no formal power or position in the government until he is inaugurated in January. However, the president-elect has influence. He can signal his plans and intentions, either ...
- 65.1k
10
votes
Why is "president for life" in China such a big deal?
Russia is a democracy (at least nominally). Vladimir Putin could lose a race for the presidency. Xi Jinping will not have to face this at more than the most nominal level. This is not to say that ...
- 89.2k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible