Isabella Carter
During a town hall event hosted by MSNBC in 2019, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) claimed that Republicans amended the US Constitution to prevent President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) from being re-elected. She stated, They had to amend the Constitution of the United States to make sure Roosevelt did not get re-elected, referring to the 22nd Amendment, which limits presidents to two terms. However, FDR died in 1945, two years before the amendment was passed in 1947. While some critics pointed out the inaccuracy of her statement, others defended AOC, arguing that the amendment was inspired by Roosevelt's extended tenure and that legislative discussions began before his death.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of the statement | 29 March 2019 |
| Speaker | Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez |
| Event | Town hall meeting hosted by MSNBC |
| Topic | Republicans amending the Constitution to kick FDR out of office |
| FDR's death | 1945 |
| 22nd Amendment | Passed in 1947 |
| FDR's re-election | 1944 |
| Amendment ratification | 1951 |
| Number of FDR's re-elections | 3 |
| Years of FDR's re-elections | 1936, 1940, 1944 |
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What You'll Learn
Ocasio-Cortez's claim
During a town hall event hosted by MSNBC in March 2019, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed that Republicans amended the US Constitution to prevent President Franklin Delano Roosevelt from being re-elected. She said:
> They had to amend the Constitution of the United States to make sure Roosevelt did not get re-elected.
Ocasio-Cortez was referring to the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution, which passed in 1947, two years after Roosevelt's death in 1945. The amendment states:
> No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.
The 22nd Amendment was a reaction to Roosevelt's tenure as president, and his Republican opponent in the 1944 election, Thomas Dewey, embraced such an amendment. However, the amendment was not introduced until after Roosevelt's death, and therefore did not affect his ability to be re-elected.
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FDR's re-election
During a town hall event hosted by MSNBC in 2019, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) made a statement regarding the re-election of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR). She asserted that Republicans amended the Constitution to prevent FDR from being re-elected, stating, "They had to amend the Constitution of the United States to make sure Roosevelt did not get re-elected."
AOC's statement refers to the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution, which limits the President to two terms in office. The amendment was passed by a Republican-controlled Congress in March 1947 and ratified by the states in February 1951. However, FDR died in 1945, two years before the amendment was passed and six years before its ratification.
While AOC's statement is factually inaccurate regarding the timing of FDR's death and the amendment's passage, it is important to understand the context and intentions behind her statement. She was highlighting the unprecedented nature of FDR's tenure and the impact of his policies. FDR served as President for an extraordinary four terms, winning re-election in 1936, 1940, and 1944. His repeated re-elections and the implementation of his policy agenda sparked discussions and concerns about presidential term limits.
The idea of limiting the President's term was not a new concept. Even before FDR's unprecedented fourth term, there were calls for term limits. In 1940, FDR's Republican opponent, Wendell Willkie, advocated for an eight-year limit on the presidency during his campaign. Additionally, some states had already passed resolutions calling for presidential term limits before the 1940 election. However, it was FDR's extended time in office that became a catalyst for more serious discussions and efforts to introduce term limits.
FDR's Republican opponent in the 1944 election, Thomas Dewey, embraced the idea of a two-term limit during his campaign. He argued that four terms or sixteen years in office posed a dangerous threat to freedom. This sentiment was shared by others, and the original architects of the 22nd Amendment were indeed inspired by Roosevelt's extended tenure in the White House. While the amendment was not introduced until after FDR's death, the discussions and efforts to limit presidential terms were already underway during his presidency.
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The 22nd Amendment
While the 22nd Amendment addresses term limits for the presidency, there are questions about its interaction with the 12th Amendment, which states that "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States." This has led to ambiguity about whether a two-term president could still be elected as vice president and then potentially assume the presidency.
Some have argued that the original intent of the 12th Amendment was to establish qualifications for service, such as age, residence, and citizenship, while the 22nd Amendment focuses on qualifications for election. This interpretation suggests that a former two-term president could still be eligible to serve as vice president and potentially assume the presidency through succession.
In 2019, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) made a statement during a town hall event, claiming that Republicans amended the Constitution to prevent Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) from being re-elected. However, this statement was deemed factually inaccurate by sources such as Fox News and Snopes, as FDR had passed away two years before the 22nd Amendment was passed and six years before its ratification. While Ocasio-Cortez's statement may have been historically inaccurate, it highlighted the impact of FDR's consecutive terms on the push for term limits.
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FDR's death
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) died in April 1945, serving four terms as president. He was first elected in 1932, and subsequently re-elected in 1936, 1940, and 1944.
The 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution, which limits the president to two terms in office, was passed in 1947, two years after FDR's death. The amendment states: "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once".
The amendment was passed by a Republican-controlled Congress. While FDR was in office, Republicans had campaigned for term limits, adopting the slogan "no crown for Franklin". In 1944, FDR's Republican opponent, Thomas Dewey, embraced a two-term limit during his election campaign.
The 22nd Amendment was a reaction to Roosevelt's tenure as president, but it did not prevent his re-election to a fourth term.
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Republicans' response
Republicans have been quick to criticize Ocasio-Cortez's comments, with some news outlets and political opponents claiming that she is "failing basic history". They emphasize the fact that FDR died in 1945, while the 22nd Amendment, which limits presidents to two terms, was passed in 1947 and ratified in 1951, two and six years after his death, respectively. This timeline contradicts Ocasio-Cortez's statement that the Constitution was amended to prevent FDR's reelection.
Some Republicans, like Sean Hannity, have characterized Ocasio-Cortez's remarks as "bizarre" and used them to deflect attention from her policy proposals, such as the Green New Deal. They have also questioned her understanding of history and suggested that she is making false claims to support her political agenda.
However, some commentators have offered a more nuanced interpretation of Ocasio-Cortez's statement. They argue that while the amendment was not passed until after FDR's death, the plan for term limits was initiated during his presidency. FDR's repeated reelections and the sustained implementation of his policies were catalysts for Republican efforts to introduce term limits. This interpretation aligns with Ocasio-Cortez's later tweet of a Newsweek article that presented the "full story" behind her remarks.
Additionally, it is worth noting that FDR's Republican opponent in the 1944 election, Thomas Dewey, supported a two-term limit for presidents. In a speech on October 31, 1943, Dewey stated that "four terms or sixteen years is the most dangerous threat to our freedom ever proposed." This suggests that there was indeed a desire among Republicans to prevent FDR-like presidencies from occurring again.
Overall, while Republicans have criticized Ocasio-Cortez's statement as a misrepresentation of historical facts, others have acknowledged the broader context and intent behind her remarks, highlighting the complex dynamics surrounding FDR's tenure and its influence on the eventual adoption of term limits for US presidents.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes. During a town hall event hosted by MSNBC, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., asserted that Republicans in Congress amended the Constitution to kick President Franklin Delano Roosevelt out of office.
AOC was referring to the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution, which passed in 1947 and states that "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice."
No. FDR died in 1945, two years before the amendment was passed and six years before it was ratified by the requisite number of states. The amendment did not prevent FDR from being re-elected for a third and fourth term.
AOC did not directly respond to the criticism but tweeted a defense of her claim, citing an article from Newsweek. The National Constitution Center also supported AOC, explaining that talk about a presidential term-limits amendment started in 1944 when FDR's monopoly on the White House was seen as a threat to democracy.
