Who can run for president (non American just curious)

[FigmentSpark]

Not asking for political answers, I just want to know what the constitution/law allows. I'm not an American, so I don't know the finer details of how the system works.

Can a former president, like Obama or Bush run for the office of president again? They've both done their 2 consecutive terms, but Trump has been in the office since then. Could either, constitutionally run again or are they done for life?

What about a Jimmy Carter? Not like he would, but what I mean is a situation where someone was president for one term and not a second. Could he run for another term, even though someone else has been president in between?

I know there are the whole logistics about likelihood of being given the nomination and getting backers, and even that a former president may have to answer for their time in office as they campaign. My question is simply whether it is allowed legally.

Thanks.

 

[hopemax]

This is the text of the 22nd Amendment which limits the term of the US President

Section 1. 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. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

So, no Presidents Obama, Clinton and Bush could not run for a 3rd term under any circumstance. President Carter only served 1 term, so he could theoretically run again. But it doesn't have anything to do with having Presidents in between the terms.

Basically, you can be elected twice. Except in the rare circumstance where the elected President is unable to complete his term and the replacement serves more than 2 years of that term. So if a President dies in office, early in the term, and the VP is elevated, then the former-VP can only be elected directly once.

 

[NYCgrrl]

From the Constitution, the original governing document for the United States

https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleii
Amendment to the Constitution that relate to the President

https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/amendment-22

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Not asking for political answers, I just want to know what the constitution/law allows. I'm not an American, so I don't know the finer details of how the system works.

Can a former president, like Obama or Bush run for the office of president again? They've both done their 2 consecutive terms, but Trump has been in the office since then. Could either, constitutionally run again or are they done for life?

What about a Jimmy Carter? Not like he would, but what I mean is a situation where someone was president for one term and not a second. Could he run for another term, even though someone else has been president in between?

I know there are the whole logistics about likelihood of being given the nomination and getting backers, and even that a former president may have to answer for their time in office as they campaign. My question is simply whether it is allowed legally.

Thanks.

No worries, we got ya.



Under the 22nd Amendement, no person can be elected president no more than twice. It also specifies that if any person serves as president or acting president for more than 2 years of a term, then they can only be elected once. So, for example, if Trump were to be re-elected, and he passed away midway through his 2nd term, Pence would become president. Then Pence could only be elected one more time for the presidency, and then after that 4 years, he would no longer be able to hold the office, even though it wasn't for a full 2 terms.

Jimmy Carter could absolutely run for another term, as he only served one. Lyndon B Johnson could not, because even though he was only elected to his 2nd term, his first term came about because he assumed the presidency after JFK died.

 

[VandVsmama]

You also have to be born in the US, not a naturalized citizen (i.e., born in another country, citizen of another country and then became a US citizen later on). This is why the Governator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) never ran for president, although he really wanted to.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Thanks, all. That makes sense.

 

[MillauFr]

Why was it news then that Lyndon Johnson decided not to run in 1968?

 

[MillauFr]

Does anyone know if Biden is precluded from choosing Obama for his Vice President?

 

[Praying Colonel]

Why was it news then that Lyndon Johnson decided not to run in 1968?

A couple of reasons: first, it's very unusual for a sitting President not to run for reelection to a 2nd term. In the 20th century it's only happened 3 times: Teddy Roosevelt in 1908, Harry Truman in 1952 and LBJ. But TR became President very early in McKinley's term and Truman became President early in FDR's term. They'd virtually served 2 Presidential terms. LBJ became President relatively late in JFK's term so it was a bigger deal that he didn't seek a 2nd term in his own right.

Second, LBJ made the decision not to run for a 2nd term after the NH primary when Eugene McCarthy, running as the anti-war alternative to LBJ, did much better than anyone expected. It was basically a refutation by his own party of his war policy.

 

[StageTek]

Why was it news then that Lyndon Johnson decided not to run in 1968?

Anything a sitting president does is news. It was news because it was rare for a president to not stand for a second term.

Does anyone know if Biden is precluded from choosing Obama for his Vice President?

Not technically. However, it's an interpretive legal issue that would have to be decided by the judicial branch.

 

[SirDuff]

Why was it news then that Lyndon Johnson decided not to run in 1968?

Based on this bit from the first response:

Section 1.

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.

He could have run (the PP's comment notwithstanding). JFK was killed in November 1963 which was more than two years after he took office in January 1963. So, LBJ served less than two years of that term, so he was eligible for another term.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Does anyone know if Biden is precluded from choosing Obama for his Vice President?

Practically, yes. While there's no constitutional provision prohibiting Biden from choosing someone who's constitutionally incapable of serving, the party won't permit it because it would be a nullity. For example, why choose Ocasio-Cortez as his running mate if she's constitutionally incapable (due to age) from serving as President? The party wouldn't permit it.

 

[bcla]

It's pretty simple. 35 years old by the time of inauguration. Must be a "natural born citizen" which is generally assumed to mean anyone who was a US citizen at the time of birth, although even that can be argued. There have been several candidates for President who were born outside of the United States, although it was generally assumed they were jus sanguines US citizens at birth. I'm not talking about fringe candidates, but major candidates who were Governors or US Senators like John McCain, George Romney, and Ted Cruz. In the past election cycle there was a question as to whether Tulsi Gabbard was a natural born citizen since she was born in American Samoa, which is an unincorporated US territory. It gets really tricky because the definition requires constitutional scholarship given that the meaning of "natural born" was never explicitly defined. I'll just leave it at that.

There has been one non-consecutive terms President - Grover Cleveland - although he was from a time before term limits. Theodore Roosevelt tried to run for a third term after he's already returned to civilian life. There's nothing preventing anyone from running. But others mentioned that someone who has served 2 years of another President's term can only be elected once.

There's been talk before of perhaps having a former President run for VP where the President resigns by design and the VP becomes President.

 

[bcla]

Does anyone know if Biden is precluded from choosing Obama for his Vice President?

It would be legal. Not sure why he would want to do it. Ex-Presidents make a lot of money in the speaking circuit and going back to public office would mean stopping that income source.

 

[hopemax]

No worries, we got ya.



Under the 22nd Amendement, no person can be elected president no more than twice. It also specifies that if any person serves as president or acting president for more than 2 years of a term, then they can only be elected once. So, for example, if Trump were to be re-elected, and he passed away midway through his 2nd term, Pence would become president. Then Pence could only be elected one more time for the presidency, and then after that 4 years, he would no longer be able to hold the office, even though it wasn't for a full 2 terms.

Jimmy Carter could absolutely run for another term, as he only served one. Lyndon B Johnson could not, because even though he was only elected to his 2nd term, his first term came about because he assumed the presidency after JFK died.

Actually, Lyndon Johnson could have run for another term, and could have been in office 9 years, because his term started when Kennedy had 1 year left on his term. He chose not to run for a 2nd term, because of the political climate surrounding the Vietnam war, but he was eligible. Gerald Ford, however, could never have run for two terms, because he took over for Nixon with more than 2 years left in Nixon's term. He lost the first time anyway, so it became moot.

If Mike Pence became President tomorrow, he could run twice on his own, because there are only 6ish months left in Trump's term. However, if Trump were to be reelected, and then left office in March, Pence could only run once on his own. However, if Trump were to be re-elected and leave office in March 2023, then Pence could run twice, because it would again be less than the 2 years.

 

[gotomu212]

Anything a sitting president does is news. It was news because it was rare for a president to not stand for a second term.

Not technically. However, it's an interpretive legal issue that would have to be decided by the judicial branch.

Practically, yes. While there's no constitutional provision prohibiting Biden from choosing someone who's constitutionally incapable of serving, the party won't permit it because it would be a nullity. For example, why choose Ocasio-Cortez as his running mate if she's constitutionally incapable (due to age) from serving as President? The party wouldn't permit it.

The 12th amendment requires that the Vice President meet all Constitutional eligibility requirements of the President, so any former President with 2 terms could NOT be VP.

 

[gotomu212]

It would be legal. Not sure why he would want to do it. Ex-Presidents make a lot of money in the speaking circuit and going back to public office would mean stopping that income source.

Nope, 12th Amendment in play. A VP must be eligible to be President and a two-term President is not eligible.

 

[gotomu212]

It's pretty simple. 35 years old by the time of inauguration. Must be a "natural born citizen" which is generally assumed to mean anyone who was a US citizen at the time of birth, although even that can be argued. There have been several candidates for President who were born outside of the United States, although it was generally assumed they were jus sanguines US citizens at birth. I'm not talking about fringe candidates, but major candidates who were Governors or US Senators like John McCain, George Romney, and Ted Cruz. In the past election cycle there was a question as to whether Tulsi Gabbard was a natural born citizen since she was born in American Samoa, which is an unincorporated US territory. It gets really tricky because the definition requires constitutional scholarship given that the meaning of "natural born" was never explicitly defined. I'll just leave it at that.

There has been one non-consecutive terms President - Grover Cleveland - although he was from a time before term limits. Theodore Roosevelt tried to run for a third term after he's already returned to civilian life. There's nothing preventing anyone from running. But others mentioned that someone who has served 2 years of another President's term can only be elected once.

There's been talk before of perhaps having a former President run for VP where the President resigns by design and the VP becomes President.

Teddy Roosevelt ran when there was no term limits on President. That’s why he was allowed to run (under election laws non-eligible people cannot be put on a ballot). The 2-term (10 year) rule came as a result of FDRs term in office which covered 4 election wins (although dying during the 4th term).

 

[bcla]

The 12th amendment requires that the Vice President meet all Constitutional eligibility requirements of the President, so any former President with 2 terms could NOT be VP.

That's kind of a weird circular logic situation. The 22nd Amendment only deals with whether or not someone can be elected. Whether or not that means someone is ineligible is a question that hasn't been answered. There's been debate about what that means.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/amendment-22​

Whether a two-term President could be elected or appointed Vice President depends upon the meaning of the Twelfth Amendment, which provides that “no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President.” Is someone prohibited by the Twenty-Second Amendment from being “elected” to the office of President thereby “constitutionally ineligible to the office”? Note also that neither Amendment addresses the eligibility of a former two-term President to serve as Speaker of the House or as one of the other officers who could serve as President through operation of the Succession Act.​

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Actually, Lyndon Johnson could have run for another term, and could have been in office 9 years, because his term started when Kennedy had 1 year left on his term. He chose not to run for a 2nd term, because of the political climate surrounding the Vietnam war, but he was eligible. Gerald Ford, however, could never have run for two terms, because he took over for Nixon with more than 2 years left in Nixon's term. He lost the first time anyway, so it became moot.

If Mike Pence became President tomorrow, he could run twice on his own, because there are only 6ish months left in Trump's term. However, if Trump were to be reelected, and then left office in March, Pence could only run once on his own. However, if Trump were to be re-elected and leave office in March 2023, then Pence could run twice, because it would again be less than the 2 years.

I stand corrected.