Which amendment limits the presidency to two four-year terms?

Which amendment limits the presidency to two four-year terms?

• A. Twelfth Amendment
• B. Seventeenth Amendment
• C. Twenty-fifth Amendment
• D. Twenty-second Amendment

Answer: (D)

The idea being tested is how the presidency is limited in time by the Constitution. The Twenty-second Amendment establishes a formal cap: a person cannot be elected to the presidency more than twice. This was added after Roosevelt’s four terms to prevent any one individual from holding the office for too long and to encourage regular leadership change. In practice, most presidents can serve up to eight years total (two four-year terms). There is a nuance: if someone has already served more than two years of a term that was not their own election—for example, due to a vacancy—then they can be elected to the presidency only once more. But if they serve two years or less of such a term, they could still be elected again. This explains how the term-limit rule operates in different succession scenarios. The other amendments shown have different purposes entirely: one changes how the president and vice president are elected through the electoral college, another realigns how senators are chosen by the people, and the last handles succession and disability for the presidency.

The idea being tested is how the presidency is limited in time by the Constitution. The Twenty-second Amendment establishes a formal cap: a person cannot be elected to the presidency more than twice. This was added after Roosevelt’s four terms to prevent any one individual from holding the office for too long and to encourage regular leadership change.

In practice, most presidents can serve up to eight years total (two four-year terms). There is a nuance: if someone has already served more than two years of a term that was not their own election—for example, due to a vacancy—then they can be elected to the presidency only once more. But if they serve two years or less of such a term, they could still be elected again. This explains how the term-limit rule operates in different succession scenarios.

The other amendments shown have different purposes entirely: one changes how the president and vice president are elected through the electoral college, another realigns how senators are chosen by the people, and the last handles succession and disability for the presidency.