Page "Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution" Paragraph 3

Historians point to George Washington's decision not to seek a third term as evidence that the founders saw a two-term limit as a bulwark against a monarchy, although his Farewell Address suggests that he was not seeking re-election because of his age.

Thomas Jefferson also contributed to the convention of a two-term limit when he wrote in 1807, " if some termination to the services of the chief Magistrate be not fixed by the Constitution, or supplied by practice, his office, nominally four years, will in fact become for life.

" Jefferson ’ s immediate successors, James Madison and James Monroe, adhered to the two-term principle as well.