The president who set the precedent against a third term

When President George Washington was in his second term, there was nothing in the Constitution that prevented him from seeking a third.

But he did not. In his Farewell Address in 1796, Washington explained why he was not seeking another term.

“The period for a new election of a Citizen, to Administer the Executive government of the United States, being not far distant, and the time actually arrived,…