Which amendment to the U.S. Constitution established a presidential two-term limit?

The Twenty-second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution established a presidential limit of two elected terms.

Congress approved the amendment in 1947, and the required number of states ratified it on February 27, 1951. It became the first constitutional rule directly limiting how many times a person could be elected president.

The amendment followed Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four elected terms from 1933 to 1945. Before its ratification, presidents generally followed the two-term tradition associated with George Washington, but that practice was not a constitutional requirement.

The rule has an additional provision for someone who succeeds to the presidency. A person who serves more than two years of another president’s unfinished term may be elected president only once. The amendment is often confused with the Twenty-fifth Amendment, which addresses presidential succession and inability rather than election limits.