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Amendment 22: Presidential election limits

The first page of the United States Constitution
The first page of the United States Constitution. National Archives · Public domain. Illustrative image.

AP Gov / Amendment guides

AMENDMENT 22 · RATIFIED 1951 · LATER AMENDMENTS

Limits how many times a person may be elected President and addresses service of part of someone else’s term.

Knowing the number helps. Next, try explaining what the amendment changes, where its limits are, and what else you need to know.

The amendment in plain English

The main rule: Limits how many times a person may be elected President and addresses service of part of someone else’s term.

A detail worth knowing: A person who serves more than two years of another President’s term may be elected President only once.

Watch the limit: Do not reduce it to an absolute eight-year service cap: someone serving no more than two years of another’s term may still be elected twice.

How it connects

Use the more-than-two-years distinction when applying the rule to a hypothetical.

The Twenty-second limits presidential elections; the Twenty-fifth addresses succession, vice-presidential vacancies, and inability.

Compare Amendment 25 →

Check the sources

Practice test: Amendment 22

Try the six questions before opening the explanations. The examples are made up for practice. These are our questions, not official exam questions. Blank answers count as not yet correct. Your choices and score stay in this open page and are not sent or saved.

Not checked yet. Choose your answers, then check the reasoning.

1. What is a central rule of Amendment 22?

Main rule

Check the answer and reasoning

B. Limits how many times a person may be elected President and addresses service of part of someone else’s term.

Limits how many times a person may be elected President and addresses service of part of someone else’s term. Read the actual wording before applying it to a new situation.

2. Which detail belongs with Amendment 22?

Text and details

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C. A person who serves more than two years of another President’s term may be elected President only once.

A person who serves more than two years of another President’s term may be elected President only once.

3. A person serves three years of another President’s term. Under the amendment’s rule, how many times may that person then be elected President?

Apply it

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D. Once

More than two years of someone else’s term triggers the one-election limit.

4. Which statement should you challenge as an overstatement?

Spot the mistake

Check the answer and reasoning

A. The Twenty-second Amendment makes more than eight total years of presidential service impossible in every situation.

Do not reduce it to an absolute eight-year service cap: someone serving no more than two years of another’s term may still be elected twice.

5. How should you compare Amendments 22 and 25?

Make a comparison

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B. The Twenty-second limits presidential elections; the Twenty-fifth addresses succession, vice-presidential vacancies, and inability.

The Twenty-second limits presidential elections; the Twenty-fifth addresses succession, vice-presidential vacancies, and inability.

6. Before reaching a conclusion in a new scenario, which question is most useful here?

Explain the reasoning

Check the answer and reasoning

C. How much of another President’s term was served, and how many presidential elections has the person won?

Do not reduce it to an absolute eight-year service cap: someone serving no more than two years of another’s term may still be elected twice. The right next question helps you avoid making the rule broader than it is.

Written practice: explain it your way

Try these three parts in your own words. This is a study exercise, not an official AP question or scoring guide.

  1. Explain the amendment’s rule in your own words. Name the part of government, right, or process it addresses.
  2. Apply it to the fictional scenario above. Identify one fact that makes the amendment relevant.
  3. Compare it with the linked amendment and explain a limit that could change the analysis.
Open the three-point self-check
  1. Accurately explain: Limits how many times a person may be elected President and addresses service of part of someone else’s term.
  2. Connect a fact to the rule, rather than just naming the amendment. Ask: How much of another President’s term was served, and how many presidential elections has the person won?
  3. Explain the distinction: The Twenty-second limits presidential elections; the Twenty-fifth addresses succession, vice-presidential vacancies, and inability. Include the limit: Do not reduce it to an absolute eight-year service cap: someone serving no more than two years of another’s term may still be elected twice.

One point per explained idea is a revision tool, not an AP score prediction.

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Original, AI-assisted student study material. Sources checked October 30, 2026. Educational information, not legal advice. AP is a trademark of College Board, which does not endorse this project. This library covers all 27 amendments; it is not a claim that each amendment has equal AP exam emphasis.