Kids ask: Why are presidential terms 4 years?

"Why are the presidents only president for four years?," asked Brendan Murphy, 10, of Mundelein. Brendan is a fifth-grader at West Oak Middle School in Mundelein.

Four-year terms for U.S. presidents were created more than 200 years ago, and it seems like most people agree that it still works.

As Professor Emeritus Michael H. Ebner, Lake Forest College, tells the story, these ideas were put forth at the first Constitutional Convention, when our founding fathers, also called framers, wrote the U.S. Constitution. It was during the heat of the summer in Philadelphia and the delegates locked themselves into Independence Hall, undoubtedly sweating under their fancy wigs and fine clothes. They shut the windows and closed the shutters so as not to have public interference with the monumental work at hand.

"It was a great debate in 1787 over the nature and context of government," said Professor Ebner. "There were skeptics about too much democracy, and on the other side, James Madison and John Adams who were open to experimentation."

The four-year term is found in Article II Section I of the Constitution. Ashley Berke of the Philadelphia-based National Constitution Museum said, "The framers considered several terms of office for the president. Some believed that the president should serve a single term, from seven to 20 years. Alexander Hamilton opposed such a method, arguing that the president would become a "monster" unaccountable to others and "continually tempted ... to subvert the Government."

Members of the Congress would serve for two years, the president would serve four years and senators would serve six years. Supreme Court Justices would accept lifetime appointments.

"This was a great, great experiment underway to establish a democratic government, with the only precedent being Ancient Greece, and the only political guides were the philosophers from England and France," said Professor Ebner.

When originally written, the Constitution did not dictate how many four-year terms a president could serve. George Washington only wanted to serve two terms, and those who followed served one or two, depending on what the voters wanted.

Teddy Roosevelt, president from 1901-1909, is the youngest president. He stepped into the job when President William McKinley was assassinated in 1901. As the country's vice president, Roosevelt had to accept the position of president.

The first president to be elected to more than two terms was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Roosevelt served from 1933 to 1945. That time period was filled with overwhelming challenges; it was the end of the Great Depression and, a few years later, the country committed to fighting enemy nations during World War II. Voters wanted consistency of leadership in those difficult times. But afterward, opinions swayed in favor of term limits.

"In most instances, there's a multiyear process to enact an amendment. In 1947, The Hoover Commission examined term limits which became the 22nd Amendment in 1951," said Professor Ebner said. As a result, the maximum amount of time an individual can be U.S. president is two 4-year terms.

Check these out

The Ela Public Library in Lake Zurich suggests these titles on the presidents and the U.S. Constitution:

• "We the People: The Story of Our Constitution," by Lynne Cheney

• "Scholastic Encyclopedia of the Presidents and Their Lives," by David Rubel

• "Hail to the Chief: The American Presidency," by Don Robb

• "If the Walls Could Talk: Family Life at the White House," by Jane O'Connor

• "So You Want to be President?," by Judith St. George