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Truman Chooses Not To Run For A Third Term

1952

The Twenty-second Amendment specifically exempts the incumbent President, Harry Truman. As Vice President, he had become President just four months into Franklin Roosevelt’s fourth term. Few people believe that Truman has a chance of being elected in 1948, when all the polls show the Republican candidate, Thomas E. Dewey, winning easily. Instead, Truman fights a scrappy campaign and pulls off a stunning victory. The Korean War, which begins during Truman’s second term, makes him increasingly unpopular. Although Truman is eligible to run for a third term in 1952, he chooses to retire from the Presidency.