naturalplastic wrote:
Actually you could serve (in effect) three terms. If you were a vice POTUS, and the POTUS dies in office, and you take over and finish the rest of his term, you can still be elected to two more terms. But that doesnt apply to Obama.
Actually, that's ONLY if the VP assumes office after the two-year mark. No one may serve more than 10 years tops. If the VP takes over on the two year anniversary (or later), he can run twice. (2 four-year terms + the last 2 years of taking over from the president = 10 years or less). If it's any earlier, he can only run once. 10 years is the magic cap.
When JFK was assassinated, he was nearly 3 years into his term. LBJ finished off, ran, and won. LBJ could have run a second time (less than 10 years total), but chose not to.
EDIT: Nixon resigned a year-and-a-half into his second term, which Ford finished. Ford lost the '76 election, but, had he won, he would have been ineligible to run again in 1980.