Friday, February 18, 2011

Who is the only American President elected to a six-year term?

I know this will be a kind of back-to-back dose of history here, but it’s also an interesting piece of trivia.  As I’m sure you are aware (or you should be; if not, shame on you!), the US Constitution calls for the President to be elected to a term of four years.  You might be thinking, “ok, this must be someone who was elected to two terms, but then died halfway through the second, or someone who took over for a deceased president, served the remaining two years of that term, and then was elected to his own term.  Who can it be?”  Well, you’re on the wrong track.  I didn’t say, “Which president served for six years,” I said, “Who is the only American President elected to a six-year term?” 

Confused? 

I’ll give you a hint:

He wasn’t a President of the United States of America.

“But wait!!!  Didn’t you say that he was an American President?!?!?”  I did!  Here’s the scoop:



Jefferson Davis was the first (and only) President of the Confederate States of America.  Much of the Constitution of the CSA was taken directly from the US Constitution, with a just few changes emphasizing the problems that the Confederate States had with the US government.  Of course, slavery and its preservation were directly addressed in the Confederate constitution, as were measures to protect states’ rights and strengthen the executive and legislative branches of the federal government against each other, enhancing the planned ineffectiveness of the federal government.  One of these changes was to extend the president’s term to six years, and limit any one individual to one term.  Jefferson Davis, being the only President of the Confederate States of America, is the only American President elected to a six-year term.

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