Franklin D. Roosevelt spent the months leading up to the 1940 Democratic National Convention refusing to state whether he would seek a third term . His Vice President , John Nance Garner , along with Postmaster General James Farley , announced their candidacies for the Democratic nomination . When the convention came , Roosevelt sent a message to the convention , saying he would run only if drafted , saying delegates were free to vote for whomever they pleased . This message was interpreted to mean he was willing to be drafted , and he subsequently was renominated on the convention 's first ballot . Later , during the 1940 presidential election , Roosevelt won a decisive victory over Republican Wendell Willkie , becoming the first , and to date only , person to exceed eight years in office . Roosevelt 's decision to seek a third term dominated the election campaign . Willkie ran against the open-ended presidential tenure , while Democrats cited the war in Europe as a reason for breaking with precedent
1940 Democratic National Convention
1940 Democratic National Convention
Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution