The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution , ratified in 1951 , established a two-term limit for the presidency . As the amendment had not applied to President Truman , Eisenhower became the first president constitutionally limited to two terms . Eisenhower nonetheless closely watched the 1960 presidential election , which he viewed as a referendum on his presidency . He attempted to convince Secretary of the Treasury Robert Anderson to seek the Republican nomination , but Anderson declined to enter the race . Eisenhower offered Nixon lukewarm support in the 1960 Republican primaries . When asked by reporters to list one of Nixon 's policy ideas he had adopted , Eisenhower joked , " If you give me a week , I might think of one . I do n't remember . " Eisenhower and Nixon in fact had become unequal friends , who learned it from each other and respected each other . Despite the lack of strong support from Eisenhower , Nixon 's successful cultivation of party elites ensured that he faced only a weak challenge from Governor Nelson Rockefeller for the Republican nomination
Republican nomination
1960 Republican National Convention
Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower