Theodore Roosevelt succeeded to the presidency on September 14 , 1901 , following William McKinley 's assassination ( days into his second term ) , and was subsequently elected to a full term in 1904 . While he declined to seek a third ( second full ) term in 1908 , Roosevelt did seek one four years later , in the election of 1912 , where he lost to Woodrow Wilson . Wilson himself , despite his ill health following a serious stroke , aspired to a third term . Many of Wilson 's advisers tried to convince him that his health precluded another campaign , but Wilson nonetheless asked that his name be placed in nomination for the presidency at the 1920 Democratic National Convention . Democratic Party leaders were unwilling to support Wilson , however , and the nomination eventually went to James M. Cox , who lost to Warren G. Harding . Wilson again contemplated running for a ( nonconsecutive ) third term in 1924 , devising a strategy for his comeback , but again lacked any support ; he died in February of that year
William McKinley 's assassination
Assassination of William McKinley
Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution