Obscure American history trivia

Teddy Roosevelt is one of the latter three.

 

One is Polk.

 

Not sure if Harry Truman was eligible for a second full term. But he did not seek the nomination in 1952.

 

Truman was the last president to be eligible to run for more than 2 terms, the 22nd Amendment not taking effect until after his term. He initially did start to run for a third term but abandoned it early on after getting killed by Estes Kefauver in New Hampshire in 1952.

The election process was vastly different in 1952. Kefauver won all but 3 primaries but got passed over at the convention for Adlai Stevenson. That's like Hillary in 2016 getting passed over for Pat Quinn (the most recent Illinois Dem governor at the time).

 

Hayes, I think was one of the two.

Van Buren, and Buchanan. I think, were two of the three.

 

Hayes yes the other two no

 

Truman actually only ran once. He would have exceeded the year limit under the 22nd had he won (I think it's 10 for a president who takes over for another). He opted instead to not to run.

Edit: He would have exceeded the years limit but would have been grandfathered in.

 

Polk and Hayes promised not to run. Truman, Roosevelt and Johnson are the other three. Of course Teddy made the attempt for another term leading to Wilson being elected and ruining Republican dominance on the presidency in late 19th early 20th centuries.

 

Has anyone guessed Madison?

 

Hold on while I do your searching for you...

 

I thought Roosevelt wasn't going to run from the start because of the custom of not seeking a third term.