A History of Amending the Constitution

27 amendments in 237 years — what that history says about how hard, and how possible, this actually is.

A Short History of Amending the Constitution

11,000+

amendments introduced in Congress since 1789

have actually been ratified

203 yrs

the longest ratification took — the 27th Amendment, proposed 1789, ratified 1992

~4 mos

the fastest ratification — the 26th Amendment, lowering the voting age to 18, in 1971

The direct precedent for term limits already exists. In 1951, three years after Franklin Roosevelt's fourth term, the country ratified the 22nd Amendment — limiting the presidency to two elected terms. It's the clearest proof on record that Americans can and will amend the Constitution specifically to limit how long one person holds a single office.