The 1940 US presidential election was historic for many reasons, most notably marking the first and only time that a US president has been elected for a third term, in the person of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Soon after, the 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution would impose a limit of two elected terms.
However, in 1789, the potential existed that a measure like the 22nd Amendment could have become part of the initial amendments to the Constitution and thus Roosevelt would not have been allowed to seek a consecutive term. How might the election of 1940 have been different under those circumstances and how would the election of a candidate like Wendell Willkie have altered American involvement in WWII and the face of US politics in the years beyond?
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