February 27

On this day. 1951: The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, limiting presidents to two terms in office. Passed after the death of President Franklin Roosevelt — who was elected to four terms in office — the Amendment said "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term."

On this day. 1972: The Shanghai Communique was issued by President Richard Nixon and Chinese Premier Chou En-lai. The Shanghai Communique came at the end of Nixon's historic trip to China, arguably the most dramatic journey ever made by an American president.

On this day. 1991: President Bush announced the defeat of Iraq, ordering an end to Operation Desert Storm and Gulf War I. Bush said his principal strategic goal — pushing Iraq out of Kuwait, which it had invaded the prior August — had been achieved. The U.S. did not occupy Iraq itself in 1991, by the way. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney told Bush it wasn't worth the casualties or "getting bogged down."

Quote of the day

"Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office seeking." –Rutherford B. Hayes

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