Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), the national Tea Party star who is considering a run for president, says that she is willing to only be a one-term president.
The Des Moines Register reports:
“I’m a principled reformer, and my goal is to see the country turn around,” she said. “I’m also committed to being a one-term president if that’s what it takes in order to turn things around, because this is not about a personal ambition.
“It’s about getting our financial house in order and to become respected again in the world on an international scale,” Bachmann said in a telephone interview with The Des Moines Register on Friday.
Bachmann as a one-term president? That’s probably one term more than most people are expecting, at least at this point in the game.
Bachmann isn’t quite pledging to only serve one term — it’s more that she’s saying she’s willing to sacrifice any chance at a second term, in order to get her agenda passed. In many interviews, Bachmann has previously attributed a similar quality to President Obama, such as in his commitment to pass health care reform.
On the other hand, going back in American history there were in fact three presidents who took a one-term pledge, before they were ever elected: President James Polk, elected in 1844; President James Buchanan, elected in 1856; and President Rutherford B. Hayes, elected in 1876.
