Term Limits Stop Dictators

No Position Should Be Held Indefinitely

By Rose Elderman

Published: June 1, 2026   •    2 min read
Updated: June 3, 2026 3:12 PM (1 hour ago)

In Russia, Vladimir Putin hasn’t just held power, he’s weaponized it for 26 years. Xi Jinping in China? He's spent 13 years consolidating his authority. What do they have in common? Rigging the systems of their governments to keep them in power permanently. When leaders are eternal, so is tyranny, corruption, and freedom for everyone else disappears. Term limits are the only vaccine against dictatorship.

But Trump is going step-by-step through the dictator handbook. He is consolidating power to the presidency like no one ever has before. He was able to stack the Supreme Court—positions with no term limit at all—with supporters and install people he can control in every governmental institution that could keep the presidency in check. He's been able to get states to redistrict themselves for the upcoming midterm election and has taken unprecedented steps to be able to control the outcome of it.

That idea should be very chilling to every American citizen. The United States came into being to get out from under the thumb of a king. We certainly shouldn't stand by and let someone install themselves as one now. Freedoms would disappear for everyone overnight. That isn't what America is about.

Every office, every seat of power, needs a hard stop. Power concentrated for decades is poison for any country, especially a democracy. It breeds corruption, arrogance, and a cozy dance with the elite while citizens suffer.

Every leader, from town hall to the Kremlin, from Washington to Beijing, must face a clock. So much power demands an expiration date. Leadership is a service, not a right to rule. Term limits should be universal.

Those in power need to know the clock is always ticking.