Yay, my time machine is finally finished!

They're always arguing so much! Politics is such a mess...wait, maybe I can use the time machine to fix it!

Christopher's excitement was interrupted by an argument on the television.

1789

President Washington!

I'm from the future. You leave office after two terms and the political parties become a mess, ruining things. Please do something about it!

Wow, this time machine is really useful!

Today, President Clinton and Vice-President George HW Bush announced that...

Wait - what? President Clinton and Vice-President Bush?? They...wait, what happened?

Christopher grabbed a history book to see what had changed after his conversation with President George Washington.

LIST OF U.S. PRESIDENTS

1) George Washington [1789-1799]

2) Thomas Jefferson [1799-1826]

3) Andrew Jackson [1826-1845]

4) James Polk [1845-1849]

5) Zachary Taylor [1849-1850]

6) Rutherford Hayes [1850-1893]

7) Grover Cleveland [1893-1908]

8) William H Taft [1908-1930]

9) Herbert Hoover (1930-1964)

10) Richard Nixon [1964-1994]

11) Bill Clinton [1994- ]

11 presidents? That isn't right. And why are they president for so many years?

Christopher flipped through the history book to discover why things changed.

PRESIDENT WASHINGTON

George Washington served as president, running for re-election, until his death in 1799. This set a precedent that U.S. presidents served for life, which was set into the constitution with the 12th Amendment in 1804.

The 12th Amendment also banned the use of political parties. The result is that many people can freely run for president, unencumbered by the limitations seen in other countries set by those who control the political parties.

The person with the most votes becomes president and the person with the second-most votes becomes vice-president. If something happens to the vice-president, the president makes a nomination for the Senate to approve.

Oh...Washington stayed in office to make sure there were no political parties. Oh my...

I'll have to go back and convince George Washington not to serve more than two terms...

President Washington...remember me? I was wrong - if you serve more than two terms then presidents become elected for life, like kings...which is worse!

1796

I think that political parties will likely be the bigger danger. Surely the Congress will serve as a check on the executive's power.

Um, not really... Oh boy.

How can I fix this?

Maybe go back and stop myself from talking to George Washington in the first place?