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The Constitution.

Read the words. See the structure. Understand what connects them.

Preamble · Seven Articles
Twenty-seven Amendments

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Constitutional text

Amendment XX · Section 1

1 selectable clause · PDF page 16

The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

Notes supplied with the source text

Passed by Congress March 2, 1932. Ratified January 23, 1933. (Note: Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution was modified by Section 2 of this Amendment. In addition, a portion of the 12th Amendment was superseded by Section 3.)

Source: the uploaded National Constitution Center edition. Historical wording and its bracket markers remain visible; later amendments and the reading notes explain changes.

Clause notes