The 27th Amendment, which restricts Congressional power to set the salary of its members, took 203 years to ratify. Proposed as one of the original amendments to the Bills of Rights, it was not ratified until May of 1992. This was made possible by the fact that the amendment did not include a deadline for ratification.  It was originally submitted to the House of Representatives in 1789 by Representative James Madison, who went on to serve as President from 1809-1817.