Curse of Tippecanoe
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The term Curse of Tippecanoe (also known as the presidential curse, zero-year curse, the twenty-year curse or Tecumseh's curse) is sometimes used to describe the coincidental pattern where, from 1840 to 1960, every United States President elected (or reelected) every twentieth year has died in office. The "curse" was "broken" by Ronald Reagan, who was elected in 1980 and survived his presidency, despite having been shot in an assassination attempt.
The "curse", first noted in a Ripley's Believe It or Not book published in 1934, is commonly attributed to Tecumseh, who was defeated by William Henry Harrison at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. Another version attributes it to Tecumseh's half-brother Tenskwatawa, who pronounced the curse while sitting for a painting. This version has been the most widely accepted, but several scholars have questioned its validity. [1]
[edit] Presidents who were Victims of the Curse
| Elected | President | Term | Cause of Death | Date of Death |
| 1840 | William Henry Harrison | Elected | Pneumonia | April 4, 1841 |
| 1860§ | Abraham Lincoln | Reelected | Assassinated by Gunshot | April 15, 1865 |
| 1880 | James Garfield | Elected | Assassinated by Gunshot | September 19, 1881 |
| 1900 | William McKinley | Reelected | Assassinated by Gunshot | September 14, 1901 |
| 1920 | Warren Harding | Elected | Cerebral hemorrhage | August 2, 1923 |
| 1940§ | Franklin Roosevelt | Reelected | Cerebral hemorrhage | April 12, 1945 |
| 1960 | John Kennedy | Elected | Assassinated by Gunshot | November 22, 1963 |
§ This was not the final year they were elected. Lincoln's reelection year was 1864. Roosevelt was reelected one other time afterwards in 1944, also previously elected in 1932 and 1936.
