Tecumseh's Curse
In 1811, Geneal William Henry Harrison defeated Indian chief Tecumseh at the Battle of Tippecanoe. Harrison was elected president in 1840 and was inaugurated on March 4, 1841, giving a long speech. It was an unusually cold and windy day, and Harrison fell ill. He died on April 4th, after only serving a month as president. Was Harrison's death just bad luck, or was he cursed by Tecumseh?
Many people think that Tecumseh, in order to avenge his defeat, placed a curse on the U.S. Presidency. Also known as the Zero Year Curse, Tecumseh's Curse caused every president elected in a year ending in zero to die in office. However, the curse (if there ever was one) has finally been broken by Ronald Reagan, who survived an assassination attempt. George W. Bush, the next president elected in a zero year, made it through two terms without any trouble.
1860 -- Abraham Lincoln was elected president for the first time. He was reelected in 1864, and was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 15, 1865.
1880 -- James Garfield was elected president. On July 2, 1881, he was shot by Charles Guiteau, and he died on September 19.
1900 -- William McKinley was elected to his second term. He was shot to death on September 6, 1901 by an anarchist named Leon Czolgosz, and died on September 14.
1920 -- Warren G. Harding was elected president, but he died from a stroke on August 2, 1923.
1940 -- Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to his third term as president. On April 12, 1945, he died of a brain hemmorhage.
1960 -- John F. Kennedy was elected to his first term. He was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22, 1963.
1980 -- Ronald Reagan was elected president. On March 3, 1981, he was shot by John Hinckley, but survived. Many say that Reagan broke Tecumseh's curse.
2000 -- George W. Bush was elected president! He left office in 2009 without suffering an assassination attempt or serious illness.
