Presidential Deaths Part I: The Curse

As a someone who has a strong interest for history especially American history and within that; the U.S. Presidents. One of the little tidbits that I find interesting in the annals of presidential history is the phenomenon known as "The Curse". "The Curse" is what the trend of U.S Presidents elected in a year ending in "0" dying in office. From 1840 to 1960, every president elected in a year ending in "0" did not complete their term. Both Ronald Reagan in 1980 and George W. Bush in 2000 were able to avoid the same fate as the seven men before them. However, until it would years later before I learned more about "The Curse". I found information that linked Tecumseh and the Prophet and the Battle of Tippecanoe to the origins of the curse. In 1840, William Henry Harrison was elected the 9th U.S. President and Harrison was the general who was victorious at the Battle of Tippecanoe, where Tecumseh was a casualty amongst several other Native Americans.

In life, when something happens once or twice; the outcome can be linked to chance. But, when something happens seven times and nearly an eighth time; then that trend becomes suspicious. For many years, the curse set forth by Tecumseh's death and the power of Native American's to set such things made the correlation that much more likely to be true. The unknown is something that can drive a sane man crazy and that has been an accompanying rationalization for the power of the curse.

Why would there be a curse to strike down the man elected every 20 years? Tecumseh wanted Harrison to rise to the highest of his capability and be punished there. As a side punishment for what occurred, not only would Harrison be cursed, but all the white men under the curse's perimeters. What would transpire for over 100 years is beyond stranger than fiction.

William Henry Harrison would be elected in 1840 and would die of pneumonia one month after taking office.

Abraham Lincoln would be elected in 1860 and reelected in 1864, when early in his second term John Wilkes Booth would take his life at Fords Theatre.

James A. Garfield would be elected in 1880 and not even a half year into his term he was shot down by Charles Guiteau in a D.C. train station.

William McKinley would be elected in 1896 and reelected in 1900 and less than a year into that second term, Leon Czolgosz would take his life with two gun shots at an Expo in Buffalo, NY.

Warren G. Harding would be elected in 1920 and less than 3 years later, he would be dead in San Francisco, CA due to a heart attack.

Franklin D. Roosevelt would be elected in 1932 and reelected again in 1936, 1940, and 1944. Early in the fourth term, he would suffer a cerebral hemorrhage while in Warm Springs, GA.

John F. Kennedy would be elected in 1960 and roughly 1,000 days into his term, he was gunned down by Lee Harvey Oswald while in Dallas, TX.

Then came Ronald Reagan who was elected in 1980. John Hinckley's bullet barely missed Reagan's heart when he attempted to assassinate him during Reagan's first year in office. Reagan had finally been the one to halt "The Curse". It had claimed seven men and now Reagan was still standing. In 2000, George W. Bush would win a contested election and go on to serve two full terms.

2 occasions of two presidents being elected in a year ending in "0" and they did not perish like the seven before them. However, an astrologer named Mark Dodich has come up with a different perspective and analysis. According to Dodich, the string of presidential deaths had more to do with the alignment of Saturn and Jupiter than a curse by Tecumseh or the Prophet. Their alignment under the sign of either Taurus, Virgo, or Capricorn has led to the death of a president. Reagan dodged "The Curse" as none of these three signs occurred with the Saturn-Jupiter alignment. 20 years later, though, the alignment occurred with Taurus, which should have meant the demise of George W. Bush. Thus, with Bush finishing his two terms, there might be flaws in this argument as well.

Whether it has to do with planet alignments, a curse by a vengeful Native American, or purely coincidence; it has left an eerie trail throughout presidential history. Seven different men with no real connections would all suffer a demise before they left the White House. This trend has always intrigued me as someone with a strong interest in presidential history and continue to be awed by the more I look into "The Curse".

"The Curse" has been one downside of being elected to the highest office in the land. The other has been the preverbial and literal bullseye you have on your head and back combined. Of the seven men who fell to "The Curse", four were at the hands of an assassin. Those are the only four to perish in office at the hands of an assassin's bullet, but there have been several more attempts. Part II will explore the history of presidential assassination attempts.