Thursday, February 2

Tecumseh And The Presidential Curse Coincidence

Tecumseh Shawnee Native American

I have written previously about Tecumseh, the Shawnee Native American, but I hadn't heard before about Tecumseh's curse.

Tecumseh died, or rather was killed, at the Battle of the Thames, on October 5, 1813. His death signified the end of united Indian resistance against the Americans. Since that date USA Presidents being elected in a year ending 0 (zero) would die in office - and it is this that is said to be Tecumseh's curse.

How does the curse stand up. Pretty good actually.

1840: This was the start of the curse in the election of that year when William Henry Harrison came to power and had the shortest presidency of any USA President. He was President for exactly one month and then died of pneumonia.

1880: James Garfield didn't do much better than Harrison as he was President for just 200 days. He was killed on July 2, 1881, as a result of being shot by assassin Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881.

1990: The election this year was won by William McKinley for a second term in office. He also came to an unfortunate end. He was shot by Leon F Czolgosz, on Sept. 11, 1901, and died on Sept. 14 1901.

1920: Warren G Harding, a Republican, became the 29th President of the United States. On August 2, 1923 he suffered a stroke and died at the age of 57.

1940: Franklin D Roosevelt was elected for a third term as President in the 1940 election. This came to an end on April 12, 1945 when he died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

1960: The youngest US President, John F Kennedy, was elected and, as everyone no doubt knows, was assassinated on November 22, 1963.

1980: Now this is where the curse hopefully ended. Ronald Reagan, the oldest US President, won the 1980 election and survived to tell the tale. But in saying that, the curse had a good go at bringing his Presidency to an end.

There was an assassination attempt on Monday, March 30 1981. While leaving a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C, President Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley, Jr.

Some say that Reagan survived because of his wife, Nancy's involvement with mediums and astrologers. Joan Quigley, an astrologer, supposedly pre-warned Nancy that March 30th was a day of concern and would be a bad day for Ronald - and it very nearly proved fatal.

So has Tecumseh's curse finally been broken? Was there ever one in the first place? Time will perhaps tell.

P.S. I've also seen Tecumseh's Curse called the Presidential Death Cycle and the Zero-year Curse.

For a more positive side to Tecumseh see the post The Tecumseh And Shawnee Way To Live And Die

Other Famous Coincidences:
Famous Coincidences: King Umberto I
Famous Coincidences: Mark Twain
Abraham Lincoln And John F Kennedy Coincidences

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2 comments:

  1. I think the cycle was broken with Reagan.Astrologers tie this whole thing to a twenty-year Jupiter/Saturn cycle. Good post!

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  2. Thanks Trish. I remember now reading about that Jupiter/Saturn cycle.

    ReplyDelete