The Death of Presidents and Tecumseh's Curse of the Great White Father

From the 1840 death of President William Henry Harrison to the 1960 assassination of President John Kennedy, every American President who was elected in a year that ended in zero died in office. Is this, as some claim, the work of a curse placed upon the "Great White Father" by the Native American leader Tecumseh? Many people believe that it is. Others say it is mere coincidence and point to the fact that the curse failed to kill Ronald Reagan and (so far) George W. Bush as proof. This article examines the origins of the curse and offers some plausible explanations for it.

According to folk-tale, Tecumseh cursed William Henry Harrison after Harrison defeated the Native Americans at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. Tecumseh died in another battle against Harrison in 1813, but his curse apparently survived him. Just one month after Harrison was inaugurated as President in 1841, he died of pneumonia. While his death has historically been attributed to his refusal to wear a coat during his inauguration (to prove that he was not too old and frail to be President), some claim it is the work of the curse of Tecumseh.

Since Harrison, every other president who was elected in a year ending in zero has also died in office. In fact, President Taylor was the only President to die in office who was not elected in a year ending in zero. President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in 1865, President Garfield was assassinated in July of 1881, President McKinley was assassinated in 1901, President Harding died of a stroke in 1923, President Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1945, and President Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963. President Reagan "should" have died in office after being elected in 1980, and he was almost killed by an assassin's bullet that came within an inch of his heart. He apparently broke the streak, but he came very close to being its victim. So far, the curse has not harmed President Bush either.