The Curse of Tippecanoe (also known as Tecumseh's Curse, the 20-year Curse or the Zero Curse) is an urban legend about the deaths in office of presidents of the United States who were elected in years that end with the digit 0, which all are divisible by 20.

The presidents elected on such years from 1840 to 1960 died in office: William Henry Harrison (1840), Abraham Lincoln (1860), James A. Garfield (1880), William McKinley (1900), Warren G. Harding (1920), Franklin D. Roosevelt (1940) and John F. Kennedy (1960). These are seven of the eight total presidents who have died in office (Zachary Taylor is the eighth). Since 1960, the three presidents who were elected on applicable years have not died in office. Ronald Reagan (1980) and George W. Bush (2000) survived their terms in office. Joe Biden (2020) is the current president and the latest to be elected in a year fitting the pattern.

The phenomenon's name references Harrison's pre-presidential military expeditions, in which he defeated Native American tribes led by Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa at the Battle of Tippecanoe. Rumor has it that he was cursed by Tenskwatawa.

Reagan and Bush were both Republicans, though.

Biden still might die in office, since he's eighty and only nine presidents have lived to be at least 83 (he'll be 82 on November 20, 2024, which is right after the 2024 election).

There have been assassination attempts against Reagan, Bush and Biden, so the "curse" is still trying to take effect.

There were attempts against them when they were in office. The infamous John Hinckley shooting against Reagan, a guy named Vladimir Arutyunian throwing a grenade at Bush in 2005, and the attempt described in the article below against Biden.

https://www.wfla.com/news/national/mans-plan-to-assassinate-biden-former-presidents-foiled-by-traffic-stop-according-to-federal-documents/

C@LAg said:

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lethalninja said:

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Reagan and Bush were both Republicans, though.

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and neither are currently the POTUS with a chance to die while in office, so that is entirely irrelevant to the point you were making - the curse affecting sitting presidents.

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Yeah, but the cycle had already been broken. Its been 60 years (or, I guess more precisely 57 years) since it was in play, which was 3/4 of the time it actually existed. With Lincoln, it was a coincidence. Only with Garfield did it become semi-rational to call it a curse or rational to call it something more than a coincidence.

I guess you could say when Reagan survived until 1/20/1989, it didn't break until then, but that assumes you believe in that superstitious nonsense. Whatever it was, it ended in 1960 with Kennedy.

The biggest problem with this whole nonsensical curse thing is that it conveniently (and highly coincidentally) encompasses the 4 Presidents assassinated -- Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy. It also happens to group all the Presidents who died in office except for Zachary Taylor. Not only that, but 3 that died were in their second or later term: Lincoln, McKinley, and FDR. Had Lincoln or FDR lost in 1864 or 1944 respectively, the "curse" almost certainly would have ended. What if FDR decides not to run in 1940 (or 44)? His inevitable death would mean nothing. It is pretty much inarguable that the 1960 election was stolen; would Nixon have faced the same fate at JFK? Unlikely, but we'll never know. Reagan, of all people, should have continued the "curse," having been shot and being one of the older Presidents at inauguration, but he didn't.

What I mean by all this is that the circumstances surrounding many things about the Presidency between 1840 and 1960 (or 1980 if you will) were so wild and convoluted that the deaths in office of all elected in years ending in 0 for 120 years is NOT that big of a deal. Things could have easily changed by one or two actions of between one and maybe four individuals (e.g. Lincoln not running or losing in 1864; guard at Fords Theater; better protection of Garfield and McKinley; physical and/or traveling doc for Harding; FDR making the sensible decision not to run in 1944). Even if you were to believe in a curse in the first place, there are far too many contingencies that make one impossible here.

Hey! At least we have something to look forward to.

FJB will probably mess the curse up as well. He is probably to oblivious to have a awareness of any curse.

Sounds like a bunch of effort to extract revenge. If it works, why not just curse all of them?

Reagan broke the curse.

Sarge 77 said:

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Reagan broke the curse.

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He was shot and almost died?

lethalninja said:

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There have been assassination attempts against Reagan, Bush and Biden, so the "curse" is still trying to take effect.

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This is the first I have heard of assassination attempts on. Biden. Surprised this was not bigger news.

Burdizzo said:

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lethalninja said:

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There have been assassination attempts against Reagan, Bush and Biden, so the "curse" is still trying to take effect.

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This is the first I have heard of assassination attempts on. Biden. Surprised this was not bigger news.

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Yeah, news to me as well. Was it some trumped up story to try and gain him sympathy?

Edit to add: If Biden is assassinated, it will be the (d) is through with him so the FBI orchestrated so they can blame right wing extremist.

F16 curse... conspiracy nuts.

RGLAG85 said:

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Burdizzo said:

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lethalninja said:

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There have been assassination attempts against Reagan, Bush and Biden, so the "curse" is still trying to take effect.

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This is the first I have heard of assassination attempts on. Biden. Surprised this was not bigger news.

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Yeah, news to me as well. Was it some trumped up story to try and gain him sympathy?

Edit to add: If Biden is assassinated, it will be the (d) is through with him so the FBI orchestrated so they can blame right wing extremist.

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I am not aware of an attempt on Biden. There have been several people arrested for making threats or having a "plan" or even a "possible plot". Or, folks like this guy, who set a pretty high bar for himself:

When he was pulled over, Xiong allegedly told the deputy he would "do whatever it takes" to kill government leaders on his "hit list." The list included President Joe Biden, former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, the president's chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, and Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, whom Xiong allegedly described as "evil individuals."

Never mind. I found an attempt.

lethalninja said:

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Reagan and Bush were both Republicans, though.

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Well, somehow they made it...

Reagan survived John Hinkley

W. Bush survived Muntadhar al-Zaidi

There was also a guy who threw a grenade at Bush, but it didn't go off.

lethalninja said:

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There was also a guy who threw a grenade at Bush, but it didn't go off.

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Dude was invincible. What were they sharing in that cup?

May 10, 2005: While President Bush was giving a speech in the Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Georgia, Vladimir Arutyunian threw a live Soviet-made RGD-5 hand grenade toward the podium. The grenade had its pin pulled, but did not explode because a red tartan handkerchief was wrapped tightly around it, preventing the safety lever from detaching. After escaping that day, Arutyunian was arrested in July 2005. During his arrest, he killed an Interior Ministry agent. He was convicted in January 2006 and given a life sentence.

Religion board can be found here...

https://texags.com/forums/15

Just remember, if Biden dies, the next person in line could be worse than him.

AggDogg61 said:

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Just remember, if Biden dies, the next person in line could be worse than him.

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that's why trump should be desantis VP. the liberals would leave desantis alone because they would not want trump. will never happen but would be hilarious to see the mental midgets figure that out.

Predmid said:

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Sarge 77 said:

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Reagan broke the curse.

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He was shot and almost died?

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He did not die…so he broke the curse.
The curse wasn't about being shot.

91AggieLawyer said:

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C@LAg said:

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lethalninja said:

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Reagan and Bush were both Republicans, though.

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and neither are currently the POTUS with a chance to die while in office, so that is entirely irrelevant to the point you were making - the curse affecting sitting presidents.

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Yeah, but the cycle had already been broken. Its been 60 years (or, I guess more precisely 57 years) since it was in play, which was 3/4 of the time it actually existed. With Lincoln, it was a coincidence. Only with Garfield did it become semi-rational to call it a curse or rational to call it something more than a coincidence.

I guess you could say when Reagan survived until 1/20/1989, it didn't break until then, but that assumes you believe in that superstitious nonsense. Whatever it was, it ended in 1960 with Kennedy.

The biggest problem with this whole nonsensical curse thing is that it conveniently (and highly coincidentally) encompasses the 4 Presidents assassinated -- Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy. It also happens to group all the Presidents who died in office except for Zachary Taylor. Not only that, but 3 that died were in their second or later term: Lincoln, McKinley, and FDR. Had Lincoln or FDR lost in 1864 or 1944 respectively, the "curse" almost certainly would have ended. What if FDR decides not to run in 1940 (or 44)? His inevitable death would mean nothing. It is pretty much inarguable that the 1960 election was stolen; would Nixon have faced the same fate at JFK? Unlikely, but we'll never know. Reagan, of all people, should have continued the "curse," having been shot and being one of the older Presidents at inauguration, but he didn't.

What I mean by all this is that the circumstances surrounding many things about the Presidency between 1840 and 1960 (or 1980 if you will) were so wild and convoluted that the deaths in office of all elected in years ending in 0 for 120 years is NOT that big of a deal. Things could have easily changed by one or two actions of between one and maybe four individuals (e.g. Lincoln not running or losing in 1864; guard at Fords Theater; better protection of Garfield and McKinley; physical and/or traveling doc for Harding; FDR making the sensible decision not to run in 1944). Even if you were to believe in a curse in the first place, there are far too many contingencies that make one impossible here.

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So.....correlation does not mean causation.

I'm more concerned about the Presidential curse where the President's actions curse us citizens.

Unfortunately, it's not a myth.

Numerology