What is the "Curse of Tippecanoe"?

The "Curse of Tippecanoe" takes its name from the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. William Henry Harrison, the governor of the Indiana Territory fought warriors of the Tecumseh Confederacy. Harrison's army attacked the Confederacy's headquarters at Prophetstown, forcing the Native American warriors to retreat and destroying the settlement. In an account of the aftermath of the battle, Tecumseh's brother Tenskwatawa, known as the Prophet, supposedly set a curse against Harrison and future presidents elected during years with the same end number as Harrison.

William Henry Harrison was elected president in 1840, took office in March 1841 and died the following month. For the next 120 years until 1960, presidents elected during years ending in a zero (occurring every twenty years) died while serving in office.

The curse, first widely noted in a "Ripley's Believe It or Not!" book was published in 1931. After the observation by Ripley, talk of the curse resurfaced as the next cursed election year approached. A cartoon feature, "Strange as it Seems" by John Hix, appeared prior to Election Day 1940, with "Curse over the White House!" A list, running from "1840—Harrison" to "1920—Harding" was followed by "1940—?" and the note that stated "In the last 100 years, Every U.S. President Elected at 20-Year Intervals Has Died In Office!"

The election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 was not followed by his death in office, despite being seriously wounded in an assassination attempt.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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38 Comments

Kitty White

It appears the curse must be broken since Reagan did not die in office and George W Bush is still alive. The following is a list of the Presidents who died in those years. William Henry Harrison elected 1840 died 1841 pneumonia Abraham Lincoln elected 1860 died 1865 assassinated James A Garfield elected 1880 died 1881 assassinated William McKinley elected 1900 died 1901 assassinated Warren G Harding elected 1920 died 1923 stroke or heart attack Franklin D Roosevelt elected 1940 died 1945 cerebral hemorrhage John F Kennedy elected 1960 died 1963 assassinated One other President died while in office, Zachary Taylor. He was elected in 1848.

brezza marina

Kitty White, thanks for this info. You save me the search.

claudia galvez

Wow! Never knew that. Very cool bit of trivia!

tinaloflin

Wierd. And I think it's believable...

carlsmith

That was a good question, the answer choices were a bit far off but the question was good.

scooper

Marcy Youker, actually factual. Look it up.

Terri Clere

Tippecanoe and Tyler too!

allen s dohner

After Ronald Reagan left office in 1989 there was a news report that he had "flatlined" for 30 seconds on the operating table. ???!!!

vasily tchaikovsky

"William Henry Harrison was elected president in 1840, took office in March 1841 and died the following month. For the next 120 years until 1960, presidents elected during years ending in a zero (occurring every twenty years) died while serving in office. (Ronald Reagan 1980 included.) D.T.should keep this in mind 2020 election amazing stories God bless our Prez. and America

Arthur Wesselman

Robert Fuller, "Tippecanoe" was the nickname given to William Henry Harrison, who emerged victorious at the battle of Tippecanoe on the Wabash River, fighting the Indians led by Tecumseh. He was later elected President in 1840, and died one month later of pneumonia after giving a long inauguration speech without an overcoat in March of 1841. Thus began the curse of the Presidents elected every 20 years dying, until Ronald Reagan ended it by serving out his two terms after having been elected in 1980.

Arthur Wesselman

Robert Fuller, Every President up to AND THROUGH 1960, elected in years followed by a zero, died while in office. Ended by Ronald Reagan's election in 1980 , though he suffered a serious gunshot wound.

Yevette Allen

Missed it, never heard of it

Jon Woolery

Way back when, I knew of the curse but hadn’t associated it with “Tippecanoe.”

Robert Fuller

I didn't know it was called the "Curse of Tippecanoe." I just knew that from 1840 to 1960 every president elected in a year ending in 0 died in office.