Tecumseh's Curse.

[coloradodem2005]

Tecumseh prophecied that Harrison would not win the presidency "to be the Great Chief" of America. However he would win one day, and then die in office. Furthermore they swore that every president who was elected every twenty years would suffer a similar fate. They hoped this curse would keep alive the memory of the death of the Indian Nation, and point a finger at its cause.
<snip>

William Harrison was elected several decades later in 1840. He died the following April of pneumonia. His successor was Vice President John Tyler. Twenty years later in 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president, and then assassinated five years later by John Wilkes Booth. Vice President Andrew Johnson took his place.

In 1880 James Garfield became president, only to be assassinated the following summer. Chester Arthur was his VP. In 1900 William McKinley was next to fall to the curse, replaced in September of 1901 by Theodore Roosevelt. 1920 was Warren Harding's turn. He became president, and in August of 1923 he became fatally ill due to food poisoning. Calvin Coolidge stepped in as his successor.

The same year Warren Harding became president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt had been appointed the Democrat nominee for Vice President. Although the Republicans won that year, FDR had already been tapped to be on the fast track to the presidency. His fate was all but sealed. In 1921, FDR was stricken with polio. He valiantly fought the illness and served his political party and his country with honor and distinction. He was elected USA's 32nd president to his first term in office seven years later. All in all Franklin Delano Roosevelt would be elected to serve four terms; 1932, 1936 1940 and 1944. FDR steered the american people through world war two and the great depression.

However, throughout his presidency, FDR's health continued to deteriorate. By the time America entered World War Two full throttle, the Commander-In-Chief was using a wheelchair. On April 12, 1945, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia, and Harry Truman took his place. It is because of FDR's valiant but heart wrenching story that the congress later ammended the constitution, so that no one man could ever serve more than two consecutive terms as president.

The assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 is well documented elsewhere, but the truth will never fully be known. I will not dwell more upon it here. His vice president was Lyndon Johnson. JFK was elected in 1960. The most recent victim of the Tecumseh Curse is by many people's beliefs the end of it. Ronald Reagan was elected president of the United States in 1980, and served two full terms, leaving office very much alive. However, on March of 1981 an assassination attempt was made on his life. It is believed by some that the prayers of the American people, and his own faith in God, defeated the curse. Others believe this is all simply a strange coincidence and there never was a curse. Irregardless, The Presidential Curse that had killed seven presidents as vowed by Tecumseh's brother may have come to its end.

However, the most recent presidential election may be viewed as the final stand. The year 2000 may decide the validity and fate of The Twenty Year Jinx once and for all. The political climate is ripe for an assassination. As of this writing it is still unclear whether Al Gore or George W. Bush will become the next president of the United States.
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Tecumseh and The Prophet spoke over 160 years ago. Does the voice of their curse still echo clearly even today?

We'll see the answer clearly by 2020.

Added August 25th, 2002:
Halfway into his first term, President George W. Bush is still going strong and still making enemies, but despite the Taleban and a particularly nasty pretzel, there's no indication the Tecumseh Curse is an issue. It may still be too early to tell, but if Shrub makes it to November 2004 alive without getting re-elected, we can finally say without question that The Twenty Year Jinx is definitely over. History can opt to just call it a strange coincidence, but there will always be people who believe otherwise. I for one couldn't tell ya one way or the other.

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http://everything2.com/index.pl

[Renew Deal]

1. He would have to make it to Jan. 20 2005 at minimum

before you can say it's over. I personally hope we beat him before he bites it.

[aquart]

2. Maybe you have to be ELECTED.

However, small discrepancy: "It is because of FDR's valiant but heart wrenching story that the congress later ammended the constitution, so that no one man could ever serve more than two consecutive terms as president."

Bull flaming cookies. The Republicans never wanted another Democrat to hold power so damned long. Bit them in the ass with Reagan. They could have run the grinning idiot at least another four years.

[Virginian]

4. I stated your argument on this topic once before and

a reply to my statement was "He was elected, the vote was 5 to 4."
It was an astrology thread and they also said his stars would line up so that next January would be a really bad time for him. Something about being disgraced at that time.

[coloradodem2005]

5. What about November?

Would that not be a bad time for him?

[Jack Rabbit]

6. True.

The man elected president in 2000 was never allowed to serve. Now that's cutting a term in office short!

Otherwise, Reagan was brain dead throughout his eight years in office.

[murielm99]

3. If the twenty year jinx is real, then

Gore will be the one to die. I hope not, though.

[Wapsie B]

7. I've said it before

and I'll say it again. The last thing on this earth I want is for chimpy to meet with an untimely demise, whether he be elected or not.
I want this animal to live a long life. Let him dwell on this hell he has put us in.

[bubba_fett]

8. Correction

...Ronald Reagan was elected president of the United States in 1980, and served two full terms, leaving office very much alive. However, on March of 1981 an assassination attempt was made on his life. It is believed by some that the prayers of the American people, and his own faith in God, defeated the curse. Others believe this is all simply a strange coincidence and there never was a curse....

I don't think raygun had any faith in god, he just said he did to get his hands on that sweet, sweet christian vote. He probably had more faith in astrology than in a christian god.