The story of the so-called Tecumseh curse, although known in the world, is part of the American culture and is taught in schools in history classes. How else to explain the horrifying sequence of seven American presidents who did not live to see the end of their mandates in the strict periods of 20 years.

Death to the elected on zero year

According to folklore, the curse also known as the Tippecanoe Curse, the President Curse or the Curse of the Zero Year arose after the victory over American Indians in the battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. The famous Indian chief Tecumseh and his army was then defeated by the Americans led by General William Henry Harrison, a future presidential candidate. Tecumseh then cursed the American people. According to another version, his brother Tenskwatawa, also known as The Prophet, made the curse. Whoever passed the curse, it went like this: Harrison will die, I tell you. After his every big chief (meaning U.S. presidents) elected in the space of 20 years on the year ending with a zero will die during his term. And each time they die let them remember my people.

Since U.S. presidential elections take place every four years, every 20 years an election takes place on the year ending with a zero.

Frightening series

The general who beat Tecumseh, William Henry Harrison, won in the presidential race in 1840, although the majority did not support him as a favourite. His opponent was the then vice-president for whom many believed would take over the presidential seat. The day when Harrison was giving his inauguration speech it was cold and windy. The speech lasted for an hour and 40 minutes and the new president got a cold. A month later he died of pneumonia. The people became panic-stricken.

To confirm that this was not a fluke, 20 years had to go by and the election for a new president. It was Abraham Lincoln, elected for the first time in 1860. At the beginning of his first mandate he was killed by southern sympathiser John Wilkes Booth.

James Garfield was elected in 1880 and lived through only four months of his term. He was shot dead by the mentally unstable Charles J. Guiteau.

William McKinley was elected in 1900 for his second term as president. After a year and a half he was killed by Leon F. Czolgosz who claimed to be the antichrist. He confessed to the murder, saying that McKinley was the “enemy of the people”.

After World War II the Americans were tired of Wilson and in 1920 elections voted for his total opposite, the decisive Warren G. Harding. He is considered one of the worst American presidents. During his tour Travels to Understand People of America he was struck by a heart attack in San Francisco. He died in his room at the Palace Hotel.

One of the most popular American presidents who was elected as many as four times was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In 1940 he was elected the third time. He died from a brain aneurism soon after he was elected a president the fourth time. Since he was elected as president in the zero year, 1940, his death is also considered to be part of the Tecumseh curse.

The youngest American president John F. Kennedy became president in 1960 in the narrowest presidential race to date. On November 22 1963 he was shot in Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald was accused of the assassination by the Warren Commission. Many still believe that Oswald was just a scapegoat for one of the most famous conspiracies in the 20th century.

The first lady obsessed by the curse

The first president who might have broken the curse was Ronald Reagan, elected in 1980. But, opinions about this case differ. John Hinckley shot him 69 days after he took up office. The wound was severe and doctors said it was touch-and-go. Many say credit for this went to his wife Nancy who was, it was widely known, obsessed by the curse. It was a known secret around the White House that Reagan’s commitments and protocols were ruled by the stars and astrology, about which Nancy was fanatic. Official trips, protocols and receptions were organised according to astrology. Nancy organised public prayers for the life of her husband which a significant number of Americans attended, including Indians. It is believed that this probably broke the Tecumseh curse. Others believe that the curse caught up with him when he died from Alzheimer’s that was caused by his being wounded.

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