I’m Mr. Beat Is President Joe Biden going to die soon?
No, it’s not what you think.
I’m not referring to his old age.
Yes, most of us know Biden was the oldest President in American history the moment he
was sworn in.
No, I’m talking about a tragic, unexpected end.
An assassination.
Or a car crash, or maybe a sudden illness.
The reason I bring this up is because of what’s known as the Curse of Tippecanoe...also known
as Tecumseh’s Curse, or the 20-Year Presidential Curse.
The Curse of Tippecanoe is the supposed pattern of deaths in office of every single American
President elected in a year ending in zero going back to the 1840 election.
But is it truly a curse?
Or just...ya know...another weird series of coincidences.
Well let’s go back and learn about Tippecanoe and Tecumseh.
Well Tippecanoe was actually a nickname for William Henry Harrison, the 9th President
of the United States and the one who was actually President the least amount of time.
Before he was President, Harrison was Governor of the Indiana Territory.
As more and more American settlers moved into his territory, they encroached on Native American
land.
In particular, the land of various Shawnee tribes.
Two brothers led these Shawnee tribes- Tenskwatawa, aka The Prophet, and Tecumseh, aka as The
Uniter.
Ok I made that nickname up, but Tecumseh did travel far and wide to form a Native American
confederacy to unite against the Americans stealing their land.
In 1810, he met with William Henry Harrison at Harrison’s house.
Tecumseh demanded land be returned to various tribes, but Harrison insisted that deals were
made and money was paid so it was all good.
Long story short, the meeting didn’t end well, and Tecumseh left angry, basically giving
an ultimatum.
If the Americans didn’t return the land, he would seek an alliance with the British
and fight back.
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Ok, where were we?
Oh yes, Tecumseh.
On November 7, 1811, as Tecumseh was in the process of recruiting more allies to join
his confederacy, William Henry Harrison led a command of around 1,000 men and attacked
Tecumseh’s confederacy’s headquarters at Prophetstown, located near the Tippecanoe
River.
Tenskwatawa was there, but apparently not the best military leader, and his warriors
were outnumbered anyway.
Harrison’s men ended up destroying much of Prophetstown.
Dozens were killed in what became known as the Battle of Tippecanoe.
It was a win for the Americans so decisive that afterward Harrison got that nickname
“Tippecanoe.”
In fact, when he ran for President with John Tyler as his running mate 29 years later,
his campaign slogan was “Tippecanoe and Tyler too.”
Anyway, Tecumseh never forgot what Harrison had done to Prophetstown in the Battle of
Tippecanoe.
Now, it’s important to recognize that this cannot be verified, but according to legend,
after Tecumseh was later killed in the Battle of the Thames during the War of 1812, Tenskwatawa
set a curse against Harrison and all future Presidents of the United States elected during
years that end in zero.
Remember, Tenskwatawa was The Prophet.
He could supposedly predict stuff, man.
Before Tenskwatawa died in 1836, he supposedly said “Harrison will die I tell you, and
after him, every Great Chief chosen every 20 years thereafter will die.
And when each one dies, let everyone remember the death of my people.”
Ok, again...there’s no proof The Prophet ever said that, but it’s fun to pretend
he DID, isn’t it?
Regardless, guess what happened?
In 1840, William Henry Harrison does get elected President, but after just 31 days in office,
dies from pneumonia.
He is the first American President in history to die while in office.
Flash forward 20 years later, and Abraham Lincoln is elected President.
Lincoln is assassinated after being re-elected on April 15, 1865.
He is the first American President in history to be assassinated.
20 years after Lincoln is first elected, James Garfield is elected President.
Garfield is the second President assassinated, on September 19, 1881.
20 years after Garfield is elected, William McKinley is re-elected President.
He is the third President assassinated, on September 14, 1901.
20 years after McKinley is re-elected, Warren Harding is elected President.
Harding dies of a heart attack on August 2, 1923.
20 years after Harding was elected President, Franklin Roosevelt is re-elected for an unprecedented
third term.
On April 12, 1945, after being re-elected an unprecedented FOURTH term, he dies of cerebral
hemorrhage.
20 years after Roosevelt is re-elected a third time, John F. Kennedy is elected President.
Kennedy is the fourth President assassinated, on November 22, 1963.
20 years after Kennedy is elected, Ronald Reagan is elected President.
Reagan is assassinated on March 30, 1981.
Wait hold up.
Reagan didn’t die because of that shooting.
He survived the shooting!
The curse is broken!
So yeah, Reagan went on to live 15 more years after he left the Presidency.
In 2000, George W. Bush was elected President, and he ALSO didn’t die during his Presidency.
In fact, he’s still alive.
Now, many people don’t know there was also an assassination attempt on Bush.
No, I’m not talking about the shoe incident.
I’m talking about the time a BOMB was thrown at Dubya, not a shoe.
Yep, a dude from Georgia...not the state, but Georgia the country, threw a hand grenade
at him and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on May 10, 2005.
The grenade did not detonate, though.
So if Biden survives his Presidency, I guess there is no doubt that the curse has been
broken since Reagan.
So obviously there are a lot of coincidences here, but there are plenty of folks who criticize
the so-called Curse of Tippecanoe.
There are logical fallacies left and right.
This supposed curse is an example of confusing correlation with causation, cherry picking
information to fit a narrative, and moving the goalposts in order to make the narrative
work.
This is a similar case to all those Lincoln-JFK coincidences.
While the Curse of Tippecanoe is fascinating, the closer you look at it, the less fascinating
it becomes.
For example, what about Zachary Taylor?
He died while in office but was elected in 1848.
What about the fact that FDR was still in office LONGER THAN ANY OTHER PRESIDENT AND
LITERALLY DID MORE AND HAD MORE OF AN EFFECT ON THE COUNTRY THAN ANY OTHER PRESIDENT?
What about the fact that all the Presidents died in different ways and in different situations?
What about all the Presidents who survived assassination attempts not elected in years
ending in zero?
Most importantly, what about the fact that we don’t have good evidence that The Prophet
even placed such a curse?
Regardless, the Curse of Tippecanoe is fascinating and fun to bring up at parties.
Try it some time.
You’ll be the coolest person at the party, I promise.
Oh, and President Biden….um, just be careful out there, ok?
So what do YOU think about Tecumseh’s curse?
Let me know in the comments below.
Also, did you know I have a Twitter?
It’s true.
I’m a professional Tweeter.
Follow my Twitter if that’s your gravy.
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Join us.
Links in the ob la di ob la da.
Thanks for watching!