Curse of Tippecanoe significant person President of the United States
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 presidents who have died in office. 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, though Reagan was shot in 1981. 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 Tenskwatawa at the Battle of Tippecanoe. Rumor has it that he was cursed by Tenskwatawa. The purported curse has been criticized as a coincidental pattern, and a 2009 survey of professional historians found no interest in or insight into the curse.