# Nooo, Tippecanoe, how could you fail us?! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 19, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017 "2009-01-19T18:14:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/1 "2009-01-19T18:14:18Z")
> **[Curse of Tippecanoe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_Tippecanoe)** > > 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 divisible by 20. According to the legend, Tenskwatawa, leader of Native American tribes defeated in 1811 at the Battle of Tippecanoe by a military expedition led by Harrison, had cursed the "Great White Fathers". > Since 1840, eight presidents have died in office. Seven of them were elected in yea... As most of you know, every President elected in a year ending in zero, since 1840, has been assassinated or otherwise died in office. (Of the 7 presidents who’ve died in office, 6 were elected in a year that’s a multiple of 20.) The exception that proves the rule being Reagan, who was almost killed. And now, Bush puts an end to a century and a half of history. Damn you! And to think, you better than anyone had it coming. Ok, fess up, which doper here got over his hots for Jodie Foster prematurely? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/2 "2009-01-19T18:16:39Z")
Count your blessings. If he’d died in office, we would never have heard the end of it. Also: President Cheney. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/3 "2009-01-19T18:18:37Z")
Actually, Reagan would only qualify as the exception that proves the rule if the curse was stated like “Any president elected in a year divisible by 10 who never costarred with a monkey…” And, having seen _The Brave One,_ I have to admit that I have not yet gotten over the hots for Jodie Foster, nor do I hope to any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/4 "2009-01-19T18:19:38Z")
And, of course, at this point, the only benefit from that would be a limiting of the Bush pardons on his way out. And, of course, the lionization of him afterward. No, I’m much happier w/him going off into the brush to wait for history to roundly condemn him. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/5 "2009-01-19T18:28:33Z")
Plus, there’s that minor difficulty about Bush’s have actually been elected in 2000. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/6 "2009-01-19T18:32:08Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Plus, there’s that minor difficulty about Bush’s have actually been elected in 2000. So you’re saying Al Gore should fall over dead sometime today? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/7 "2009-01-19T18:32:42Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Plus, there’s that minor difficulty about Bush’s have actually been elected in 2000. Good point. We finally have incontrovertible proof he stole the election. Otherwise he would have died in office. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/8 "2009-01-19T18:46:17Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Count your blessings. If he’d died in office, we would never have heard the end of it. Also: President Cheney. Yeah. I shudder to think how horrible things might’ve been if _Dick Cheney_ were the one in charge! ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/9 "2009-01-19T18:46:24Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Good point. We finally have incontrovertible proof he stole the election. Otherwise he would have died in office. Atheists everywhere are given pause. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/10 "2009-01-19T18:49:30Z")
There is still one day left. What a henhouse of chaos that would be if Bush took a bullet and Cheney grabbed the reigns. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/11 "2009-01-19T19:08:31Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > There is still one day left. What a henhouse of chaos that would be if Bush took a bullet and Cheney grabbed the reigns. Reins – unless you were making the leetle joke? Man, I don’t want Cheney to be President for even one day. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/12 "2009-01-19T19:16:14Z")
“I only have one day? Okay, we’re going to have to work fast. Get the executioner up here pronto!” ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/13 "2009-01-19T19:28:09Z")
Maybe the curse works kind of like leap years, in that years evenly divisible by 400 are not included? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/14 "2009-01-19T19:30:28Z")
Sheesh, ever since 1980, we Christian Righties have been fighting to break the Curse by dedicated prayers. It’s obvious- We won! ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/15 "2009-01-19T20:36:05Z")
> [@Alex\_Dubinsky](#): > > (Of the 7 presidents who’ve died in office, 6 were elected in a year that’s a multiple of 20.) 7 out of 8, actually. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/16 "2009-01-20T00:11:51Z")
There _was_ his close brush with a killer pretzel. Nah, I think even the usually-malign fates gagged over the prospect of President Cheney. (Gad, my fingers feel filthy even typing it.) ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/17 "2009-01-20T02:15:28Z")
Looks like the curse is just weakening. Reagan managed to barely survive it, and now instead of Bush getting assassinated via shooting, he gets slightly bruised via _shoe_ing. They just don’t make curses like they used to. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/18 "2009-01-20T05:32:43Z")
> [@](#): > > And to think, you better than anyone had it coming. Dying’s easy. Spending the next forty years outside of the bubble and hearing everyone call him the worst President ever is what Bush deserves at this point. That and having to sweat out every four years worrying that the next President might decide to sign his extradiction order. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/19 "2009-01-20T08:20:34Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Sheesh, ever since 1980, we Christian Righties have been fighting to break the Curse by dedicated prayers. It’s obvious- We won! You w-- . . . wait a minute, is that a confession? I didn’t think you were a Catholic, **FriarTed**. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017/20 "2009-01-20T08:28:30Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > henhouse of chaos Band name! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nooo-tippecanoe-how-could-you-fail-us/482017.md?page=2)