William Henry Harrison was the 9th President of the United States. He made his mark. prior to becoming President, as an indian fighter. After becoming Governor of the Indian Territories he became President in 1840.

Joe Biden, the nation’s current president, was inaugurated 61 days after turning 78. William Henry Harrison was 67 and was, at the time. the oldest man to be elected.

Harrison was nicknamed “Old Tippecanoe” and ran for president with the slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too”. He led the U.S. Army into the battle of Tippecanoe against the Indian Confederacy which was led by Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet. They attacked Harrison and his forces while they slept, but the future president was able to stop the attack. Harrison then burned the Indian village of Prophetstown in retaliation. This is the source of ‘Tecumseh’s Curse’ which would later be cited upon Harrison’s untimely death.

While having a brilliant mind for military tactics and strategy, the man didn’t have much common sense. To prove he was healthy and robust he attended his inauguration without an overcoat or even a hat. It was a cold March day in Washington and he was caught in a downpour. He died from the cold that developed one month later on April 4, 1841. The shortest presidency in history.

Tecumseh’s curse is a strange one. It says that any president elected in a year that ends in a zero will not finish their term. All seven presidents who were elected in a year that ended in a zero were either assassinated or died in office until 1980 when Ronald Reagan survived an assassination attempt and finished out his term. Victims include Abraham Lincoln (1850, assassinated), James Garfield (1880, assassinated), William McKinley (1900, assassinated), Warren G, Harding (1920, stroke), Franklin Roosevelt (1940, cerebral hemorrhage) and John F. Kennedy (1960, assassinated).

George W. Bush, elected in the year of 2000, survived two assassination attempts during his two terms in office. Perhaps the curse is broken.

The next president elected in a year ending in zero is Joe Biden, elected in 2020. Every President since Nixon has been the target of at least one assassination plot.