Mountain Monthly
Cloudcroft NM
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Set It Off

By Arlan Ponder
     Let me start off by sending my thanks and all my love to someone who truly deserves it — my wife. In February, we will celebrate something most people of our generation don’t — 15 years of marriage. We made it...and my mother didn’t even give us 15 minutes.
     Now on to my latest rant...As I watched the second inauguration of President Bush, I was reminded of a class I took in college. In this class we studied the presidency in detail, even something referred to as the 20-year Curse or the Curse of Tecumseh.
     Since the first American-born president placed his hand on the Bible and uttered the Oath of Office, every president who has been elected in a zero ending year has “technically” died in office. Yes, even ole’ Ronnie was dead for a brief time in 1985, but I will get to that later.
     The 20-year curse, as it is known to historians, baffles and amazes history lovers and conspiracy theorist alike as they attempt to understand and explain the untimely deaths of seven men who have served as Commander-in-Chief.
     According to a legend that started the curse, William Henry Harrison gathered an army in 1811 and marched against a pair of Indian leaders (one known as The Prophet and his brother Tecumseh) who were attempting to unite the Shawnee Indian tribes. In the battle of Tippecanoe, the Shawnees were slaughtered by the Harrison led army and in a later battle, The Prophet was killed. Tecumseh continued to fight against the Americans in the War of 1812.
     In 1840, when Harrison was elected president, the aging Tecumseh was enraged and placed a curse on his nemesis. The curse was said to be placed on every president that is elected in a year which ends in zero, and that the president will die an untimely death.
     Exhausted from the campaign trail and too proud to accept his frailty, Harrison (Whig Party) refused to wear an overcoat on the freezing, rainy morning of his inauguration. With in a month of the ceremony, the ninth president was dead.
     Abraham Lincoln (Republican) was elected in 1860 and was shot by John Wilkes Booth five nights after Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered on the steps of the Appomattox Court House. The 16th president died just as the sun was rising the next morning.
     James A. Garfield, the 20th President, was assassinated at the railroad station in Washington on the way to his 25th reunion at Williams University. He was shot in the back by a crazed disappointed office-seeker who shouted, “I am a Stalwart and Arthur is president now!” Garfield (Republican) remained alive until September 19th and the gunman was correct, Arthur was president.
     William McKinley (Republican) was re-elected to his second term in 1900 following a first term that was filled with successful trade agreements and the Spanish-American War. He was gunned down by an anarchist at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. The 25th president was dead eight days later from the gunshot wound.
     Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president and probably one of the greatest presidents of the 20th Century, was reelected to a third term in 1940. He almost lived long enough after his unprecedented election to a fourth term to see the Axis powers defeated, but his life was cut short. Roosevelt (Democrat) fell victim to the ailments he had struggled with for years.
     The death of the 35th president, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, is still shrouded in mystery to this day. He was the youngest Democrat and the youngest man to ever take the oath. On November 23rd, 1963, in Dallas, he was cut-down while his wife and the nation watched.
     So now you have the history and it should have ended when Reagan, the 40th president, survived through his second term, but here is where it gets technical. Some people believe the curse was broken and Bush has nothing to worry about. But let’s look at some interesting facts about the former Hollywood hunk.
     Reagan was almost killed in 1981 by a wound similar to the one Garfield sustained, the bullet stopping only a few inches from his heart, but he was rushed to a modern facility and saved. Although Walter Cronkite and a number of other journalists declared him dead, this is not where the curse ends.
     In 1985, when Reagan underwent surgery, George H. W. Bush was sworn in as president for eight hours. This was done because Reagan’s surgery would require his heart to be stopped for a brief time and he would be placed under anesthesia, which would render him incapable of running the country.
     So with this information in mind, is the curse still technically in effect because Reagan was succeeded by his vice president, albeit for eight hours? Who knows, but I ask you this question. If you had the opportunity to trade places with Bush would you?

Arlan is the managing editor of the Mountain Monthly and can be reached via e-mail.