debenedi (02/11/83)
Is anyone out there familiar with the pattern of presiden's dying in office every 20 year's? I don't know much about it, but supposedly, every president whos term begins in a year divisible by 20 (1980, 1960, 1940, etc) has died in office. If this is a well established pattern, How Many People Think Reagan Will Die? I'd like to read more info. on this if anyone has it. Post it to the net. Robert DeBenedictis yale-comix!debenedi linus!rjd
alb (02/12/83)
Your article has one trivial flaw but is essentially correct. The 'Zero Factor' as it is commonly called relates to the phenomena that every President ELECTED in a year evenly divisible by 20 has died in office (note that all Presidential terms BEGIN in years with the last digit of 1 -- 1981, 1961, etc)
gh (02/12/83)
Reagan is safe, then, because his term did not begin in 1980, but 1981. In fact, no president's term has ever begun in a year divisible by 20, which is just as well if what Robert DeBenedictis says is true. Nitpicking aside: It is true that every president *elected* in a year divisible by 20 has died in office since Harrison, in 1841. Jefferson (1800) and Monroe (1820) did not. Perhaps Reagan should commission a study to find out what their survival secret was! Graeme Hirst, Brown CS
freeman (02/12/83)
The origin of the Twenty Year Curse dates back to an Indian curse placed
on Indian fighter turned President William H. Harrison in 1840. Reagan's
age seems the perfect excuse for the continuation of the curse. The last
time I discussed this I found myself betting $100 that he would survive
his first term in office. Whether or not I should hope to win my bet
is debatable but according to the rule, a second term death satisfies
the curse (i.e. Lincoln). At any rate, 120 years of a coincidence
is enough to make anybody wonder.
- Andrew Freemankarn (02/13/83)
The way things are going, Reagan IS likely to die in office. Unfortunately, however, a lot of us will probably go with him. Think about it. Phil
hdt (02/14/83)
The problem with these ''patterns'' is that they disappear as soon as they are made public. [The 20 year thing was first made public between 1960 and now, and the New Hampshire primaries was first generally made public recently.] Otherwise, I'd tell you all what factors infuence the dow the most...
mam (02/14/83)
Not all of the presidents in the 20-year phenomenon were shot at. WH Harrison died of pneumonia (caught while riding a horse in his own innaugural parade), and FDR wasn't shot at either.
geo (02/15/83)
The original article asked for pointers to any information on the trend of American presidents who were born in years ending in 0 to die in office. I believe Martin Gardner commented on this in his Mathematical Games column in Scientific American. As I recall, his comments were expressed through an interview with his good friend "Dr. Matrix, the world famous numerologist", so a good place to look would be in his book "The incredible Dr. Matrix" (Scribners 1976). I believe you will find any other references to be people's recollections of this article. Cordially, Geo Swan, Integrated Studies, University of Waterloo
ljs (02/15/83)
The following is exerpted from astrologer Freda Flood's column in the January 6, 1983 edition of The Lincoln Herald, a local paper: "Every president elected to office every 20 years, when Saturn conjuncts Jupiter in earth signs, died in office. In 1860, Lincoln; 1880, Garfield; 1900, McKinley; 1920, Harding; 1940, Roosevelt; 1960, Kennedy. Since the planetary conjunction occurred in an air sign in 1980, it is believed that President Reagan may escape the death cycle."
jdd (02/16/83)
I remember reading a description of the 20-year trend in
Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not when I was in grade school.
I was quite impressed later when Kennedy died.
Cheers,
John ("Tripping Down Memory Lane") DeTreville
Bell ("WDCWDHTWTPC") Labs, Murray Hillmmt (02/18/83)
=============================== The problem with these ''patterns'' is that they disappear as soon as they are made public. [The 20 year thing was first made public between 1960 and now, and the New Hampshire primaries was first generally made public recently.] =============================== Actually, people speculated on the 20-year Presidential deaths before Kennedy was elected, and perhaps before Roosevelt, though I don't know that at first hand. You could look through old popular magazines of the time if you are interested. But it is true that most patterns are observed after the fact.
mclure (03/09/83)
#R:yale-com:-86700:sri-unix:1300009:000:76 sri-unix!mclure Feb 12 01:18:00 1983 I thought it went back even further than 1940. Statistics someone? Stuart
dje (03/11/83)
It goes all the way back to 1840. Here's the complete list: 1840 William Henry Harrison 1860 Abraham Lincoln (2nd term) 1880 James A. Garfield 1900 William McKinley 1920 Warren G. Harding 1940 Franklin D. Roosevelt (following term) 1960 John F. Kennedy 1980 (Ronald Reagan?) Dave Ellis Bell Labs, Piscataway NJ ...harpo!npoiv!npois!houxm!5941ux!dje