DBWI: Fourth Term Curse?

As we all know, Franklin Delano Roosevelt shattered the previous tradition that Presidents only run for two terms. Since then, Presidents have been virtually unlimited in how many terms they are allowed to run for. However as fate would have it, no President has ever finished his fourth term.

FDR 1933-1945 (died a three months into his fourth term)
Harry Truman 1945-1953 (finished FDR's fourth term and won one term of his own)
Dwight Eisenhower 1953-1967 (died halfway through his fourth term)
Richard Nixon 1967-1977 (finished Eisenhower's fourth term and won two terms of his own before being defeated by Kennedy)
John F. Kennedy 1977-1989 (assassinated 10 months into his fourth term)
Jimmy Carter 1989-1993 (finished Kennedy's fourth term and was defeated for re-election by Bush)
George Bush 1993-1997 (Won only one term and lost re-election to Clinton)
Bill Clinton 1996-present

This has become known as the "Fourth Term Curse." Do you believe in the Curse? You know President Clinton has to be worried as he starts his fourth term, even though he does seem to be in perfect health. What do you think of Vice President Kerry if (God forbid) he has to finish up Clinton's term?
 
not really sure if there is evidence enough to declare that there is a curse. Sixteen years is a long time, especially in politics. It's enough time for the stress of being President to get to you, or for a health condition to crop up, or for the country to get disenchanted with you and your administration. Take Eisenhower, for instance. I don't know why he ran a fourth time; it was pretty clear that his health was in decline even at the start of his third. And every president who died in office from Roosevelt on, his VP has gone on to lose sooner or later.
 
Well, It seems rise in tensions following President Clinton's putting extra funding into the fight against the Puerto Rican Insurrection that that could be what does him in assassination wise. I mean, it wouldn't be a new precedent for them to try and assassinate a President. They tried Truman and Bush......
 
I agree with Atreus. More than anything it's just bad health, not a curse.
As for Clinton, he did have open heart surgery back in 2004, which as we all remeber nearly caused him to chose not to run for a third term. He made it through okay, and he seems healthy now. But I expect that to change over the next few years...
 
Yeah, but no one has ever died in their third term. And no one has died in their first or second term since Harding over 80 years ago. Yet every single President that has gone for four has died before it ends. I know that three isn't exactly a lot to go on, but it is still a bit weird.
 
Yeah, but no one has ever died in their third term. And no one has died in their first or second term since Harding over 80 years ago. Yet every single President that has gone for four has died before it ends. I know that three isn't exactly a lot to go on, but it is still a bit weird.

Probability. In you'r fourth term, you are that much older; you've given that many more crackpots a chance to take a shot at you, etc...

It's human nature to see patterns in random or meaningless things. Doesn't mean that there is a curse.

And if you need further proof, unlike, say, the curse of tippecanoe, there isn't a good origin story for this curse. Everybody knows that all good curses need a good origin story.
 
And if you need further proof, unlike, say, the curse of tippecanoe, there isn't a good origin story for this curse. Everybody knows that all good curses need a good origin story.
If there actually was a curse, I would say the curse of tippecanoe would be one. I mean, its held true ever since its start.

On the other hand, if the curse actually holds, we might see Clinton's death this term making both curses true!:eek:
 
If there actually was a curse, I would say the curse of tippecanoe would be one. I mean, its held true ever since its start.

On the other hand, if the curse actually holds, we might see Clinton's death this term making both curses true!:eek:

OOC: Funny. When I came up with the Presidential list I didn't even notice that I kept the Tippecanoe curse going. :D

IC: That would be interesting. Maybe he could get assassinated at Game 7 of a Cubs-Red Sox World Series. Then a distraught nation would cancel the rest of the game, declare the series a tie, and keep two more curses going.
 
OOC - What is the curse of Tippecanoe?

OOC: According to legend, a curse was placed on the white house whereby those elected during a year ending in a zero would die in office. Named for the battle where William Henry Harrison (first alleged victim) defeated the native american leader Tecumseh.

A brief history of the curse:

1840: William Henry Harrison- dies of pneumonia.
1860: Abraham Lincoln- Assassinated
1880: James Garfield- Assassinated
1900: William McKinley- Assassinated
1920: Warren Harding- Heart Attack*
1940: Franklin D. Roosevelt- Cerebral Hemorrage
1960: John F. Kennedy- Assassinated
1980: Ronald Reagan: Survives failed assassination attempt
2000: George W. Bush- You know this

Oh, and TheSevenLeggedFallyDowner:
I'm not that surprised that the curse of tippecanoe is still around ITTL. If we are dealing with a timeline where presidents are fairly often elected four times consecutivly, odds are that any given president who serves four terms is going to be elected in a year ending with 0 at some point, and thus eligible for the curse. And if nobody survives to the end of the fourth term...

:eek:

*its sometimes theorized that he was assassinated, but never proven.

IC: Wasn't the guy who shot kennedy trying to keep the curse of tippecanoe alive, or something? Or am I confusing him with somebody?
 
Add this:

1800 - Thomas Jefferson elected by the House, without the electoral college

1820 - James Monroe elected without opposition, the only "zero" president elected without irregularity.

OOC: And it is not fantasy. Rumors attract loonies, so that is why Hinkley shot Reagan.
 
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