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main index Narrative
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Washy Ad Jeffy Maddy Monroe
Ad Jackson Van Hair Ty Po Tay Fil Pear
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Cart Reagan Bush Clinton Dubya
Specifically, the Presidents of the United States of America (and more specifically, the Presidents of the United States under the Constitution). They are, in order:
Despite what Histeria may have said about his being President for one day between Polk and Taylor, any attempts to put David Rice Atchison  on this list will be laughed off in the traditional manner. So will any attempts to add John Hanson or any other presidents of the Continental Congress.
An urban legend, popularized by Ripley's Believe It or Not! in 1931, claims that there is a curse upon the Presidency. This curse, variously known as the "Curse of Tippecanoe", "Tecumseh's Curse" and the "Zero-Year Curse", states that any President who is elected in a year ending in a zero (1840, 1860, etc.) will die in office or have a near miss. It was allegedly placed upon William Henry Harrison by Tecumseh's brother Tenskwatana during the Indian wars and the War Of 1812, in which Harrison won two decisive battles against Tecumseh in present-day Indiana and Ontario (the latter leading to Tecumseh's death). Whatever the curse's validity, it was apparently "broken" by either Ronald Reagan (if deaths alone count), or George W. Bush (if near-misses count as well) as both survived to serve two full terms.
There is also a band called The Presidents of the United States of America, however nobody that has ever served as POTUSA has been so far a member of the band. However, the band members did a parody of the Presidential race in which each member had a campaign video to be elected President...of the Presidents. They did play at the White House, by Chelsea Clinton's request, though. Rumor has it, Bill Clinton played sax with them during that show.
Jonathan Coulton has two songs about them: One ("The Presidents") is simply their names and a small factoid about them, and the other ("Washy Ad Jeffy") is a mnemonic device designed to help you remember their names and how many terms they served (by way of the number of syllables in the name). Other songs include this one from Animaniacs.
With one exception, every American President is descended from Bad King John of England. He's the king from the Robin Hood stories and the one who was forced to sign Magna Carta. The one exception is Martin Van Buren, whose ancestry is Dutch on both sides. All of the other 42 men to hold the executive office have British blood in them that can be traced back to King John. And even then, Van Buren is related to a few other Presidents, so he is still related to King John.
Some Presidents who typically rank very high in "Greatest Presidents" polls include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Some who are usually found at the very bottom include William Henry Harrison, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, and Warren Harding.
For the action film, see Dead Presidents. For the much-desired pictures of dead presidents (plus Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin, who were too controversial and too old, respectively, to ever be President), see American Currency. For the President of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War (which DOES technically make him an American President), see Jefferson Davis.
For the usual presidential "retirement gift", see Presidential Library.
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0 reviews alternative title(s): Dead Presidents; Not So Dead Presidents
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