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7.1 Abraham Lincoln and John Kennedy7.1.1. Similarities Between Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy
7.1.1 Similarities Between Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy
I have received several requests for information I have comparing the lives and deaths of Lincoln and Kennedy. I got this information from Roger Norton, who has a Lincoln site.
I have not verified all this information, so please let me know if you find errors. Notes which I have inserted are in red. I will continue to update this information as I find errors or information which cannot be verified. [coincidences]
Life: 1. Both presidents had seven letters in their last names.[The odds of selecting two presidents names randomly that have the same number of letters is about 15% (roughly one chance in seven). If the first name selected has seven letters, the odds increase to 17.5% that the second name will contain seven letters.] 2. Both were over 6 feet tall.(This is true of 18 of the presidents [FFTP 7].The odds of randomly selecting two presidents, out of 41, who were both over 6 feet tall is 19%) 3. Both were athletic men.(in their youths, and most presidents were also) 4. Both enjoyed sitting in rocking chairs. 5. Both were known for their quick wit. 6. Both liked to quote the Bible. 7. Both liked to quote Shakespeare. 8. Both could express themselves well. Kennedy won the Pulitzer Prize and many of Lincoln's works are considered classics. 9. Both seemed to have lazy eye muscles which would sometimes cause one to deviate. 10. Both suffered from genetic diseases. It is suspected that Lincoln had Marfan's disease (still unproven [HP 91, 96]) and Kennedy suffered from Addison's disease.(This is now generally accepted [HP 240-244]) 11. Both served in the military.(This is true of 29 of the presidents [BPL 17] The odds of randomly selecting two presidents, out of 41, who both served in the military is 51%) Lincoln was a scout captain in the Black Hawk War and Kennedy served as a naval lieutenant in World War II. 12. Both were boat captains. Lincoln was skipper of the Talisman, a Mississippi River boat, and Kennedy was skipper of PT 109. 13. Neither president was known to carry money and constantly borrowed funds from friends. 14. Both had no fear of their mortality and disdained bodyguards. 15. Both often stated how easy it would be to shoot a president. 16. Both received many letters threatening their lives. In the year of his death, Lincoln received over 80 letters. In the year of his death, Kennedy received over 800 letters.
Death: 17. Both presidents were shot in the head. 18. Both were shot on a Friday. 19. In each case, that Friday was one before a holiday. Lincoln was shot on Good Friday and Kennedy was shot on the Friday before Thanksgiving. 20. Both were seated beside their wives when shot. 21. Neither Mrs. Lincoln nor Mrs. Kennedy were injured. 22. Both wives held the bullet-torn heads of their husbands. 23. Both presidents were in the company of another couple when shot. 24. In each case, the man was injured but not fatally. Major Rathbone was slashed by a knife and Governor Connally was shot. 25. Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theater. Kennedy was shot in a Ford product, a Lincoln limousine.[killed] 26. Lincoln sat in Box 7 at Ford's Theater. Kennedy rode in car 7 in the Dallas motorcade. 27. Both presidents received the best medical attention available. 28. Both received closed chest massage. 29. Both presidents died in a place with the initials P and H. Lincoln died in the Peterson House and Kennedy died in Parkland Hospital. 30. The wives of both presidents were with them when they died. 31. Autopsies were performed on both presidents. 32. Both autopsies were performed by military personnel. 33. Both Lincoln and Kennedy were buried in mahogany caskets. 34. The bodies of both presidents rested on the same catafalque and caisson. 35. Mrs. Kennedy insisted that her husband's funeral mirror Lincoln's as closely as possible.(Given #35, #33 and #34 are not coincidences, but were planned.)
The Assassins: 36. Both assassins had three names: John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald. 37. There are 15 letters in each assassin's name. 38. Both assassins struck in their mid-twenties. Booth was born in 1838 and Oswald was born in 1939. 39. Each assassin lacked a strong father figure in his life. Booth's father died when he was 13 years old and Oswald's died before he was born. 40. Each assassin had two brothers whose careers he coveted. Booth's two brothers were more successful actors and Oswald envied his brothers' military lives. 41. Both assassins were privates in the military. Booth was a private in Virginia militia and Oswald was a private in the Marine Corps. 42. Both assassins were born in the South. 43. Both assassins were known sympathizers to enemies of the United States. Booth supported the Confederacy and Oswald was a Marxist. 44. Both assassins were fond of writing down their thoughts; Booth kept a diary and Oswald kept a journal. 45. Both assassins often used aliases. Booth frequently used "J. Wilkes" and Oswald used the name "Alek J. Hidell." 46. Both assassins knew of their victims' whereabouts by reading of it in the newspapers. 47. Both assassins planned their deed well. 48. Booth shot Lincoln at a theater and was cornered in a warehouse. Oswald shot Kennedy from a warehouse and was cornered in a theater. 49. The handyman, bill distributor, and part-time concession operator at Ford's Theater was Joseph "Peanuts John" Burroughs. The concession stand operator at the Texas Theater was Butch Burroughs. 50. Booth was aided in his escape from Washington by Oswald (Oswell) Swan and Lewis Paine (also known as Payne). Oswald got his job at the School- book Depository through the aid of Mrs. Ruth Paine, his landlady. 51. Each assassin was detained by an officer named Baker. Lt. Luther B. Baker was the leader of the cavalry patrol which trapped Booth at Garrett's barn. Officer Marion L. Baker, a Dallas motorcycle patrolman, briefly detained Oswald on the second floor of the School Depository until he learned that he worked there. 52. Both assassins envisioned their deeds as a way to glory and fame. 53. Both assassins received their fame posthumously since they were shot down before they achieved it. 54. Both assassins were killed with a single shot from a Colt revolver. 55. Both assassins were shot in a blaze of light--Booth after the barn was set afire and Oswald in front of the television cameras. 56. Both assassins were shot before their version of the presidential assassination could be learned. 57. Both assassins were shot by religious men; Booth was killed by Boston Corbett and Oswald was killed by Jack Ruby. 58. Both of these assassins had changed their names. Corbett's real first name was Thomas and Ruby changed his name from Jacob Rubenstein. 59. Both Corbett and Ruby were known as unstable men prone to violence.
Family and Friends: 60. Both presidents were named for their grandfathers. 61. Both were born second children. 62. Before each was elected to the presidency, each lost a sister to death. 63. Both married while in their thirties. 64. Both married dark-haired, twenty-four year old women. 65. Each wife had been previously engaged to someone else. 66. Both wives were from socially prominent families. 67. Both wives were fluent in French. 68. Both wives were known for their high fashion in clothes. 69. Both wives were criticized by their husbands for spending money. 70. Both wives renovated the White House after many years of neglect. 71. Each couple had four children, two of whom died before becoming a teen. 72. Each couple lost a son while in the White House. 73. Both the Lincoln and Kennedy children rode ponies on the White House lawn. 74. Lincoln had sons named Robert and Edward. Kennedy had brothers named Robert and Edward. 75. Both presidents were related to U.S. Senators. Lincoln's cousin, General Isaac Barnard of Pennsylvania, was first elected in 1827. Kennedy's brother Edward was first elected in 1962 from Massachusetts and brother Robert was elected from New York in 1964. 76. Shortly after his father was assassinated, Robert T. Lincoln (with mother and brother) moved to a home located at 3014 N Street, N.W., in Georgetown. Shortly after his father was assassinated, John F. Kennedy, Jr. (with mother and sister) moved to a home located at 3017 N Street, N.W., in Georgetown. 77. Both presidents were related to Democratic U.S. attorney generals who graduated from Harvard University: Levi Lincoln, Sr. (Jefferson) and Robert F. Kennedy (Kennedy). 78. Both presidents were related to ambassadors to the Court of St. James's (Great Britain): Robert T. Lincoln (B. Harrison) and Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. (F. Roosevelt). 79. Both presidents were friends with Illinois Democrats named Adlai E. Stevenson; Lincoln's friend would become Grover Cleveland's vice president and Kennedy's friend would twice be the Democratic presidential nominee. 80. Both knew a Doctor Charles Taft. Lincoln was treated by Dr. Charles Sabin Taft, M.D., who was the half-brother of son Tad's playmates and chief surgeon at the Judiciary Square Hospital. Kennedy knew Dr. Charles Phelps Taft, LLD, who was mayor of Cincinnati (Ohio) and son of President William Howard Taft. 81. Both presidents had friends and advisors named Billy Graham. Lincoln's friend was William Mentor Graham, a New Salem (Illinois) schoolteacher, and Kennedy knew the evangelist, Rev. Billy Graham. [#82 deleted as my research proves it false]
Politics: 83. Both presidents were first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in '46. 84. Both were runners-up for their party's nomination for vice-president in '56. 85. Both were elected to the presidency in '60. 86. Both had the legality of their elections contested. 87. Both were involved in political debates. The Lincoln-Douglas debates were in 1858 and the Kennedy-Nixon debates in 1960. 88. Both were concerned with the problems of American blacks and made their views known in '63. Lincoln told of his in the Emancipation Proclamation and Kennedy in his report to Congress on Civil Rights. 89. In 1964, William O. Douglas and Harry Goldin published books entitled Mr. Lincoln and the Negroes and Mr. Kennedy and the Negroes.
They were both elected on November 8th for the term in which they was assassinated.
Vice-Presidents: 90. Both Lincoln and Kennedy were succeeded by Southern Democrats named Johnson. 91. Andrew Johnson was born in 1808; Lyndon Johnson was born in 1908. 92. There are six letters in each Johnson's first name. 93. Both Johnson's were large men. 94. Both Johnson's were the fathers of two daughters. 95. Both Johnson's served in the military. Andrew was a brigadier general in the Civil War and Lyndon was a commander in the navy during World War II. 96. Both Johnson's were former southern senators. 97. Both Johnson's entered the presidency in their mid-fifties. 98. Both Johnson's had urethral stones, the only presidents to have them. 99. Both Johnson's faced reelection opponents whose names began with G; Andrew Johnson could have run against Ulysses S. Grant and Lyndon Johnson faced Barry Goldwater in the election of 1964. 100. Both Johnson's chose not to run for reelection in '68. [re-election]
Conspiracies: 101. Investigations for conspiracy were conducted for both presidential assassinations. 102. Autopsies were done on both assassins to clarify identity. 103. Formal investigations were conducted after each presidential death. 104. In each case, after a number of years, the investigation was reopened without really resolving who was involved in the assassination.
1. Was Lincoln elected to congress Dec. 6, 1847 or 1846? He served starting in 1847. I think that means he was elected in '46.
2. Lincoln was shot at the theater named Kennedy? No. It was Ford Theater.
3. Booth was shot in a barn/tobacco shed or a warehouse? I would call it a "barn/tobacco shed" but since produce was stored there it might be termed a "warehouse."
4. A week before Lincoln was shot, was he in Monroe, Maryland? The opposite of this question was that a week before Kennedy was shot he was with Marilyn Monroe! A correspondent has advised me that Marilyn Monroe died on August 5, 1962 and so the second half of this "parallel" is definitely not true.
E-mail: I found your Lincoln/Kennedy page and wondered if you had any information on another coincidence that I read about as a child. The story is that ... Booth's younger brother and Lincoln's oldest son were standing together on a train platform .... One of them fell off the platform in front of the oncoming train and the other pulled him to safety. I believe that in this case, Booth saved Lincoln, rather than the other way 'round.
E-mail: I was able to confirm it on a site about John Wilkes Booth. Sort of. Edwin Booth saved Robert Lincoln on a train platform in Jersey City at the beginning of the Civil War. Edwin Booth was invited to give a command performance in the White House and forever after was a Lincoln sympathizer, even though he had been raised in the South.
E-mail: I've downloaded your information on the similarities between Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy. I have to give the professor the information which he says debunks these similarities. Can you help?
Reply: The "Secretary named Kennedy" thing is the only parallel that I have debunked. The rest could be true, as far as I know, although some are not proven (Lincoln's Marfan disease, for example). Also some are rather inane (e.g. 7 letters in both names--so what?).