Tuesday, November 4, 2008

CONNECTIONS: LINCOLN & KENNEDY



Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters.

Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.

Both of their wives lost their children while living in the White House.

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.

Both were shot in the head.

Both were shot with one bullet.

Both were rumored to be killed in a conspiracy.Neither was confirmed to be a conspiracy.

Lincoln was shot in the Ford Theater.
Kennedy was shot in a card made by the Ford Motor Company (a Lincoln no less)

Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy.
Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln.

Both were assassinated by Southerners.

Both were succeeded by Southerners.

Both successors were named Johnson.

Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

Their first names both contain six letters.

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.

Both assassins were known by their three names.

Both names comprise fifteen letters.

Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse.
Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater.

Both assassins were assassinated before their trials.

The only complete filming of Kennedy's assasination was shot by Abraham Zapruder.
The only complete account of Lincoln's assasination was written by John Zelfindorfer.

A week before Lincoln was shot, he was with friends in Monroe, Maryland.
A week before Kennedy was shot, he was with his friend Marilyn Monroe.

Lincoln's last child, Tad, had his funeral held on July 16, 1871. Later he was exhumed and moved to a different grave site.
Kennedy's son JFK Jr. was lost at sea on July 16, 1999. Later he was found, brought up, and then re-buried at sea.

Note: 1 Note: It is an urban myth that Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy. There is no record of that.

2 Note: There is no record whether or not Kennedy's secretary warned him.

3 Note: Booth actually fled to a farm and was killed in a tobacco barn. It might be a stretch to call it a warehouse.

But two years after his death, Booth's body was temporarily moved to a warehouse. Also, after the assassination, the government closed the Ford Theatre and turned it into a warehouse.

Other interesting facts:
Apparently Lincoln had a dream several days before the assassination that he had been killed.
He told his wife that he had seen himself in a casket.

Also, Lincoln's son Tad had a pet turkey named Jack. Tad asked his father not to kill the turkey for Thanksgiving.
Although Harry S Truman started the official tradition, Lincoln was the first to "pardon" a Thanksgiving turkey.

Now what would be real interesting is if Kennedy had a pet named Abe or had pardoned someone by that name. Thus far, I haven't heard of that. Skeptics disagree

Some skeptics say that you could take any two famous people and find a number of similar-type coincidences between them.
The only problem with that theory is that there really haven't been any listings of such comparisons.
And certainly none has been as extensive as the Lincoln-Kennedy similarities.

Summary:
Facts concerning the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy are amazingly similar. It is uncertain if such coincidences have any meaning, but they certainly are strange.

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