6 - Interesting to Know - Similarities

Similarities Between the Assassinations of Abraham Lincon and John F Kennedy
John F Kennedy was assassinated on Nov 22, 1963. I have not seen so many similarities in two incidents, have you?

1. Lincoln's killer John Wilkis Booth was born in 1839, while
   Lee Harvey Oswald (Kennedy's so-called killer) was born in 1939.

2. Lincoln's successor's last name was Johnson, born in 1808, while
    Kennedy's successor's last name was also Johnson (LBJ), born in 1908.

3. Lincoln's secretary's last name was Kennedy, while
    Kennedy's secretary's last name was Lincoln (Evelyn).

4. Lincoln was killed in a theater, and Booth ran and hid himself in a book depository, while
    Kennedy's killer Oswald ran from a book depository and was captured from a theater.

5. A week before his assassination, Lincoln was in Monroe, Maryland; while
    one week before his assassination, Kennedy was with Marilyn Monroe.

6. Both presidents were assassinated while in office.

7. Both presidents were elected to the House of Representatives in '46.

8. Both presidents were runners-up for the party's nomination for vice-president in '56.

9. Both presidents were elected to the presidency in '60.

10. Both presidents had the legality of their elections contested.

11. Both presidents were involved in famous political debates with men that were better known.
President Lincoln debated Stephen Douglas in a series of debates in 1858, and
President Kennedy debated the then current Vice-President Richard Nixon in presidential election of 1960.

12. Both were concerned with the problems of American blacks and made their view strongly known in '63.
President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, which became law in 1863. While
President Kennedy presented his reports to Congress on Civil Rights in 1963, and the same year was the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

13. A book was published with the same title, by the same publisher, on each president in 1964.
William O. Douglas and Harry Goldin published books entitled "Mr. Lincoln and the Negroes", and "Mr. Kennedy and the Negroes".

Some Other Similarities - the list is long --

1. Both presidents had seven letters in their last name.

2. Both presidents studied law.

3. Both presidents could write well. Many of Lincoln's written works are considered classics; while Kennedy won the Pulitzer Prize.

4. Both Presidents had lazy eye muscles, which would sometimes cause one eye to deviate.

5. Both Presidents suffered from genetic diseases. It is suspected that Lincoln had Marfan syndrome, and Kennedy suffered from Addison's disease.

6. Both Presidents served in the military. Lincoln was a scout captain in the Black Hawk War, and Kennedy served as a navy lieutenant in World War II.

7. Both were boat captains. Lincoln was a skipper for the Talisman, a Mississippi River boat, and Kennedy was skipper of the PT 109.

8. Both Presidents had no fear of their mortality and disdained bodyguards.

9. Both Presidents often stated how easy it would be to shoot a President.
    Lincoln supposedly said, "If somebody wants to take my life, there is nothing I can do to prevent it."
    Kennedy also supposedly said, "If somebody wants to shoot me from a window with a rifle, nobody can stop it."

10. Both received many letters threatening their lives. In the year of his death,
     Lincoln received over 800 such letters, and
     Kennedy received over 80 letters of this type.

11. Both presidents were shot in the head.

12. Both presidents were shot on a Friday.

13. In each case, the Friday was one connected to a holiday.
     Lincoln was shot on Good Friday, and
     Kennedy was shot on the Friday before Thanksgiving.

14. Both presidents were seated beside their wives when shot.

15. In both cases their wives were not injured - neither Mrs. Lincoln nor Mrs. Kennedy was injured.

16. Both presidents were in the company of another married couple when shot.

17. In each case, their male guests were injured, but not fatally. Major Henry Rathbone was slashed by a knife, and Governor John Connally was shot.

18. Both the presidents' guests', Connally and Rathbone, surnames have eight letters.

19. President Lincoln sat in Box 7 at Ford's Theatre; while
     President Kennedy rode in car 7 in the Dallas motorcade.

20. President Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre; while
      President Kennedy was shot in a Ford car; a Lincoln limousine.

21. Both presidents died in a place with the initials P and H.
     Lincoln died in the Peterson House, while
     Kennedy died at Parkland Hospital.

22. Military personnel performed autopsies on both presidents.

23. Both presidents were buried in Mahogany caskets.

24. Both presidents were named after their Grandfathers.

25. Both presidents were the second-born in their families.

26. Before both presidents were elected to the presidency, lost a sister to whom they were very close.
      President Lincoln's sister Sarah died whilst giving birth in 1828, (aged 20), and
      Kennedy lost his 28-year-old sister Kathleen in 1948, due to a plane crash.

27. Both presidents married whilst in their thirties.
      Lincoln married at the age of 33, and
      Kennedy married at 36.

28. Both married dark-haired women who were 24 years old.

1. Both presidents married whilst in their thirties. Lincoln married at the age of 33, and Kennedy married at 36.

2. Both married dark-haired women who were 24 years old.

3. Both wives (Mary Todd Lincoln and Jacqueline Kennedy) had been previously engaged to someone else.

4. Both wives were from socially prominent families and both were fluent in French.

5. Both wives died in their sixties.
    Mary Todd Lincoln died in 1882 aged 63 years and 215 days, and
    Jackie Kennedy died in 1994 aged 64 years and 295 days.

6. Both wives were known for their exquisite taste in clothes.

7. Both wives were criticized by their husbands for spending money.

About Their Children

1. Both couples had four children, but two died before reaching their teens.

2. Both couples lost a son whilst in the White House.
    Willie Lincoln died at the age of 12 in 1862, and
    Kennedy's son (Patrick) died two days after his birth in 1963.

3. Of their four children, only one lived past the age of 40. Robert Todd Lincoln and Caroline Bouvier Kennedy.

4. Lincoln had sons named Robert (Robert Todd Lincoln), and Edward.
    Kennedy had brothers named Robert (Robert F. Kennedy) and Edward (Edward Kennedy).

5. Shortly after the President Lincoln was assassinated,
    His son Robert Todd Lincoln (with his mother and brother) moved to 3014 N Street, N.W. in Georgetown.
    Shortly after the President Kennedy was assassinated,
    His son John F. Kennedy, Jr. (with his mother and sister), moved to 3017 N Street, N.W., in Georgetown.

4. In each case, after a number of years, the investigation was reported without really resolving who was involved in the conspiracy.

About Their Assassins

1. Both assassins used three names: John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald. (It should be noted that Lee Harvey Oswald was known as just Lee Oswald prior to the assassination.)

2. There are 15 letters in each assassin's name.

3. Both assassins assassinated presidents when they were in their mid-twenties.

4. Each assassin lacked a strong father-figure in his life. Booth's father died when he was 13 years old, and Oswald's father died before he was born.

5. Both assassins had two brothers whose careers they envied. Booth's two brothers were more successful actors and Oswald envied his brothers' military lives.

6. Both assassins were Privates in the military. Booth was a Private in the Virginia Militia, and Oswald was a Private in the Marine Corps.

7. Both assassins were shot by religious men. Booth was killed by Boston Corbett, a religious fanatic who castrated himself to "resist sin," and Oswald was killed by Jack Ruby, who, according to some people, took his faith seriously.

8. Both assassins are considered unpatriotic. Booth supported the Confederacy and Oswald was a Marxist.

9. Both assassins were fond of writing down their thoughts. Booth kept a diary and Oswald kept a journal.

10. Both assassins often used aliases. Booth frequently used "J. Wilkes" and Oswald used the name "Alek J. Hidell." Both false surnames have six letters.

11. Both assassins knew of their victims' whereabouts by reading about it in newspapers.

12. Booth was aided in his escape from Washington by Oswald (Oswell) Swan and Lewis Paine (also spelled Payne). Oswald got his job at the Schoolbook Depository with the aid of Ruth Paine, his wife's landlady.

13. Each assassin was detained by an officer named Baker. Lt Luther B. Baker was leader of the cavalry patrol which trapped Booth inside Garrett's Barn. Officer Marion L. Baker - a Dallas motorcycle patrolman - questioned Oswald on the second floor of the School Book Depository until he learned that he worked there.

14. Both assassins were killed before they could be put on trial.

15. Both assassins were killed with a single shot from a Colt revolver. [The manner in which Booth died is still debated. It is unsure whether Booth committed suicide or was shot by Union soldiers.]

16. Booth shot President Lincoln in a theater and hid in a warehouse/barn, while Oswald shot President Kennedy in a warehouse and hid in a theater.

General

1. Both presidents were related to U.S. senators.
   President Lincoln's cousin, General Isaac Barnard of Pennsylvania, was first elected senator in 1827.
   President Kennedy's brother - Edward - was first elected in 1962, from Massachusetts and brother Robert was elected from New
   York in 1964.

2. Both presidents were related to Democratic U.S. Attorney Generals who graduated from Harvard University: Levi Lincoln, Sr. (under Thomas Jefferson) and Robert F. Kennedy (under JFK).

3. Both presidents were related to ambassadors to the Court of St. James's (Great Britain):
    Robert Todd Lincoln served as U.S. ambassador to Britain 1889-93.
    Kennedy's father, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. was U.S. ambassador to Britain 1938-40.

4. Both presidents were friends with Illinois Democrats named Adlai E. Stevenson.
    Lincoln's friend Adlai E. Stevenson became the Vice-President under Grover Cleveland, and
   Adlai Stevenson III, friend of President Kennedy, would twice run for the U.S. presidency, in 1952 and 1956.

5. Both knew a doctor named Charles Taft.
    Lincoln was treated by Dr. Charles Sabin Taft, M.D., who was the half-brother of his son Tad's playmates and who was also chief surgeon at the Judiciary Square Hospital.
    Kennedy knew a Dr. Charles Phelps Taft, LLD, who was the mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, and who was also the son of President William Howard Taft.

6. Legend says that President Lincoln had a secretary named John Kennedy (or had the first name of David) who told him not to go to the theater, although no actual record of this person can be found. President Kennedy also had a secretary named Evelyn Lincoln (whose husband Harold's nickname was Abe), and she warned him not to go to Dallas.

About Their Vice-Presidents

1. Southern Democrats named Johnson succeeded both Lincoln and Kennedy -- Andrew Johnson and Lyndon Baines Johnson.

2. Andrew Johnson was born in 1808, and Lyndon Johnson was born in 1908.

3. There are six letters in each Johnson's first name.

4. Both Johnsons were large men.

5. Both Johnsons had two daughters each.

6. Both Johnsons served in the military. Andrew was a brigadier general in the Civil War and Lyndon was a commander in the U.S. Navy during WWII.

7. Both Johnsons were former southern senators.

8. Both Johnsons entered the presidency in their mid-fifties.

9. Both Johnsons had urethral stones - the only presidents to have them.

10. Both Johnsons faced re-election 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.

11. Both Johnsons chose not to run for re-election in '68.