Lincoln–Kennedy coincidences urban legend

Abraham Lincoln

John F. Kennedy

Claimed coincidences connecting U.S. Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy are a piece of American folklore of unknown origin. The list of coincidences appeared in the mainstream American press in 1964, a year after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, having appeared prior to that in the GOP Congressional Committee Newsletter.^[1][2] Martin Gardner examined the list in an article in Scientific American, later reprinted in his book, The Magic Numbers of Dr. Matrix.^[3] Gardner's version of the list contained 16 items; many subsequent versions have circulated much longer lists. The list is still in circulation today, having endured in the popular imagination for over 50 years. In 1992, the Skeptical Inquirer ran a "Spooky Presidential Coincidences Contest." One winner found a series of sixteen similar coincidences between Kennedy and former Mexican President Álvaro Obregón, while the other came up with similar lists for twenty-one pairs of U.S. presidents.^[4]

List[]

The following are the list of "coincidences" that are commonly associated with the conspiracy, some of which are not true statements:

• "Lincoln" and "Kennedy" each have seven letters.^[5]
• Both presidents were elected to Congress in '46 and later to the presidency in '60.^[5]
• Both married women in their 20s while themselves in their 30s.^[6]
• Both lost a son while living in the White House.^[5]
• Both were shot in the presence of their wives.
• Both assassins, John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald, were born in '39 and were known by their three names, composed of fifteen letters.^[5]
• Booth ran from Ford's Theatre and was caught in a warehouse; Oswald ran from the Dealey Plaza warehouse and was caught in a theater.^[5]
• Both presidents were runners-up for the party's nomination for vice-president in '56.
• Both successors were Southern Democrats surnamed Johnson;^[5] both were born in '08 and their first names contained six letters.
• The assassins were both Southerners.^[5]
• Both were particularly concerned with civil rights^[5] and made their views strongly known. Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, which became law a year later. A century later, Kennedy presented his reports to Congress on Civil Rights, during the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom that same year.
• Both presidents were shot in the head on a Friday and died at nearby locations (Lincoln at the Petersen House across the street and Kennedy at Parkland Memorial Hospital down the road).
• Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre. Kennedy was shot in a Ford car: a Lincoln limousine.
• Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy who told him not to go to Ford's Theatre. Kennedy had a secretary named Evelyn Lincoln (whose husband Harold's nickname was Abe), and she warned him not to go to Dallas.^[5]
• Both Oswald and Booth were assassinated before they could be put on trial.^[5]

Accuracy[]

True statements[]

• Both were elected to congress in '46: Lincoln was elected in 1846 from Illinois,^[7][8] and Kennedy was elected in 1946 from Massachusetts.^[9][10]
• Both were elected to the presidency in '60: Lincoln was elected in 1860,^[11][12] and Kennedy was elected in 1960.^[13][14]
• Both have seven letters in their last names ("Lincoln" and "Kennedy").
• Both were concerned with civil rights:
  • Lincoln felt strongly that all slaves should be freed and issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which legally freed slaves within the Confederacy.^[15]
  • Kennedy was concerned with racial equality and was the first to propose what would be the Civil Rights Act of 1964.^[16][17]
• Both married in their 30s to women in their 20s:
  • Lincoln was married on November 4, 1842,^[18][19] Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809,^[15][8] making him 33 years old at the time of his wedding. Lincoln's bride, Mary Anne Todd, was born on December 13, 1818,^[20][21] making her 23 years old at the time of the wedding.
  • Kennedy was married on September 12, 1953,^[22][23] Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917,^[22][10] making him 36 years old at the time of his wedding. Kennedy's bride, Jacqueline Bouvier, was born on July 28, 1929,^[24][25] making her 24 years old at the time of the wedding.
• Both lost a son while living in the White House: Lincoln lost his 11-year-old son, William,^[26][27] and Kennedy lost his infant son, Patrick.^[28][29]
• Both sons' names, William Wallace Lincoln and Patrick Bouvier Kennedy have 21 letters each (with each having 7 letters each (first, middle and last name)).
• Both were shot on a Friday: Lincoln was shot on Good Friday, April 14, 1865,^[15][30] and Kennedy was shot on Friday, November 22, 1963.^[31][32]
• Both were shot in the head. (Lincoln^[33][34] and Kennedy^[35][36]).
• Both were shot in the presence of their wives. (Lincoln^[37][38] and Kennedy^[36][39]).
• Both were assassinated by Southerners: Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth from Maryland,^[40][41] and Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald from New Orleans, Louisiana.^[42][43]
• Both of the presidents' successors were named Johnson: Lincoln was succeeded by Andrew Johnson,^[44][45] and Kennedy was succeeded by Lyndon B. Johnson.^[46][47]
• Both were succeeded by Southerners: Andrew Johnson was from Tennessee,^[48] and Lyndon B. Johnson was from Texas.^[49][50]
• Both successors were born in '08: Andrew Johnson was born December 29, 1808,^[51][48] and Lyndon B. Johnson was born August 27, 1908^[49][50]
• Both assassins, John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald, are known by their three names.
• Each assassin's full name is composed of fifteen letters.
• Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre. Kennedy was shot in a Ford car: a Lincoln limousine.

Uncertain assumptions[]

• Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials:
  • On April 26, 1865, after refusing to surrender, John Wilkes Booth was assassinated by Sergeant Boston Corbett.^[52][53]
  • On November 24, 1963, on his way to the county jail, Lee Harvey Oswald was assassinated by night club owner, Jack Ruby.^[42][43]

False assumptions[]

• Although President Kennedy did have a female secretary named Evelyn Lincoln,^[54] there is no record that President Lincoln had a secretary named "Kennedy".^[5]
• Both assassins were not born in '39: John Wilkes Booth was born May 10, 1838,^[40][41] while Lee Harvey Oswald was born October 18, 1939.^[42][43]
• Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse, and Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater:
  • Booth did run from Ford's Theatre where he shot Lincoln, but was caught in a barn in Virginia, not a warehouse.^[55][56]
  • Oswald fled from the Texas School Book Depository, which was a warehouse where Oswald worked and from where he had shot Kennedy, and was arrested in a movie theater.^[57][58]

Analysis[]

Some urban folklorists have postulated that the list provided a way for people to make sense of two tragic events in American history by seeking out patterns.^{[5] [59]} Gardner and others have said that it is relatively easy to find seemingly meaningful patterns relating any two people or events.

Most of the items above are true, such as the year in which Lincoln and Kennedy were each elected President, but this is not so unusual given that Presidential elections are held only every four years. A few of the items are simply untrue: for example, there is no record to show that Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy; Lincoln's secretaries were John Hay and John G. Nicolay. John Wilkes Booth was born in 1838, not 1839, and Lee Harvey Oswald was normally just "Lee Oswald" before the assassination.^[5] However, Lincoln's footman, William H. Crook did advise Lincoln not to go that night to Ford's Theatre.^[60][61] David Mikklenson, on Snopes, also points out numerous ways in which Lincoln and Kennedy don't match, to show the superficial nature of the alleged coincidences: For example, Lincoln was born in 1809 but Kennedy in 1917; though Lincoln and Kennedy were both elected in '60, Lincoln was already in his second term when assassinated but Kennedy was not, and neither the years, months, nor dates of their assassinations match.

Musical remembrance[]

Buddy Starcher wrote a song recounting many of these coincidences and parallels between the two presidents' careers and deaths entitled "History Repeats Itself." It became a U.S. Top 40 hit for him during the spring of 1966,^[62] and reached number two on the Country chart. Cab Calloway also scored a minor chart hit with the song that same year.

See also[]

• Birthday problem
• Data dredging
• Kennedy curse

References[]

External links[]

• "Linkin' Kennedy" article at Snopes.com