Lincoln-Kennedy Coincidences

The list of things common between the 16th President of the United States - Abraham Lincoln, and the 35th President of the United States - John F. Kennedy, is quite impressive indeed. But is it possible for so many similarities to exist between two individuals? While some people believe that these similarities are signs that Abrahan Lincoln was reborn as John F. Kennedy, others dismiss them as mere coincidences. If you have a closer look at these similarities between Lincoln and Kennedy, you will realize that most of them are factually incorrect statements. There is no doubt about the fact that there do exist some similarities between the two, but the list is not as lengthy as it is alleged to be.

Abraham Lincoln-John F. Kennedy Coincidences

The car codenamed 'SS-100-X' in which President John F. Kennedy was traveling when he was assassinated was based on 1961 Lincoln model 74A convertible. It was modified by Ford Motor Company's Advanced Vehicles Group and Hess & Eisenhardt, based at Ohio as per the instructions given by US Secret Service. Coincidentally, the name of the theater in which President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in Washington, D.C. was 'Ford's Theater'. Though not as interesting as the fact above, it is a coincidence that the surnames of both the Presidents had seven letters; L-I-N-C-O-L-N and K-E-N-N-E-D-Y. At the same time, their full names (including the middle name initial used by Kennedy) had five syllables each. Discussed below are the details of these coincidences - each of which are quite interesting in themselves.

Political Career
Abraham Lincoln was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1846, while John F. Kennedy was elected to the House of Representatives exactly a hundred years later in 1946. While Lincoln was elected as the President of the United States of America in 1860, John F. Kennedy was elected the President of U.S. exactly a hundred years later in 1960. The 100 year coincidence doesn't just end here. Andrew Johnson - who succeeded Lincoln as the U.S. President was born in 1808, while Lyndon B. Johnson - who succeeded Kennedy as the U.S. President was born in 1909. Similarly, the name Johnson in case of both the successors is no short of a coincidence.

Assassination
Another aspect which tops the list of coincidences between these two is related to their assassination. Both the Presidents were shot on Friday and both were shot right in their head. Yet another coincidence is the fact that both of them were with their wives when they were shot dead. The names of both the assailants - John Wilkes Booth (who assassinated President Lincoln), and Lee Harvey Oswald (who assassinated President Kennedy), have 3 words which add up to 15 alphabets. Not to forget the car-theater coincidence mentioned above was also related to their assassination.

Debunking these Coincidences

Even though the similarities between Lincoln and Kennedy enlisted above seem to be quite interesting, a little bit of critical thinking is more than enough to debunk most of them - if not all. One of the most popular similarity that you find in almost all the lists of coincidences is that both the Presidents were killed on Friday. That isn't quite interesting as it seems to be, considering that most of the public functions involving the Presidents are scheduled for weekends. Similarly, the fact that both the Presidents were with their wives doesn't quite hold ground, if you note that the practice of the First Lady attending some public function with the President is quite common. At the same time, you can't afford to turn a blind eye to one of the most intriguing Abraham Lincoln facts that he was shot at point blank range, while Kennedy was shot from far away.

Widely-Circulated Fabrications

You might be surprised to see that quite a few mind-boggling coincidences which find a place in other Kennedy-Lincoln coincidences list don't feature in this write-up. Well, that's only because these so-called facts about John F Kennedy are nothing but fabrications and misinterpretations. While some of these alleged similarities are obvious assumptions (like the wives holding their husbands head in their lap after they were shot or both the Presidents were concerned with civil rights of the people), others (like Booth ran from theater and was caught in a warehouse, and Oswald ran from the warehouse and was caught in a theater) are outright false claims. Booth was killed in a scuffle at the tobacco-curing barn in which he was hiding, while Oswald was caught in a movie theater as opposed to a drama theater where Lincoln was assassinated. Many of these lists also suggest that Booth was born in 1839 and Oswald was in 1939, while the fact is that Booth was born in 1838 and this fact has been fabricated to make the Lincoln Kennedy coincidences urban legend seem more interesting.

A critical evaluation of the alleged coincidences debunks this urban legend which has grown out of proportion in the cyberspace. While some coincidences between the two do exist, it isn't quite unusual irrespective of which two individuals you take into consideration. And lastly, these coincidences by no means point out that Kennedy was reborn as Lincoln as it is widely believed.