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Lincoln Kennedy coincidences
Popular myth relates a number of [[coincidence|coincidences]] having to do with [[United States of America|US]] [[Presidents of the United States of America|Presidents]] [[Abraham Lincoln]] and [[John F Kennedy]]. Some are true but inconsequential; others are fabrications or simply wrong.
While finding obscure correlations between famous people as well as their 'debunking' is an entertaining pastime for some, often the practice is taken too seriously.  

== Family ==
(contracted; show full)
* In each assassination, they were with another couple and the man of that couple was also wounded.
** [[Major]] [[Henry Rathbone]], who was in the box with Lincoln, was slashed by Booth's knife 
** [[Governor]] [[John Connolly]] was also shot
* Booth shot Lincoln in a [[theatre]] was himself shot and captured in a tobacco [[shed]], and died later -- Oswald shot Kennedy from a [[warehouse]], was captured in the [[Texas Theater]], and was himself shot later.
* Kennedy was travelling in a [[
Lincoln (automobile)|Ford Lincoln]] -- Lincoln was shot in [[Ford's Theatre]].
* Both were assassinated on a [[Friday]] preceding a holiday.
** Lincoln was shot on [[Good Friday]], two days before [[Easter]]
** Kennedy was shot on the Friday before [[Thanksgiving]]
* Both men made [[prophesy|prophetic statements]] on the days of their [[assassination]]s which were both 16 words long: 
** Lincoln said: ''"If somebody wants to take my life, there is nothing I can do to prevent it."''
** Kennedy said: ''"If somebody wants to shoot me from a window with a rifle, nobody can stop it."''

=== Assassin ===
* The assassins were born a century apart.
** Booth, May 10, [[1838]]
** Oswald, October 18, [[1939]]
* Each assassin came from a troubled family that lacked a father figure. 
* Each assassin had an older brother whom they tried to emulate. 
** Booth had a brother named Edwin who was a much more acclaimed [[actor]] 
** Oswald had a brother named Robert whom he envied.
* The assassins were both shot before they could stand trial.
* Booth earlier attempt at kidnapping President Lincoln failed - Oswald earlier assassination attempt of [[General Edwin Walker]] failed  

== Names & Numbers ==
* Both [[Vice President]] have 6 letters in their first names and 7 in their last.
** [[Andrew Johnson]]
** [[Lyndon Johnson]]
* Both assassins, known by three names, have 15 letters in their names.
** [[John Wilkes Booth]]
** [[Lee Harvey Oswald]]

== Skeptical ==
As noted, most of the items mentioned are purely ''coincidental''. for example:
* With only seven days in the week, so the odds of the second assassination falling on the same day as the first one are rather high

Some items are inaccurate/misleading. for example:
* There is no record of a Lincoln secretary named Kennedy.
* Neither President, coincidentally, was particularly concerned with [[civil rights]].

In [[1992]], the ''[[Skeptical Inquirer]]'' ran a "Spooky Presidential Coincidences Contest".  One winner found a series of sixteen similar coincidences between Kennedy and former [[Mexico|Mexican]] President [[Álvaro Obregón]], while the other came up with similar lists for twenty-one pairs of US Presidents. [http://www.csicop.org/si/9809/coincidence.html]

* Booth was part of a conspiracy while Oswald was found to have acted alone

== External link ==
* [http://www.snopes.com/history/american/linckenn.htm Snopes article about this subject]


[[Category:Abraham Lincoln]]

[[de:Lincoln-Kennedy-Mysterium]]