JFK and Honest Abe

Consider these supposed similarities between the lives of Lincoln and JFK:

(anyone into fact checking out there?)

Life

• Both presidents had seven letters in their last name.
• Both were over six feet tall.
• Both men studied law.
• Both seemed to have lazy eye muscles, which would sometimes cause one to deviate.
• Both suffered from genetic diseases. It is suspected that Lincoln had Marfan’s disease, and Kennedy suffered from Addison’s disease.
• Both 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.
• Both were boat captains. Lincoln was a skipper for the Talisman, a Mississippi River boat, and Kennedy was skipper of the PT-109.
• Both had no fear of their mortality and disdained bodyguards.
• Both often stated how easy it would be to shoot the president. Lincoln supposedly said, “If somebody wants to take my life, there is nothing I can do to prevent it.” Kennedy supposedly said, “If somebody wants to shoot me from a window with a rifle, nobody can stop it.” Note that both these quotes are each 16 words long.

Death

• Both presidents were shot in the head, on a Friday.
• Both were seated beside their wives when shot. Neither Mrs. Lincoln nor Mrs. Kennedy was injured. Both wives held the bullet-torn heads of their husbands.
• In each case, the man was injured but not fatally. Major Henry Rathbone was slashed by a knife, and Governor John Connolly was shot.
• Lincoln sat in Box 7 at Ford’s Theatre. Kennedy rode in car 7 in the Dallas motorcade.
• Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theatre. Kennedy was shot in a Ford product, a Lincoln limousine.
• Mrs. Kennedy insisted that her husband’s funeral mirror Lincoln’s as closely as possible.

The Assassins

• 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.)
• There are 15 letters in each assassin’s name.
• Both assassins struck when in their mid-20s. Booth was born in 1838, and Oswald was born in 1939.
• 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.
• Each assassin had two brothers whose careers he coveted. Booth’s two brothers were more successful actors and Oswald envied his brothers’ military lives.
• Both assassins were privates in the military. Booth was a private in the Virginia Militia, and Oswald was a private in the Marine Corps. Both assassins were born in the south.
• Both assassins were known sympathizers to enemies of the United States. Booth supported the Confederacy and Oswald was a Marxist.
• Both assassins often used aliases. Booth frequently used “J. Wilkes” and Oswald used the name “Alek J. Hidell.”
• Booth shot Lincoln at a theatre and was cornered in a warehouse. Oswald shot Kennedy from a warehouse and was cornered in a theatre.
• Each assassin was detained by an officer named Baker. Lt. Luther B. Baker was leader of the cavalry patrol that trapped Booth at Garrett’s Barn. Officer Marion L. Baker, a Dallas motorcycle patrolman, briefly detained Oswald on the second floor of the School Book Depository until he learned that he worked there.
• Both assassins were killed with a single shot from a Colt revolver.
• Both assassins were shot in a blaze of light, Booth after the barn was set afire, and Oswald in the form of television cameras.

Family and Friends

• Both presidents were named after their grandfathers.
• Both were born second children.
• Both married while in their 30s. Lincoln married at 33 and Kennedy married at 36.
• Both married dark-haired, 24-year-old women.
• Both wives died around the age of 64. Mary Todd Lincoln died in 1882 at age 63 years and 215 days, and Jackie Kennedy died in 1994 at age 64 years 295 days.
• Both wives were known for their high fashion in clothes.
• Both wives renovated the White House after many years of neglect.
• Each couple had four children, two of whom died before becoming a teen.
• Each couple lost a son while in the White House. Willie Lincoln died at age 12 in 1862, and Kennedy’s son Patrick died two days after his birth in 1963.

Politics

• Both presidents were elected to the House of Representatives in ’46.
• Both were runners-up for the party’s nomination for vice-president in ’56.
• Both were elected to the presidency in ’60.

Vice Presidents

• Southern Democrats named Johnson succeeded both Lincoln and Kennedy (Andrew Johnson and Lyndon Baines Johnson).
• Andrew Johnson was born in 1808, and Lyndon Johnson was born in 1908.
• There are six letters in each Johnson’s first name.
• 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 WW2.
• Both Johnsons were former southern senators.
• Both Johnsons had urethral stones, the only presidents to have them.
• Both Johnsons chose not to run for reelection in ’68.