American presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy were both tragically assassinated during their terms in office. Both men were admired by many but actually hated by those who opposed their political views. Shortly after Kennedy was assassinated on 22 November 1963, a comparison of the circumstances of his death and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on 14 April 1865 surfaced. That comparison pointed out some amazing coincidences.

Questions you may have are:

* What were the comparisons?
* Is there any significance to them?
* Is this just a coincidence or what?


Comparison of events

The following chart compares the amazing coincidences in the deaths of Lincoln and Kennedy


Lincoln

• Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846
• He was elected President in 1860
• His wife lost a child while living in the White House
• He was directly concerned with Civil Rights
• Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy who told him not to go to the theater *1
  
  Lincoln was shot in the back of the head in the presence of his wife
  Lincoln shot in the Ford Theatre
• He was shot on a Friday
  The assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was known by three names, comprised of fifteen letters
  Booth shot Lincoln in a theater and fled to a warehouse
• Booth was killed before being brought to trial
  There were theories that Booth was part of a greater conspiracy
• Lincoln's successor was Andrew Johnson, born in 1808
  

Kennedy
Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946

He was elected President in 1960

His wife lost a child while living in the White House

He was directly concerned with Civil Rights

Kennedy had a secretary named Lincoln who told him not to go to Dallas **2
Kennedy was shot in the back of the head in the presence of his wife

Kennedy shot in a Lincoln, made by Ford

He was shot on a Friday

The assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was known by three names, comprised of fifteen letters

Oswald shot Kennedy from a warehouse and fled to a theater


Oswald was killed before being brought to trial


There were theories that Oswald was part of a greater conspiracy


Kennedy's successor was Lyndon Johnson, born in 1908


Other interesting facts

Apparently Lincoln had a dream several days before the assassination that he had been killed. He told his wife that he had seen himself in a casket.

Also, Lincoln's son Tad had a pet turkey named Jack. Tad asked his father not to kill the turkey for Thanksgiving. Although Harry S Truman started the official tradition, Lincoln was the first to "pardon" a Thanksgiving turkey.

Now what would be real interesting is if Kennedy had a pet named Abe or had pardoned someone by that name. Thus far, I haven't heard of that.
Skeptics disagree

Some skeptics say that you could take any two famous people and find a number of similar-type coincidences between them. The only problem with that theory is that there really haven't been any listings of such comparisons. And certainly none has been as extensive as the Lincoln-Kennedy similarities.
Summary

Facts concerning the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy are amazingly similar. It is uncertain if such coincidences have any meaning, but they certainly are strange.

*1 Note: It is an urban myth that Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy. There is no record of that.

**2 Note: There is no record whether or not Kennedy's secretary warned him.