The Lincoln-Kennedy Assassinations Coincidences Page

While there usually are one or two coincidental similarities between any two randomly chosen people, the number of such coincidences between Abraham Lincoln and John F Kennedy are so numerous that they have been the source of curiosity since the death of Kennedy. Overzealous efforts to play-up this apparent phemonenon have resulted in a number of "myths", which I have also listed.

At the end of the listings are links to web sites about Lincoln and Kennedy from which verification for some of the listings was obtained. Please take a minute to visit them as well.

- Both were known by three names: John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald.
- Both assassin's names contain 15 letters.
- Both Oswald and Booth were Southerners.
- Both lacked a strong father-figure in their lives. Booth was 13 when his father died, Oswald was not yet born when his father died.
- Both were envious of their brother's careers: Booth's two brothers were more successful actors than he; Oswald was jealous of his brother's military careers.
- Both were pirvates in the military: Booth in the Virgina militia, Oswald in the US Marine Corps.
- Oswald kept a journal, Booth kept a diary.
- Each man used an alias: Oswald used the name "Alex J Hidell", and Booth used the name "J Wilkes".
- Both learned of their respective victim's whereabouts by reading of it in the newspapers.
- Both were in their mid-twenties when they killed.
- Both planned their actions, up to the assassination, very well, and their esacpes not so well.
- Oswald shot from a warehouse and ran to a theatre, Booth shot in a theatre and ran to a warehouse (a barn)
- The handyman, bill distribuor, and part-time concessions operator at Ford's Theatre was Joseph "Peanuts John" Burroughs. The concessions stand operator at the Texas Theatre was Butch Burroughs.
- Both were detained by an officer named Baker. Lt. Luther B. Baker was the leader of the cavalry patrol with trapped Booth at Garrett's barn. Officer Marion L. Baker, a Dallas motorcade patrolman, briefly detained Oswald on the second floor of the Schoolbook Depository until he learned that Oswald was employed there.
- Booth was aided in his esacpe from Washington by Oswald (Oswell) Swan and Lewis Paine (also known as Payne). Oswald got his job at the Schoolbook Depository with the help of Mrs. Ruth Paine, his landlady.
- Both saw the assassinations as the way to personal glory and fame.
- Both achieved only posthumos infamy.
- Both were killed by a single shot from a Colt revolver.
- Both were killed before their versions of the assassinations could be learned.
- Both were killed before they could be brought to trial.
- Both of the assassin's killers had changed their name: Jack Ruby was Jacob Rubenstein, and Boston Corbett's real first name was Thomas.

- Both Presidents were suceeded by men name Johnson.
- Both VP's were Southerners and Democrates.
- Both VP's have 13 total letters in first and last names
- They were born 100 years apart: Andrew Johnson in 1808; Lyndon Johnson in 1908.
- Both were fathers of two daughters.
- Both had served in the military: Andrew was a brigader general in the Civil War, and Lyndon was a commander in the navy during World War II.
- Both were former southern senators.
- Both entered the presidency in their mid-fifties.
- Both suffered from urethral stones, the only presidents to have them.
- Both were opposed in their subsequent Presidential elections by men whose last names begin with the letter G: Andrew Johnson, had he chosen to run, againts U. S. Grant; Lyndon Johnson by Barry Goldwater
- Both chose not to run in '68.

- Of all of the US coins currently in circulation, only the Lincoln Penny and the Kenndey Half Dollar did not have both the front and back of the coins designed by the same man. Fank Gasparro designed the reverse side of BOTH the Lincoln Penny and the Kennedy Half dollar. The Lincoln Penny was first minted in 1909 and was designed by Victor D. Brenner (of the famous "VDB" initials on the 1909 release) based on a plaque of Lincoln Brenner did in 1907, and the reverse changed to the Gasparro design in 1959. The Kennedy Half Dollar was first minted in 1964.

John F. Kennedy, and the number 6
- Dallas: 6 letters
- He was shot from the 6th floor
- Oswald: 6 letters
- He was shot on 11/22: 1+1+2+2=6
- Move each letter of the abbreviation FBI six places positionally to the right in the alphabet,
and you get LHO; i.e. Lee Harvey Oswald
- Take the initials "J" and "B" from John Wilkes Booth's name, move them six places positionally to the right in the alphabet and you get "P" and "H". Kennedy died at Parkland Hospital.

April 15th
Lincoln died April 15, 1865. Other notable catastrophies on April 15th:
- The Titanic sunk
- US Federal Income taxes are due
- and My Friend Jeff Lors was born!

TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA *

Lincoln was shot on 4/14/65 and Kennedy on 11/22/63:


- Subtract the months, days, and year and the add the results:

  11    22    63

 - 4   -14   -65

  --    --    --

   7 +   8 + (-2) = 13


- Add the numbers in each date, and then subtract the results:

 11 + 22 + 63 = 96

  4 + 14 + 65 = 83

                --

                13


- Take John Wilkes Booth's initials and count through the alphabet:

   from "J" to "W" = 13;  from "W" to "B" =  5; from "B" to "J"  =  8;

   5 + 8 = 13


* - fear of the number 13

We've heard the similarities, now lets see the differences.

- Lincoln was a Republican; Kennedy a Democrat.
- Lincoln was from a poor midwest family; Kennedy from a rich Eastern family.
- Lincoln's assailant Booth was well-known, from a prominent family;
Kennedy's assailant Oswald was unknown, from a poor family.
- Lincoln was gangly and homely; Kennedy was athletic and handsome.
- Lincoln's birth mother died before him; Kennedy's outlived him.
- Lincoln's successor Johnson was a tailor from Tennessee;
Kennedy's successor Johnson was an oilman from Texas.
- Kennedy participated in combat in the U.S. armed forces; Lincoln did not.
- Lincoln never attended college; Kennedy did.
- Lincoln's election divided the country; Kennedy's did not.
- Lincoln rarely left Washington during his presidency;
Kennedy traveled frequently during his presidency.
- Lincoln was assassinated during his second term;
Kennedy was assassinated during his first term.
- Lincoln was assassinated in Washington; Kennedy was not.
- Lincoln was shot with a handgun; Kennedy was shot with a rifle.
- Lincoln's father took no role in his sons political ambitions;
Kennedy's father guided his sons political ambitions.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the following people for their contributions to this page:
Matt Lupo for his differences list;
Ken Potter for the scans of the VDB plaque;
And the participants in the UseNet newsgroup alt.history.abe-lincoln for their comments and contributes.