Have you ever stopped to think about the similarities between 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and 35th President John F. Kennedy, beyond the tragic assassination of both while in office?

The coincidences between the lives of both beloved leaders might give you pause as you consider the many uncanny parallels. For instance, Lincoln was shot in Ford’s Theater, and Kennedy was shot while riding in a Lincoln built by Ford. Weird, huh? The correlations don’t end there!

Both men were elected to Congress in '46, Lincoln in 1846 from Illinois and Kennedy in 1946 from Massachusetts.Each then succeeded to the presidency in '60, Lincoln being elected in 1860 and Kennedy in 1960. Lincoln and Kennedy each married women in their 20s while they were in their 30s and have seven letters in their last names.

During their political careers each man was concerned with civil rights. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and Kennedy’s involvement in the eventual Civil Rights Act of 1964 both greatly furthered racial equality in America. The assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy both happened on a Friday and involved shots to the head. The shooters in each case were known by three names, John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald respectively and both names are composed of fifteen letters. Neither Oswald nor Booth stood trial as both were killed beforehand.

And that’s not all! Both presidents' successors were named Johnson, Lincoln was succeeded by Andrew Johnson and Kennedy by Lyndon B. Johnson. Both Southerners, each replacement was born in '08, Andrew Johnson in 1808 and Lyndon B. Johnson one hundred years later in 1908.

Part of the fun of history is that it is full of many such mysteries. Another great example is the fact that four of America’s Founding Fathers all died on July 4^th. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Monroe and James Madison all perished on that date in different years. Maybe that topic will be a future posting…