When two American presidents die violently a century apart, strange patterns start to emerge. The Lincoln-Kennedy coincidences have become part of American folklore since 1964, when lists comparing the two assassinations began circulating widely. Some of these presidential assassination parallels are genuinely verified facts. Others fall apart under scrutiny. Historians and skeptics have spent decades trying to separate legitimate oddities from embellished myths that grew more elaborate with each retelling.
The Verified Electoral and Political Parallels
Both presidents were elected to Congress in years ending in ’46 (Lincoln in 1846 and Kennedy in 1946), and both won the presidency in years ending in ’60, exactly one century apart. Both presidents were deeply invested in civil rights during their administrations, with Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation and Kennedy proposing what became the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The succession patterns appear equally striking:
- Both were succeeded by vice presidents named Johnson (Andrew Johnson, born in 1808, and Lyndon B. Johnson, born in 1908)
- Both successor Johnsons had six-letter first names and were Southern Democrats
- Both Lincoln and Kennedy married in their thirties to women in their twenties who spoke French fluently
The Assassination Similarities and Theater-Warehouse Myth
Both presidents were shot on a Friday, in the back of the head, while seated beside their wives who remained uninjured. The assassins, John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald, were known by their three names, each containing fifteen letters, and both were killed before standing trial.
The most popular coincidence may also be the most inaccurate. Many lists claim Booth shot Lincoln in a theater and fled to a warehouse, while Oswald shot Kennedy from a warehouse and fled to a theater, but Booth’s hideout was actually a tobacco-curing barn in Virginia, not a warehouse. This distortion shows how folklore can reshape facts over time.
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The Debunked Secretary Myth and Statistical Reality
Perhaps the most frequently cited “fact” is completely false. The claim that Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy who warned him not to attend Ford’s Theatre lacks historical evidence. Lincoln’s secretaries were John Hay and John G. Nicolay. Kennedy did have a secretary named Evelyn Lincoln, but the parallel simply doesn’t exist on Lincoln’s side.
Skeptics point out that when presidential elections occur every four years, the fact that two people are elected exactly 100 years apart isn’t mathematically remarkable. Psychologists identify this pattern-seeking tendency as apophenia, or perceiving order in random configurations. The lists conveniently ignore non-coincidences: Lincoln was 56 when he died, Kennedy was 46. Lincoln was assassinated in April, Kennedy in November. Even the birth years of the assassins are incorrect in many versions. Booth was born in 1838, not 1839 as commonly claimed.
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Why These Parallels Continue to Captivate
The Lincoln-Kennedy coincidences endure because they tap into something deeper than statistics. They suggest patterns in chaos, meaning in tragedy. While several verified similarities between Lincoln and Kennedy exist, the most sensational claims dissolve under investigation. The lesson appears simple: humans naturally seek connections, sometimes finding them where none truly exist.
Whether these presidential assassination parallels represent cosmic patterns or selective memory, they’ve secured their place in American mythology. Next time someone shares the list, you’ll know which facts hold up and which are historical wishful thinking.
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