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PatchWork |
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PatchWork |
Last Updated 09/06/05
Email: joy@our-town.com
Presidential Coincidence
Forty years ago, there was another close election for President of the
United States. It was in the wee hours of a chilly Wednesday morning in
November when John F. Kennedy was declared the winner over Richard M.
Nixon. Kennedy was the youngest man ever elected to the office and also
the first Catholic to hold that office. However he is usually remembered
most because of his assassination while riding in a parade in downtown
Dallas.
Soon after his assassination, a sheet of paper listing comparisons
between Kennedy and another murdered president, Abraham Lincoln was
circulated. A few days ago it came back to me on the net. I copied it and
added a few touches of my own.
Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.
Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.
The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters.
Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.
Both of their wives lost a child while living in the White House.
Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.
Both were shot in the head.
Both were shot in the presence of their wives.
The Secretary of each President warned them not to go to the theater and to
Dallas, respectively.
Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy.
Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln.
Both were assassinated by Southerners.
Both were succeeded by Southerners.
Both successors were named Johnson.
Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.
Both Andrew Johnson and Lyndon Johnson contain 13 letters.
John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.
John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald both contain 15 letters.
Booth ran from the theater and was captured in a warehouse.
Oswald ran from the warehouse and was captured in a theater.
Both Ford's theater, where Lincoln was shot, and the Texas theater, where
Oswald was captured, contain 5 letters.
To cap it all off, Booth and Oswald were assassinated before they could be
brought to trial.
Just a coincidence? Hummmm.