One Hundred Years

Abraham Lincoln was elected to the House of Representatives in 1846; John Kennedy, 1946. Lincoln failed to win the vice presidential nomination in 1856, Kennedy in 1956. The republican conventions of 1860 and 1960 were held in Chicago. Mr. Lincoln was elected to the presidency in 1860, John Kennedy in 1960. Lincoln defeated Stephen Douglas, born in 1813; Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon born in 1913. John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Lincoln, was born in 1839, Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President Kennedy in 1939.

Both presidents had vice presidents named Johnson. Andrew Johnson served in the House of Representatives in 1847, Lyndon Johnson, 1947. In 1860 and 1960 both VP's were serving as Senators. Andrew Johnson was older than Lincoln and was born in 1808, Lyndon Johnson, born in 1908, was older than Kennedy. Even though Lincoln was a republican, both vice presidents were democrats. Andrew Johnson was defeated for re-election, Lyndon Johnson elected not to run for a second complete term. Andrew Johnson died of a stroke; Lyndon Johnson a heart attack.


OTHER SIMILARITIES

* Both presidents won their respective elections with less than fifty-percent of the popular vote.
* Each was concerned with the issue of civil rights.
* Both presidents while in their thirties, married women in their early twenties.
* Both wives suffered the death of a child while in the White House.
* Lincoln and Kennedy repeatedly spoke of, and had dreams regarding, assassination attempts.
* Each was subsequently warned by advisors not to attend the events that led to their death.
* Lincoln and Kennedy were shot from behind, in the head.
* They were killed on a Friday, and in the presence of their wives.
* The assassins, Booth and Oswald, were southerners who favored unpopular ideas.
* Booth shot Lincoln in a theater and was captured in a barn, a warehouse. Oswald allegedly shot Kennedy from a warehouse, the depository, and was arrested at a theater.
* Lincoln was killed in Ford's Theater, Kennedy was killed in a Ford automobile; a Lincoln.
* Both Booth and Oswald were killed before going to trail. The popular belief is that the two presidential tragedies were conspiracies with subsequent governmental cover up.
* The names Lincoln and Kennedy contain seven letters.
* The names Stephen and Richard, their political opponents have seven letters each.
* The name Johnson contains seven letters.
* The fathers of the presidents, Thomas and Joseph respectively, each have six letters.
* The names Andrew Johnson and Lyndon Johnson each contain 13 letters, as do the names of their wives, Eliza McCardle and Claudia Taylor.
* The names John Wilkes booth and Lee Harvey Oswald both total 15 letters.