History of Lincoln and Kennedy: Mystery Conspiracy or Random Coincidence

I was recently forwarded an email that stated many history mysteries between our 16^th President Abraham Lincoln and our 35^th President John F. Kennedy. I was in awe at all of the links between these two presidents and their lives that were stated in this e-mail; however, I began to wonder if this was indeed true or not. I did a little research on these presidents and learned the truth. Let me pass it along so others are not confused about our presidential history.

First facts, Abraham Lincoln was indeed elected to the House of Representatives in 1846 and John F. Kennedy was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946. Also, both were elected president in the 60's, Lincoln in 1860 and Kennedy in 1960. Interesting, okay sure; but considering these elections always take part on specific years. For example, James Abram Garfield was elected president in 1880 and Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980. This is not a major twist of fate; just the regular 4 year timing of the presidential election.

Next, it is true that they were both concerned with civil rights; but then again what president is not concerned with civil rights? The pure definition of civil rights is the political, social, and economic rights that each citizen has by virtue of simply being a citizen, according to http://www.answers.com. In my opinion it is part of the president's job to maintain and protect our civil rights as American citizens.

Both of these presidents did loose children while living in the White House. This is more of a mystery than what we have covered so far, in my opinion. Each of these couples lost one child while living in the White House. William (Willie) Wallace Lincoln died at 11, probably due to typhoid fever, while his father was the president. The Lincoln's had two of their four children die in childhood and a third when he was only 18. The Kennedy's also lost two of their four children, also. Patrick Bouvier Kennedy died when he was just two days old on August 9, 1963, just three months before J.F.K. was assassinated. Their other child that died in infancy was a stillborn.

Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy were both shot in the head on a Friday, true. The claim that they were both assassinated by Southerners can be misleading. Abraham Lincoln was shot in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth. John Wilkes Booth, according to the e-mail was born in 1839; but according to my research, he was born in 1838 in Maryland. That's a far cry from a Southerner! However, he was a pro-Confederate and moved to the South when he was an adult. Kennedy on the other hand was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald who was born in 1939 in Louisiana. Oswald moved many times throughout his life, even living in New York City at one point, but by definition was a Southerner.

The allegation that both of these presidents where shot by men who are known by three names with 15 letters isn't highly peculiar. Many people are known by three names, especially those in history and most people have three names. The fact that they both have 15 letters in their names is interesting, but still without all of the other named coincidences in the email, it would not be given a second thought!

Along with that, both of these men were not "assassinated before their trials." John Wilkes Booth fled to a farm in Virginia where he was shot in the neck while he was being apprehended and died of his injuries. Lee Harvey Oswald was murdered two days after assassinating J.F.K. So no, neither one could be tried, but to say they were both "assassinated before their trails" makes one assume their trials had been set and that they, too, were killed for political reasons.

In the assassinations, Lincoln was shot in a Theater called Ford's Theatre; his assassin fled on horse to a farm. Kennedy was shot in a Lincoln town car made by Ford and his assassin went and hid in a movie theater. Is it a fluke that Lincoln was shot in Ford and Kennedy was shot in a Lincoln made by Ford? Not really, in fact, it is rather silly to make this juxtaposition. And, on top of that, the assassins didn't run to/from the same type of establishments as claimed.

The next statement is both were succeeded by Southerners with the surname of Johnson. Andrew Johnson was president after Abraham Lincoln and was in fact born in 1808 in Tennessee, so that claim is true for him. Lyndon Johnson was born in 1908 in Texas. Is Texas considered part of the South? To my last recollection, Texas wanted to be its own country! So I guess that can be true, but is up for argument. As for the same surname, Johnson is extremely common, so I am not buying into any weird conspiracies going on!

The last "kicker" they say is Lincoln was in Monroe, Maryland before his assassination and Kennedy was with Marilyn Monroe prior to his assassination. I highly doubt Lincoln was in Monroe, Maryland prior to his death as I could find no research on that fact. Also, the war had just ended and what would be the point of this jaunt to Monroe, Maryland. Remember, this is back in 1865 when the prominent ways to travel were by horse or train. I doubt he would have taken this trip just a week before he was to be in Washington D.C. to go to the Ford's Theatre. And Kennedy being with Marilyn Monroe a week prior to his assassination is atrocious unless he was visiting her grave! Marilyn Monroe died August 5, 1962. This is almost a year before Kennedy's assassination. To say that the most eerie aspect of the claimed correlations about Lincoln and Kennedy is that Lincoln was in Monroe, Maryland a week before his assassination and Kennedy was with Marilyn Monroe a week prior to his assassination is just deceptive.

I think we can be certain that there are coincidences between these two presidents, but all of them can be rationalized. The email claims many things as truth that I have proven are bogus. Certainly no strange conspiracies are lurking in these waters, but it is good to learn some solid facts about our past presidents!