History Lesson
Have a history teacher explain this-----
Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.
Except all congressional elections are held in even-numbered years (unless there is an election to replace a person who died in or was removed from office). So, there are 50 possible years during every century for a congressional election.
And, both men were born near the beginning of their respective centuries, plus you have to be at least 25 to be a member of congress. Kennedy was born in 1917 and Lincoln in 1809. So neither man could have become a congressman during the congressional elections held between '00 and '32 of their respective centuries, and Kennedy was not eligible until the '42 election in his century.
Therefore that brings the possible years down to only 33 possible years for Lincoln and 23 for Kennedy, and when you get into the latter parts of the century, the men would be very old indeed (and, for Lincoln, it's past the average life expectancy for men at the time). This is an upper age limit of sorts.
Plus, you are talking about 2 ambitious men who probably didn't want to stop at Congress, so they needed to get into Congress fairly early in their political careers and would not have waited too long to do so. Hence that takes out, I would say, all elections between the '60 and '98 years for Kennedy and all elections between '70 and '98 for Lincoln. Now the possible number of elections goes down to only those between '34 and '58 for Lincoln, or 13 possible elections, and only those between '42 and '68 for Kennedy, or 14. Now it doesn't look quite so impossible that the elections would be 100 years apart, eh?
Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.
What was said above goes double for Presidential elections. First off, both men had to be at least 35. And, let's face it, you have to have at least a little bit of experience before you get elected President. And, again, there's the upper age limit. And, Presidential elections happen every four years. So Lincoln could not have run for President before the '44 election in his century, and Kennedy's outta luck until his '52 election. Lincoln probably would not have run after about the '72 election. Kennedy probably would not have run after the '80 election. Therefore that's only 8 possible elections for either of them, and 6 of those overlap (with a century apart, of course).
Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.
Both wives lost their children while living in the White House.
First, somewhat true. But so were Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson, among others. And wasn't Lincoln mainly concerned with the Civil War?
Also true, but in the 19th century that was a much more common occurrence than it is nowadays. It's a lot more remarkable that Jackie Kennedy miscarried, than that Mary Lincoln lost a child.
Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.
Both Presidents were shot in the head.
Only seven possible days in a week.
Yes, that's why both shootings were fatal within the day. Both assassins wanted very much to succeed.
Now it gets really weird.
Lincoln 's secretary was named Kennedy.
Kennedy's Secretary was named Lincoln.
Fairly common Irish-English last names, both of them. I had a teacher in High School whose surname was Kennedy and she was no relation. The same is true of a lot of other people with either last name.
Both were assassinated by Southerners.
Both were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson.
Lincoln was killed by a man who wanted the war to go to the South. Booth was born in Bel Air, Maryland. Oswald was born in New Orleans. Technically these are both "in the South", but they are also far from one another. How far? According to Yahoo! maps, they are just about 1150 miles from one another. It's pretty challenging to try to get any farther away and still have both the origination point and the destination be "in the South".
Johnson is the second-most common surname in America; only Smith is more common. As for the two Johnsons being Southerners, Lyndon Johnson was brought onto the Kennedy ticket because he was could bring in Southern votes (he was a Texan; there were other reasons he was Kennedy's running mate, but that's all that matters here). Andrew Johnson was from Tennessee and, surprise, surprise, was also brought in to make the Lincoln ticket more palatable to the South.
Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.
To be a VP, you are supposed to (at least at the times we are talking about, this was the case) have some political heft of your own. So anyone much younger was out of the question for both Presidents. For Lincoln, anyone too much older would have been too old.
John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.
A young, violent assassin? There's lots of 'em. Older people tend to think more about consequences and might hesitate.
Oh, and Booth was born in '38, anyway.
Both assassins were known by their three names.
Both names are composed of fifteen letters.
Many assassins are known by three names, because that's how these things are reported. This also explains James Earl Ray.
Coincidence, I'd say. If you go with the name that Marina Oswald (a Russian) called her husband, Alik, then he's got 16 letters and the coicidence disappears.
Now hang on to your seat.
Lincoln was shot at the theater named 'Ford.'
Kennedy was shot in a car called 'Lincoln' made by 'Ford.'
Common names. According to Wikipedia, the Lincoln automobile was named after Abe Lincoln. "Leland [Henry M. Leland, who founded the company in 1917] named the brand after his longtime hero Abraham Lincoln, for whom he had voted in 1860 in the first presidential elections he was eligible for."
Lincoln was shot in a theater and his assassin ran and hid in a warehouse.
Kennedy was shot from a warehouse and his assassin ran and hid in a theater.
Actually, Kennedy was shot from the Texas School Book Depository. And Lincoln was shot in a theater because he was vulnerable there.
Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.
Yes, but Booth was killed because he refused to surrender. See: http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/booth.htm Oswald was shot mainly because Jack Ruby, according to Wikipedia, was "publicity-obsessed" (he was also mob-connected, which may or may not have been important. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ruby
And here's the kicker...
A week before Lincoln was shot, he was in Monroe, Maryland
A week before Kennedy was shot, he was with Marilyn Monroe.
And Marilyn Monroe's real name was Norma Jeane Baker (ooh, a 15-letter name again). According to Wikipedia, "She was named after an actress called Marilyn Miller and took her mother's maiden name Monroe, which Marilyn suggested herself, although she probably was not aware of the large number of actors who also used their mother's maiden name as their professional surnames." See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Monroe Oh, and one more thing, Marilyn Monroe died in '62. Kennedy was assassinated in '63.
Plus, really, both men were in lots of places during the week before their deaths. Would it be remarkable to say they both kissed their wives at least once and took at least one walk? 
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