Coincidences: Lincoln Meets Kennedy

You’ve probably seen the list of spooky coincidences between Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy — the elections, the assassins, the secretaries. But which of them are true, and which are myths? This week, we trace the origins of one of America’s favorite trivia lists and separate fact from fiction. Then we chat with Las Vegas Headlining Magician, Mat Franco! Did you know The Internet Says It’s True is now a book? Get it here: https://amzn.to/4miqLNy

When I was a kid, someone told me the weirdest coincidence I had ever heard: That Mark Twain was born in 1835, the same year that Halley’s Comet appeared, and then he died in 1910, the next time the comet appeared. And that’s true. Twain himself even joked about it, saying in 1909: “I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it.” Sure enough, he died the very day after the comet’s closest approach to Earth. That’s the kind of eerie coincidence that sticks in your brain.

Or take the case of two men named James Brady. In 1957, a man named James A. Brady was killed in a car accident in Ontario. Twenty years later, in 1977, another man — also named James A. Brady — was killed at the exact same intersection, in the same type of car. Coincidences like that are rare, but they make you wonder if there’s some hidden force at play.

And of course, we’ve all heard the one about the Titanic. In 1898, author Morgan Robertson wrote a novella called Futility about a massive luxury ship called the Titan that hits an iceberg and sinks. Fourteen years later, in 1912, the Titanic sank in almost exactly the same way. Robertson always insisted it was just an educated guess, based on the trend of bigger and faster ships being built at the time. But when history rhymes in such a dramatic way, people remember.

That brings us to today’s story. Perhaps the most famous coincidence list of them all: Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. You’ve probably seen this list somewhere — maybe in a school textbook, maybe as a chain email in the early 2000s, or even now as a viral meme on social media. The list usually contains a couple dozen bullet points comparing the two presidents, showing uncanny similarities between their lives, their political careers, and even their deaths.

Some of the most famous ones you’ve probably heard: Both presidents were elected exactly 100 years apart. Both were succeeded by Democrats named Johnson. Both were assassinated on a Friday while sitting next to their wives. Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy, and Kennedy had a secretary named Lincoln. The names Lincoln and Kennedy both have seven letters. The assassins were both known by three names — John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald — and both names contain fifteen letters. Booth shot Lincoln in a theater and ran to a warehouse; Oswald shot Kennedy from a warehouse and ran to a theater. And the list goes on and on. Here are some more:

• Both presidents were elected to Congress in ’46 (1846 and 1946) and later to the presidency in ’60 (1860 and 1960).
• The assassins were both Southerners.
• Both Lincoln and Kennedy were particularly concerned with civil rights and made their views strongly known.
• Both presidents were shot in the head on a Friday and in the presence of their wives.
• Both Oswald and Booth were killed before they could be put on trial.

It’s the kind of trivia that middle school teachers love to share because it grabs attention immediately. It makes history feel like a puzzle, like there’s some deeper connection just beneath the surface. And it’s been circulating for a long time. The earliest known printed version of the Lincoln-Kennedy coincidence list appeared in 1964, just months after Kennedy’s assassination, in the Grier City News in Pennsylvania. Over the next few years, newspapers across the country picked it up and the list grew, with new coincidences being added by readers. By the 1970s, the list had become a pop culture phenomenon. Comedian Dick Gregory even published a book in 1976 called “N***** (N-Word): An Autobiography” in which he discussed the Lincoln-Kennedy parallels as part of America’s fascination with strange connections.

But here’s the thing: not all of these coincidences hold up under scrutiny. Some are true, but trivial. Some are misleading. And some are flat-out wrong.

Let’s start with one of the most famous: “Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy, and Kennedy had a secretary named Lincoln.” This one isn’t true at all. There’s no record of Lincoln ever employing a secretary named Kennedy. Kennedy, on the other hand, did have a secretary named Evelyn Lincoln. That part is true. But the mirrored coincidence is fabricated.

Another often repeated claim: “Booth shot Lincoln in a theater and ran to a warehouse; Oswald shot Kennedy from a warehouse and ran to a theater.” This one has a kernel of truth but is oversimplified. John Wilkes Booth did shoot Lincoln in Ford’s Theatre and was later found hiding in a tobacco barn, not a warehouse. Lee Harvey Oswald did fire from the Texas School Book Depository — essentially a warehouse — and then ran to the Texas Theatre, where he was arrested. So while there’s a poetic symmetry, it isn’t as neat as the meme makes it sound.

Or how about the claim that both assassins were born exactly 100 years apart? Booth was born in 1838, and Oswald was born in 1939. That’s 101 years apart. And the “100 years apart” claim about Lincoln and Kennedy’s elections? Lincoln was elected in 1860, Kennedy in 1960. That one is accurate.

Then there’s the idea that both successors were named Johnson. That’s true. Andrew Johnson became president after Lincoln’s death in 1865, and Lyndon B. Johnson took office after Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. Andrew Johnson was born in 1808, and Lyndon Johnson in 1908 — exactly 100 years apart. So that one checks out, too.

The point is: some of these connections are real, some are stretched, and some are totally invented. Over time, as the list got copied and recopied, errors crept in, and no one really bothered to fact-check them. The list was more about the vibe of spooky coincidence than historical accuracy.

That’s part of what makes this list fascinating. It shows how we, as humans, are wired to look for patterns. Psychologists call it apophenia — the tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things. It’s the same instinct that makes us see faces in clouds, or hear hidden messages when songs are played backward. The Lincoln-Kennedy coincidences are basically apophenia on a national scale.

But it’s not just random trivia. There’s something about linking these two presidents in particular that made the list sticky. Both were young, charismatic leaders whose presidencies were cut short by assassination. Both came to symbolize, in different eras, a sense of hope for the country. So pairing them together — even artificially — created a story that was compelling enough to live on for decades.

The truth is, the idea had been floating around in smaller forms before Kennedy’s assassination. Historian Barbara Garson noted that in the late 1950s, some newspapers ran side-by-side comparisons of Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt, looking for historical echoes. After Kennedy’s death, it was natural for people to make the same comparisons with Lincoln.

The earliest long-form version we know of was published in 1964, just a year after Kennedy’s assassination, in a Pennsylvania newspaper. That article listed 15 coincidences. Over the years, the list expanded as readers and amateur historians added new items. By the 1970s, the list was in classroom textbooks and trivia books. Ripley’s Believe It or Not even featured it.

In 1975, historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. was asked about the list in an interview. His response was blunt: “Most of these so-called coincidences are simply not true.” But by then, the list had taken on a life of its own. Even when scholars debunked it, the legend continued.

The most interesting thing, in my opinion, is not which items are true or false, but why we care. Lincoln and Kennedy are two of the most mythologized presidents in American history. Lincoln as the savior of the Union and the Great Emancipator. Kennedy as the embodiment of Camelot and youthful idealism. Both men’s deaths were shocking national traumas. So connecting them feels like connecting two halves of the same tragic story.

This wasn’t the only time history has been paired in this way. Another famous coincidence story involves the sinking of the Titanic, which I mentioned earlier with Futility. Or the eerie case of Hugh Williams. Supposedly, on three separate occasions — in 1664, 1785, and 1860 — ships sank in the Menai Strait off the coast of Wales, and in each disaster, the sole survivor was named Hugh Williams. That story has been told and retold, though historians debate how much of it is legend.

Another example: In 1901, a man named Wilmer McLean owned a farmhouse in Manassas, Virginia, where the first major battle of the Civil War broke out. Four years later, tired of the war, he moved to Appomattox Court House to get away from the fighting. And in 1865, General Lee surrendered to General Grant in Wilmer McLean’s parlor, literally bringing the war full circle. McLean supposedly said: “The war began in my front yard and ended in my front parlor.”

These stories endure not because they reveal a secret force in the universe, but because they’re satisfying narratives. We like symmetry. We like beginnings and endings that tie together neatly. And when we find those patterns in real life, we can’t help but share them.

In the case of Lincoln and Kennedy, the coincidences tell us more about human psychology than about history. They show how easily myths can spread when they resonate emotionally. They also show how much people want to make sense of senseless tragedies.

Both assassinations were deeply traumatic national events. In both cases, conspiracy theories flourished. And the coincidence list gave people a way to process the unthinkable, to say: “See? There’s a reason this feels so familiar. History repeats itself.”

But as historian James Loewen once said, “Coincidences don’t tell us anything. They don’t explain anything. They just exist.” The Lincoln-Kennedy list is a perfect example. Yes, some items are striking. Yes, it’s fun trivia. But it doesn’t mean there’s a grand cosmic design.

Still, it’s worth noting that the list itself has become a kind of historical artifact. It tells us something about the 1960s and 70s, about how Americans were searching for meaning in the aftermath of Kennedy’s death. And it continues to circulate today, in memes and viral posts, because the human brain hasn’t changed. We still love to marvel at the weird ways history can echo.

So the next time you see someone post the Lincoln-Kennedy coincidences, you’ll know which ones are true, which are fake, and why the whole thing caught on in the first place. It’s less about fate and more about folklore.

And that’s what makes it a great story for this show. The Internet Says it’s True.

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