Ever since the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, historians have pointed out a number of striking similarities between Kennedy's life and death and those of Abraham Lincoln. You be the judge as to whether these convergences are significant or mere coincidences:

Lincoln was elected to the House of Representatives in 1846, Kennedy in 1946. Lincoln failed to win the vice presidential nomination in 1856, Kennedy in 1956. Lincoln was elected to the presidency in 1860, Kennedy in 1960. Lincoln defeated Stephen Douglas, born in 1813; Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon, born in 1913. Neither victor received 50 percent of the popular vote. Both presidents lost sons during their presidencies: Willie Lincoln succumbed to typhoid fever, and Patrick Kennedy was stillborn.

The last names of both presidents are each composed of seven letters. Both presidents had vice presidents named Johnson, both older than their presidents. Andrew Johnson was born in 1808, Lyndon Johnson in 1908. Andrew Johnson served in the House of Representatives in 1847, Lyndon Johnson in 1947. Both were sitting senators when they became vice president. The first and last names of both vice presidents total an unlucky thirteen letters. Neither Johnson was elected to a second presidential term.

Lincoln and Kennedy repeatedly spoke of having vivid dreams of assassination attempts. (In a dream, Lincoln heard weeping and wailing over the death of the President. He entered a room a viewed a coffin that contained his own body.) Each was warned by advisers not to attend the fatal event. Both assassins -- John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald ? were known by three names totaling fifteen letters.

Lincoln was assassinated in Ford's Theater, Kennedy in a Ford automobile ? a Lincoln. Each was shot in the back of the head, each with his wife nearby. Booth shot Lincoln in a theater and was captured in a barn; Oswald shot Kennedy from a warehouse and was arrested at a theater. Both presidents were assassinated on a Friday. Neither assassin lived to stand trial.