Were you thinking about those Lincoln/Kennedy coincidences? No, I’m talking about the James Garfield / William McKinley coincidences.
Garfield & McKinley - 8 letter each.
Both were born in Ohio.
Both were Republicans.
Both died in mid-September.
Both died just slightly over 6 months into their presidential term (in McKinley’s case, it was his second presidential term).
Died in adjoining states (Garfield - New Jersey & McKinley - New York).
Their successors were born in adjoining states (Chester Arthur - Vermont and Theodore Roosevelt - New York).
Their successors (Arthur & Roosevelt) were both born in October.
Their successors both died in the state of New York.
Garfield and McKinley’s assassins were born in adjoining states (Charles Guiteau - Illinois and Leon Czolgosz - Michigan).
Assassins were each tried and executed in less than a year of the shootings.
Assassins both used a pistol at close range.
If anyone would like to add to this list, please do. (I must have missed something).
Also, doesn’t this put those “Lincoln / Kennedy” coincidences in perspective? Yes, I know www.snopes.com and other sites have debunked those “coincidences” - some of which were toally contrived such as Lincoln’s secretary being named Kennedy.
:smack: Geez looks like I picked an incredibly bad time to post this. I just read of Ronald Reagan’s death.
Sorry, if anyone thinks my posting is in bad form. I learned the news about 10 minutes after hitting the Submit Button. :smack:
Garfield226
I stand corrected. (It figures that someone named Garfield would point this out). Yes Michigan and Illinois are not adjoining - there’s that small stretch of Indiana between them. And I thought my reference book “Kennedy was Abraham Lincoln’s Secreatary” was a reliable source. LOL
Well if Skeptical Enquirer already did this AND held a contest, does anyone have a link?
Garfield was shot by a man with too many vowels in his name; McKinley was shot by a man with too few vowels in his name.
Garfield and McKinley were both President at the time of their death. (I mean really, think about it - what are the odds?)
Garfield was shot in a train station; McKinley had ridden on a train. (I haven’t actually verified this.)
McKinley was shot in Buffalo and was named Bill; Garfield was a Buffalo Bills fan. (Admittedly this is based on a computerized projection of what Garfield’s football allegiance would have been if he had lived after the founding of the NFL.)
Both men were succeeded by their Vice President.
Both men were carbon-based life forms.
Both men were shot by a man using a gun.
Both men had comic strip characters named after them (except for McKinley).
Little Nemo
That is brilliant !!! (and I think it keeps that same “precise, scientific” approach utilized by the people who compiled the Lincoln / Kennedy coincidences).
I myself have just discovered a few others:
Both President Garfield and McKinley were born in the nineteenth century.
Both President Garfield and McKinley were particularly concerned with protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States.
President Garfield was left-handed.
President McKinley was right-handed.
