# Mount Rushmore/Adams Bush Coincidences... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 13, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626 "2007-10-13T23:17:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/1 "2007-10-13T23:17:07Z")
For years now I have been fascinated by coincidences. And a few years ago I discovered these: **The Mount Rushmore Coincidences.** When you count the number of letters in our four famous Presidents appearing on Mt. Rushmore in the following order, you find this astounding coincidence: Abraham Lincoln has 14 LETTERS in it… Thomas Jefferson has 15 LETTERS in it… George Washington has 16 LETTERS in it… Theodore Roosevelt has 17 LETTERS in it… This seems to almost “build” on the number 13–the number of our original colonies. Also interesting, “Mount Rushmore” and “Gutzon Borglum” (the sculptor of Mt. Rushmore) have 13 letters each. Here is another one: _ **The Adams Bush Coincidences.** _ -These were the only presidents to follow one another as father-and-son presidents. -Both couples were differentiated by a middle name or initial. -Both father-pres.‘s were VP’s of charismatic conservatives that came before them, and were followed by charismatic leaders of the opposing party(both w/a “Jefferson” in their names)–ea. father serving just one term. -Both fathers started into a new decade and had a son start into a whole new century. -Adams’ “A” is before Bush’ “B”. -George Bush, Sr. and John Adams, Sr. were both born in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. -Both sons had a VP whose last name began with a “C” and a wife whose first name began with an “L”. -Fate must not like sons to follow their fathers as pres., because neither son had a majority of the country’s support (in their first term)–John Q. Adams was elected by our Congress! Not as amazing as my first one, but interesting nonetheless. I might have shared these coincidences a couple years ago on these boards. But it has been so long, I am not even completely sure what those posts were about. In any event, if anyone can find my old thread, feel free to post a link to it on this one. Yeah, I do find coincidences an interesting thing. I know the Swiss psychologist and paranormal investigator Carl Jung called the phenomenon [synchronicity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity). And when I was younger, I assumed this was the best explanation for it. But now that I am older, I am more skeptical, and don’t believe in synchronicity anymore. Does anyone else have any thoughts on the matter? Thank you in advance to all who reply 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/2 "2007-10-13T23:41:39Z")
I think a better explanation is that it turns out the human mind is lousy at recognising things as being random when they truly are. ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/3 "2007-10-13T23:52:26Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I think a better explanation is that it turns out the human mind is lousy at recognising things as being random when they truly are. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I’ve got to say, that’s a list of eight similarities/ “coincidences” - what about all the things that weren’t on the list? Shoe size? Foreign policy? Favorite meal? Age? etc? It pretty much just seems like regular old coincidence, helped along by people looking for Shocking! Similarities! Not that I mean to be insulting, but you know, things happen. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/4 "2007-10-13T23:59:42Z")
Well, we all know about the election in which the former President’s son (a national Republican) was chosen over the former Senator from Tennessee (a Democrat) despite the latter’s having gotten a majority of the popular vote, and was finally named President in a political-logrolling manner that caused many to call electoral fraud. Of course, nothing like the election of 1824 could happen again, right? :o ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/5 "2007-10-14T02:02:55Z")
And the wildest coincidence of all – they were all AMERICAN!!! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/6 "2007-10-14T02:16:55Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] Of course, nothing like the election of 1824 could happen again, right? :o [/QUOTE] Add the digits in that date. Fifteen. One and five are six. Subtract that from 15. Nine. The election of 1824 (‘9’) had one Republican and one Democrat. One and One. Two. Nine and two are 11. So the seeds of 9/11 are in the election of 1824. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/7 "2007-10-14T02:21:45Z")
It’s just selecting appropriate data to create a coincidence. This one started making the rounds shortly afte JFK’s assasination: Lincoln-Kennedy Coincidences Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946. Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960. The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters. Both were particularly concerned with civil rights. Both wives lost a child while living in the White House. Both Presidents were shot on a Friday. Both were shot in the head. Lincoln’s secretary was named Kennedy. Kennedy’s secretary was named Lincoln. Both were assassinated by Southerners. Both were succeeded by Southerners. Both successors were named Johnson. Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808. Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908. John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln was born in 1839. Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy was born in 1939. Both assassins were know by their three names. Both names compromise fifteen letters. Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse. Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater. Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/8 "2007-10-14T05:03:21Z")
Mt. Rushmore is carved out of a rock. The US is stuck in Iraq. Iraq, like Rushmore, owes it’s present condition to lots of explosives. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/9 "2007-10-14T09:34:22Z")
> [@](#): > > Both father-pres.'s were VP’s of charismatic conservatives that came before them If George Washington had been a conservative, we’d be living in the Dominion of North America. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/10 "2007-10-14T10:25:46Z")
I think you can tell a meaningful pattern from a coincidence by seeing what quality of predictions you can make. For these things happen for a reason… From your post, I can tell that: The next President to be commemorated at Mount Rushmore will have a total of 18 letters (combined) in his first and last name. Some male Americans will give their son the same name as themselves. They will be told apart not by the suffix Senior / Junior, but by their middle initial. If you think your father is going to be President and you want to follow him, marry a woman whose first name starts with L and choose a VP whose last name starts with C. Most importantly: DO NOT MARRY A WOMAN WHOSE **LAST** NAME STARTS WITH THE SAME LETTER AS EITHER BUSH JUNIOR’S WIFE OR ADAMS JUNIOR’S WIFE. This alone will cause you to lose the election (through the awesome power of coincidence). :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Carson\_O\_Genic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Carson\_O\_Genic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carson_O_Genic)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/11 "2007-10-14T12:09:55Z")
Jim B.(OP) Care to explicate why your scepticism has disabused belief in synchronicity? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/12 "2007-10-14T13:30:39Z")
The list of Kennedy/Lincoln coincidences given in A.R. Cane’s post is both inaccurate and trivial (as I’m sure he knows): > **[Are These 'Coincidences' Linking Lincoln to Kennedy Real?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/linkin-kennedy/)** > > The coincidences between the Lincoln and Kennedy assassinations are not really so amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/13 "2007-10-14T22:25:41Z")
[QUOTE=Jim B.] Here is another one: _ **The Adams Bush Coincidences.** _ -Both fathers started into a new decade and had a son start into a whole new century. [/QUOTE] Not quite, unless I’m misunderstanding your point. John Adams (1797-1801) was president when the nineteenth century began, but John Quincy Adams occupied the White House from 1825 to 1829, so his term didn’t even span two different decades. The ninetten-nineties began during the administration of George H.W. Bush (1989-93), but Bill Clinton (1993-2001) was Chief Executive as the 21st century dawned. As [this page](http://www.elefunt.com/elefun/100YR/) demonstrates with its comparison of Grover Cleveland and Bill Clinton, it’s possible to find coincidences in the lives of any two presidents (or athletes, or **SDMB** posters) if you look hard enough and apply definitions liberally enough. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/14 "2007-10-14T22:47:39Z")
Neither Adams or Bush has ever been in my kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/15 "2007-10-14T23:19:50Z")
[QUOTE=Atomicktom] Neither Adams or Bush has ever been in my kitchen. [/QUOTE] How do you know? If they had been (without your knowledge), that would be a real coincidence! ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/16 "2007-10-14T23:30:08Z")
[QUOTE=Carson O’Genic] Jim B.(OP) Care to explicate why your scepticism has disabused belief in synchronicity? [/QUOTE] I am not sure I understand your question exactly. All I can say is, as I’ve gotten older, I have found it harder to believe in abstract, unprovable concepts, like ghosts, the afterlife–and synchronicity. I do still believe in coincidences. But I am open to other explanations for what cause them–including random chance. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/17 "2007-10-15T03:16:55Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I think a better explanation is that it turns out the human mind is lousy at recognising things as being random when they truly are. [/QUOTE] Yes, in fact it might be more accurate to say that humans look for patterns in everything. ---
**Author:** ![Carson\_O\_Genic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Carson\_O\_Genic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carson_O_Genic)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/18 "2007-10-15T08:05:10Z")
Jim B. You piqued my interest mentioning C.G.Jung,an interesting fellow. Your closing statement was that scepticism caused your disbelief. Your response to my query (after squinting through magnification) is you still believe in coincidence- I assume the belief is in an unexplained connectedness,and not the occurence?What separates coincidence from synchronism in your view? ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/19 "2007-10-15T17:32:18Z")
So _that’s_ why Theodore Roosevelt in on Mt. Rushmore. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626/20 "2007-10-15T17:36:22Z")
The stupidest one of all time was omitted from the list, though. Lincoln was killed in Ford’s Theater. Kennedy was killed in a Ford. It’s a conspiracy, I tells ya. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mount-rushmore-adams-bush-coincidences/422626.md?page=2)