# Why does everyone love Lincoln and Kennedy, but no-one cares about Garfield and McKinley? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 14, 2013, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-everyone-love-lincoln-and-kennedy-but-no-one-cares-about-garfield-and-mckinley/668843 "2013-09-14T13:22:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-everyone-love-lincoln-and-kennedy-but-no-one-cares-about-garfield-and-mckinley/668843/41 "2013-09-15T19:24:47Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Johnny Cash wrote a song about Garfield’s assassination. I don’t believe he wrote one about either Lincoln’s or Kennedy’s. So score one for Garfield on that point. He didn’t write it, but his is probably the most famous version. It was written by Ramblin’ Jack Elliot. ---
**Author:** ![jsquire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jsquire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsquire)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-everyone-love-lincoln-and-kennedy-but-no-one-cares-about-garfield-and-mckinley/668843/42 "2013-09-16T01:35:03Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But the biggest crisis of Garfield’s administration was corruption in the post office. He handled it well but it’s not the stuff that legends are made of. Am I the only one who read this and immediately imagined Newman (from Seinfeld) cackling with glee? ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-everyone-love-lincoln-and-kennedy-but-no-one-cares-about-garfield-and-mckinley/668843/43 "2013-09-16T02:23:22Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Johnny Cash wrote a song about Garfield’s assassination. I don’t believe he wrote one about either Lincoln’s or Kennedy’s. So score one for Garfield on that point. He’s got a cartoon cat named after him. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-everyone-love-lincoln-and-kennedy-but-no-one-cares-about-garfield-and-mckinley/668843/44 "2013-09-16T02:46:42Z")
Hey guys, did you know President Garfield nicknamed his penis “McKinley,” and President McKinley nicknamed his wife’s tush “Garfield?” Mind: blown. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-everyone-love-lincoln-and-kennedy-but-no-one-cares-about-garfield-and-mckinley/668843/45 "2013-09-16T03:10:24Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > Mountaineers call it Denali too. Soory. They are in obvious denali. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-everyone-love-lincoln-and-kennedy-but-no-one-cares-about-garfield-and-mckinley/668843/46 "2013-09-16T05:34:40Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I’m Alaskan, born and bred. I call it Denali and Ohio can go suck it. 😃 This is the same sort of rage that got him killed! Can’t we tone it down, and perhaps save another President’s life??:eek: ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-everyone-love-lincoln-and-kennedy-but-no-one-cares-about-garfield-and-mckinley/668843/47 "2013-09-16T13:37:14Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Some of us Ohioans prefer Denali too. > > We can rename [Campbell Hill](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campbell_Hill_%28Ohio%29) (the highest elevation in Ohio) McKinley Hill. McKinley’s voice; The home of former 1st Lady Ida Saxton is the 1st Ladies Museum in Canton. Ever been there? ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-everyone-love-lincoln-and-kennedy-but-no-one-cares-about-garfield-and-mckinley/668843/48 "2013-09-16T13:40:11Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > They both died later of their wounds, but if Lincoln and Kennedy died later I doubt we’d forget about them like we have Garfield and McKinley. What’s the explanation? I would expect historical importance in school history class was a main reason, as Lincoln was President during the CIVIL WAR, and the 1st murdered, and Kennedy was President during the Cuban Missle crisis and Bay of Pigs, and the last murdered. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-everyone-love-lincoln-and-kennedy-but-no-one-cares-about-garfield-and-mckinley/668843/49 "2013-09-16T15:11:53Z")
Never mind assassination- does ANYBODY think much about Benjamin Harrison or Rutherford B. Hayes? When’s the last time you thought about Grover Cleveland or Chester Alan Arthur? From Lincoln’s death until Teddy Roosevelt’s inauguration, we had a series of unremarkable presidents who did unremarkable things. If James Garfield had lived and served two full terms, I seriously doubt whether he’d be any better remembered than he is now. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-everyone-love-lincoln-and-kennedy-but-no-one-cares-about-garfield-and-mckinley/668843/50 "2013-09-16T15:36:11Z")
Another thing about Kennedy, he was popular around the world, before his murder. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-everyone-love-lincoln-and-kennedy-but-no-one-cares-about-garfield-and-mckinley/668843/51 "2013-09-16T15:57:15Z")
Just because it needs to be mentioned here, Sarah Vowell’s Assassination Vacation is wonderful and funny - and Garfield’s killer was a complete and total loon. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-everyone-love-lincoln-and-kennedy-but-no-one-cares-about-garfield-and-mckinley/668843/52 "2013-09-16T16:14:05Z")
Kennedy I get because people are living who remember him being assassinated. It’s one of those things that you remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard like the Challenger & Columbia disasters or 9/11. In a hundred years (like Garfield and McKinley) not so much. The story behind Lincoln’s assassination, the first President ever assassinated. He won the war but wasn’t given a chance to win the peace. How polarizing he is still today being #1 or 2 on best Presidents with George Washington yet had the win at all cost mentality that doesn’t fit our notion of how Presidents are supposed to act [yet doing it to save our country]. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-everyone-love-lincoln-and-kennedy-but-no-one-cares-about-garfield-and-mckinley/668843/53 "2013-09-16T16:29:16Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Kennedy I get because people are living who remember him being assassinated. It’s one of those things that you remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard like the Challenger & Columbia disasters or 9/11. In a hundred years (like Garfield and McKinley) not so much. This. I’m sure plenty of people remembered where they were when they heard McKinley or Garfield were assassinated. When most of the people who remember Kennedy are gone, he’ll join them on the list of presidents you learn about in History class, then promptly forget about again. His deeds simply weren’t great enough to stand the test of time, like Lincoln’s were. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-everyone-love-lincoln-and-kennedy-but-no-one-cares-about-garfield-and-mckinley/668843/54 "2013-09-16T21:27:40Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > This. I’m sure plenty of people remembered where they were when they heard McKinley or Garfield were assassinated. When most of the people who remember Kennedy are gone, he’ll join them on the list of presidents you learn about in History class, then promptly forget about again. His deeds simply weren’t great enough to stand the test of time, like Lincoln’s were. Compare talking to to two people about 9/11, one 30 years old and on 13 years old. It is clear that the 13 year old’s generation will not remember it the way 30 year olds will. ---
**Author:** ![RickG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rickg/32/5174_2.png) [@RickG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickG)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-everyone-love-lincoln-and-kennedy-but-no-one-cares-about-garfield-and-mckinley/668843/55 "2013-09-16T21:48:55Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Just because it needs to be mentioned here, Sarah Vowell’s Assassination Vacation is wonderful and funny - and Garfield’s killer was a complete and total loon. This is one of my favorite books. If you can, listen to it on audio–read by the author with assists by a bunch of her famous friends. The section on Garfield and his assassin is really great, including, improbably, a brief history of Utopian communities in Upstate New York. She makes some pretty compelling parallels between McKinley’s arguments for the Spanish-American War and G. W. Bush’s arguments for Iraq. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-everyone-love-lincoln-and-kennedy-but-no-one-cares-about-garfield-and-mckinley/668843.md?page=2)