The reel mixes real parallels with false ones and frames the list as suspiciously non-random.
- Wrong: Lincoln had no secretary named Kennedy.
- Wrong: The full list does not show non-chance design.
- True: Both were elected to Congress in years ending 46.
Checked against: Snopes, usatoday.com, en.wikipedia.org (2), HISTORY, National Archives, abraham-lincoln-history.org
Why we say that›
Lincoln-JFK list includes debunked claims like matching secretaries.
Accurate items exist but contradicted claims like the secretaries and the loaded 'absurd' framing create a false picture of improbability.
Reported 26 Sept 2026
Claims
2 false · 3 true · 1 no record
- False
JFK and Abraham Lincoln were both assassinated in office and there is an absurd number of coincidences between them.
What we found
Assassinations true but sources show listed parallels are chance, selective or false not absurd.
- False
Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy. Kennedy had a secretary named Lincoln.
What we found
Kennedy had secretary Evelyn Lincoln but Lincoln had no secretary named Kennedy.
- No record found
Either history has an incredible sense of humor, or someone accidentally left the simulation on repeat.
What we found
Sources reject non-chance design and attribute pattern to bias and ordinary overlap.
- True
Lincoln became president in 1860.
- True
Both Lincoln and Kennedy were elected to congress in years ending with 46.
What we found
Lincoln elected to Congress in 1846 and Kennedy in 1946.
- True
Both full names of the assassins contain 15 letters.
What we found
John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald each total fifteen letters.
The full story, from the sources›
Both assassins were known by three names — John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald, with 15 letters in each complete name. - Snopes (1999-06-11) Kennedy's secretary was named Evelyn Lincoln. However, neither USA TODAY nor Snopes has found any record of a secretary named Kennedy in the Lincoln White House. Lincolns secretaries were named John George Nicolay and John M. Hay. - usatoday.com (2020-06-06) In 1846... Lincoln was nominated as a Whig candidate for congress. The election took place on August 3rd; he ran against Democrat Peter Cartwright and won. - abraham-lincoln-history.org Both assassins were known by three names... with 15 letters in each complete name. - en.wikipedia.org (2007-12-16) 1846 elections... Whig Abraham Lincoln 6,340 55.53%... Lincoln served one term in the United States House of Representatives from Illinois (1847–1849). - en.wikipedia.org (2009-02-17)
From fact-checks · reporting
How it's framed (2)›
Sources (7)›
Both assassins were known by three names — John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald, with 15 letters in each complete name.
Kennedy's secretary was named Evelyn Lincoln. However, neither USA TODAY nor Snopes has found any record of a secretary named Kennedy in the Lincoln White House. Lincolns secretaries were named John George Nicolay and John M. Hay.
Both assassins were known by three names... with 15 letters in each complete name.
Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States... In the November 1860 election, Lincoln... won the partys presidential nomination.
Into this world stepped John F. Kennedy, a Navy war hero who stood out among the freshman class in the House of Representatives elected in November 1946.
In 1846... Lincoln was nominated as a Whig candidate for congress. The election took place on August 3rd; he ran against Democrat Peter Cartwright and won.
1846 elections... Whig Abraham Lincoln 6,340 55.53%... Lincoln served one term in the United States House of Representatives from Illinois (1847–1849).
Checked against 7 sources · 26 Sept 2026
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