Deja Vu All Over Again
Can you name the names and place the places in the following two scenarios from American history?
Scenario One
An American President, [1] son of a former President, [2] share the same first names being distinguished by their middle names. The father was Vice President under a tall, popular President who wasn't a lawyer. [3] This presidential son won a controversial election against a Democrat from Tennessee [4] getting less of the popular vote. This Democrat's outraged supporters claimed the election was stolen, calling it a "corrupt bargain." [5] Out of office this same Democrat lead a controversial campaign unrelated to the election. [6]
Scenario Two
A president in the 60s [7] was elected over a shorter man, [8] who he engaged with in a famous series of debates. [9] He was assassinated, shot in the head while sitting beside his wife [10] by a man with a three name moniker, a fringe follower of a rival cause [11] and part of a larger conspiracy. [12] The murderer's deed and flight involved a theater and a warehouse [13] and he was shot during capture. [14] Vice President Johnson, a southern Democrat, [15] assumed the presidency during which major government programs and upheavals took place and the Civil Rights Bill was passed. [16]
You might think the first is George W. Bush and the second is John F. Kennedy, but not so. The similarities and italicized differences are listed below.
Scenario One
[1] John Quincy Adams
[1] George W. Bush
[2] John Adams
[2] George Bush
[3] Adams Sr. was Vice President for the tall, popular George Washington, a general, surveyor, planter
[3] Bush Sr. was Vice President for the tall, popular Ronald Reagan, an actor turned politician
[4] John Quincy Adams beat Andrew Jackson of Tennessee in 1824
[4] George W. Bush beat Al Gore of Tennessee in 2000
[5] Jackson had the most popular votes though none of the four candidates, the others being John Clay and William Crawford, had enough votes in the electoral college so the election was decided by the House of Representatives.
[5] Gore had the most popular votes, Bush won the electoral college, with disputed Florida confirmed after a recount. The historically famous term "corrupt bargain" applies to the election of 1824 and not 2000.
[6] General Jackson had lead an unauthorized war campaign against the Creek Indians
[6] Gore then lead a non-governmental campaign over Global Warming
Scenario Two
[7] Abraham Lincoln in 1860
[7] John Kennedy in 1960
[8] Stephen Douglas
[8] Richard Nixon
[9] The famous Lincoln-Douglas debates took place in a previous run for Congress
[9] The Nixon-Kennedy debates took place during the presidential campaign
[10] Attending a play at Ford's Theater with his wife, Mary Todd
[10] Riding in a limo with wife, Jackie
[11] Assassinated by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth
[11] Assassinated by Communist sympathizer Lee Harvey Oswald
[12] Booth was part of a conspiracy that also attempted, but failed, to assassinate members of Lincoln's cabinet.
[12] Oswald acted alone
[13] Booth murdered Lincoln in the Theater and was captured in a warehouse
[13] Oswald fired from the book depository warehouse and was captured at a movie theater
[14] Booth was shot by a US trooper during capture
[14] Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby after capture, not during
[15] Andrew Johnson from Tennessee, a Democrat until 1861
[15] Lyndon Johnson of Texas
[14] Reconstruction began and the Civil Rights Bill of 1865 was passed
[14] "The Great Society" programs began and the Civil Rights Act was passed. The Civil Rights Bill and the Civil Rights Act were two different measures passed 100 years apart.
Sometimes history has eerie parallels, uncanny similarities, odd coincidences. At first blush the answers to the scenarios presented might seem obvious, but each contain significant items which make a difference. What I mean to say, they were deliberately written to mislead.
The other historic parallel related to the above were the propensity for people to see conspiracies at work. In the case of Lincoln's assassination there was one. The deal-making in Congress to decide the presidency for John Quincy Adams over Jackson could be seen as something of a conspiracy, though legal by the constitution. The 2000 election was also decided legally. But there's no credible evidence of any conspiracy to kill Kennedy.
copyright Terry Colon, 2008