Operation Assassination: Lincolnisms vs. Kennedyms - Part II

We're celebrating Operation Assassination, a trivia-laden white paper I compiled 25 years ago that indirectly spawned this blog. In 2000, I combined my original paper with material I found online that I published on a GeoCities account. As part of this retrospect, I decided to revisit what I found and republish the information.

The Assassins

1. Both were male.

Ed. Note — Let us not -- hey, cut that out.

2. Both were known by three names, each containing 15 letters
1. John Wilkes Booth (1838-65)
2. Lee Harvey Oswald (1939-63)
3. Both Oswald and Booth were Southerners.

• Booth, a Confederate/Southern sympathizer, was born in Maryland, a Union state.
• Oswald was born in New Orleans

4. Both lacked a strong father figure in their lives
1. Booth was 13 when his father died
2. Oswald was not yet born when his father died
5. Both were envious of their brother's careers
1. Booth's two brothers were more successful actors than he was
2. Oswald was jealous of his brother's military careers
6. Both were privates in the military
1. Booth in the Virginia militia
2. Oswald in the US Marine Corps
7. Both assassins were fond of writing down their thoughts
1. Booth kept a diary
2. Oswald kept a journal
8. Each man used an alias
1. Booth used the name "J Wilkes"
2. Oswald used the name "Alex J Hidell"
9. Both assassins were known sympathizers to enemies of the United States
1. Booth supported the Confederacy
2. Oswald was a Marxist
10. Both learned of their respective victim's whereabouts by reading it in the newspapers.
11. Both were in their mid-twenties when they killed
1. Booth: 26
2. Oswald: 24
12. Both planned their actions, up to the assassination, very well, and their esacpes not so well
13. Oswald shot from a warehouse and ran to a theatre, and Booth shot in a theatre and ran to a warehouse (a barn)

• Booth did run from Ford's Theatre where he shot Lincoln, but was caught in a barn in Virginia, not a warehouse.
• Oswald fled from the Texas School Book Depository, which was a warehouse where Oswald worked and from where he had shot Kennedy. Oswald was arrested in a movie theater.

14. The handyman, bill distributor, and part-time concessions operator at Ford's Theatre was Joseph "Peanuts John" Burroughs, while the concessions stand operator at the Texas Theatre was Butch Burroughs
15. Both were detained by an officer named Baker
1. Lt. Luther B. Baker was the leader of the cavalry patrol with trapped Booth at Garrett's barn
2. Officer Marion L. Baker, a Dallas motorcade patrolman, briefly detained Oswald on the second floor of the Schoolbook Depository until he learned that Oswald was employed there
16. Both were helped by people named Paine/Payne.
1. Booth was aided in his escape from Washington by Oswald (Oswell) Swan and Lewis Paine (also known as Payne).
2. Oswald got his job at the Schoolbook Depository with the help of Mrs. Ruth Paine, his landlady
17. Both saw the assassinations as the way to personal glory and fame
18. Both achieved only posthumous infamy
19. Both were killed by a single shot from a Colt revolver
20. Both were killed before their versions of the assassinations could be learned
21. Both were killed before they could be brought to trial
22. Both assassins were shot in a blaze of light
1. Booth after the barn was set afire
2. Oswald in front of the television cameras
23. Both assassins were shot by religious men
1. Booth was killed by Boston Corbett
2. Oswald was killed by Jack Ruby
24. Both of the assassin's killers had changed their name
1. Jack Ruby was Jacob Rubenstein
2. Boston Corbett's real first name was Thomas
25. Both Corbett and Ruby were known as unstable men prone to violence

Whatever my sources were are long gone, but I've added a few links to Wikipedia so you can "read more about it."