I heard a story that both Ronald and nancy had more than a superstitious belief in astrology. Supposedly, President reagan consulted his astrologer on more than one occassion-whether this influenced him in matters of state isn’t clear.
Most astrological forecasts are pretty vague anyway-they just tell you if the time is ‘favorable’ ot unfavorable". still, the idea that the Chief executive of the USA consults a pseudocscientific fraud like an astrologer is pretty hard to take. Warren Harding was supposed to have done so, too.
I would not be too surprised to find that Japanese politicians consult astrologers-it is pretty popular belief in japan.
Nancy certainly did, and she was Ronny’s chief advisor. Don’t know about the man himself.
In his book “For the Record” Chief of Staff Donald Regan claimed that Nancy Reagan planned almost all presidential travel, press conferences, and even the president’s cancer surgery based on information she was receiving from Joan Quigley a San Francisco Astrologer that she met on Merv Griffin. The White House did not deny that Nancy spoke to Quigley.
Carroll Righter wrote one of the first astrology columns in the U.S. In his 1965 autobiography “Where’s the Rest of Me” Reagan says that he and Nancy are great pals with and read Righter’s column “regularly”… now he is planning to run for office and he is writing this life story book he has a fabulous life and he goes out of his way to give a nod to this guy there is no doubt about that … but does reading a column or being friends necessarily equal “consulting” ? YMMV. That is all I feel saying that I know to be GQ
It was consistently reported in the mainstream media that Reagan changed his inauguration time as governor of California due to Righter – but I never saw the basis of that claim other than it was in the newspaper
Perhaps the most fascinating coincidence associated with the Reagan-Quigley relationship is that in Robert Heinlein’s 1960 novel Stranger in a Strange Land, the secondary characters Mr. and Mrs. Joseph E. Douglas (he as ‘Secretary-General’ was Chief Executive of the world government in the storyline) were depicted as similar to the real-liver Ronald and Nancy Reagan 20-odd years later – and the fact that a major character was acquainted with Mme. Alexandra Vesant, Mrs. Douglas’ astrologer an an influential figure behind the scenes, was pivotal to how the novel’s plot was developed. There was, as I recall, at the time a certain amount of scoffing at the story’s ‘gimmick’ that a major world leader would allow him/herself to be influenced by astrology.
Funny, I thought the story’s gimmick was that grokking would make you telekinetic and immortal.
Hey, I tried grokking once and it didn’t work. It made me telegenic and immoral. . . .
Sorry. But since the OP’s already been answered there was nothing else to respond to. . . .
http://www.presidentialufo.com/sydney_omarr,_reagan,_and_astrology.htm This is an article about how deeply into it the Reagans were. Toss in Nixon and Kissinger and you wonder about how well we select.
Joan Quigley wrote a memoir, “What Does Joan Say?” in which she claims to have been crucial in every aspect of the Reagen presidency, from deciding when the INF Treaty would be signed to “defusing” the scandal over his Bitburg visit to the timing of speeches and announcements. I read it years ago and in skimming it again now I find myself hard-pressed to determine, if what she claims about her involvement is true, which of that bunch comes off as more unhinged.
I don’t see why. Heinlein had plenty of examples to go by among the upper classes, and certainly Rasputin was able to get in pretty close with a major nation’s family.