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US presidents and first ladies must often make important decisions. A White House staffer's 1988 memoir alleged that Nancy and Ronald Reagan used astrology in making many of these decisions. Though decades have passed since the Reagan administration, it is mystifying how the former leader of America used the location of the stars and planets to inform decisions that impacted millions of citizens. This only adds to the plethora of weird facts about Ronald and Nancy Reagan.
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Throughout history, US leaders have used all kinds of strategies
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to mitigate the stresses and pressures of having the country's top job
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Some have taken morning walks through the Rose Garden. Others, like George Washington, kept plenty of booze on hand
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But the Reagans, and specifically the First Lady Nancy Reagan, looked to the stars for answers
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Today, we're taking a look at how Nancy Reagan used astrology in Ronald Reagan's White House
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OK, time to find out whether the Reagans are in retrograde. The Reagans became familiar with astrology during their time in Hollywood in the 1950s
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In that era, astrology was largely seen as more of a novelty and was less frequently derided as
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kooky fringe science by skeptics. Many celebrities consulted with their own astrologers, and experts
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in reading horoscopes and making star charts would occasionally be invited to industry parties
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and gatherings. So in other words, not really much different from today
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During this period, the Reagans became acquainted with one of these revolving astrologers to the stars
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named Carol Ryder, also known as the Gregorius Aquarius. You cannot beat a rhyming nickname
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I dare you. In addition to the Reagans, Ryder famously worked with film stars like Marlene Dietrich, Joan
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Fontaine, Cary Grant, and Grace Kelly, among others. Nancy Reagan first became a client of Ryder's in the 1950s
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and continued seeing him and seeking his counsel throughout her husband's early political career
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Ryder claims to have advised the couple on several occasions, including planning the timing of
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Reagan's individual political campaigns and selecting the specific moment of Reagan's 1967
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swearing-in as governor, down to the minute. The significance of star positioning was not the only
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superstitious belief credited to the Reagans. President Reagan had a lucky number, 33, which
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he believed brought him good fortune. He would also frequently cite a belief that the ghost of Abraham Lincoln was haunting the White House
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during his tenure there. Makes sense. Lincoln does have his own bedroom there
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Reagan also reportedly refused to tell people the specific time of day he was born
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since they could use this information to produce their own astrological charts, which could be used against him
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You've got to think of all the angles when you're president. In the 1970s, Nancy Reagan befriended another noted celebrity astrologer named Joan Quigley
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through talk show host and mutual friend Merv Griffin. Quigley read some charts for the couple and advised Ronald Reagan that she felt he had a good chance
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to defeat Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election based on both candidates charts Of course Quigley may have also recognized the recession inflation energy crisis and the Iran hostage debacle But sure sure it was the star charts
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But it wasn't until tragedy struck in 1981 that Quigley became a trusted and essential advisor
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On March 30th of that year, John Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan outside
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the Washington Hilton, just two months into his presidential administration. Hinkley was obsessed with actress Jodie Foster
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and believed he'd impress her by killing the president. Maybe just send a fan letter next time
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Reagan was struck under his left armpit by a ricocheting bullet and didn't even notice his injury at first
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He went to George Washington University Hospital. After 12 days, he returned to the White House and resumed work
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But the entire incident proved significantly unnerving for Nancy Reagan. The First Lady began suffering from anxiety attacks
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and she started relying more consistently on astrological advice and counsel from Joan Quigley
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Following the assassination attempt, Nancy Reagan essentially kept Quigley on retainer as their personal astrologer to consult with as needed
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Quigley later claimed that Nancy paid her $3,000 a month for her services, but did so through her personal funds
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using a third party as a go-between to avoid public scrutiny. Shilling out $36,000 a year to keep the First Lady's favorite
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fortune teller on hand would probably have raised a few eyebrows. The two would apparently converse exclusively over the phone
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never in person, to keep the relationship under wraps. Nonetheless, Quigley claimed that for a
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while, she was speaking to the First Lady several times each day. But that's where the personal side
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of her relationship with the Reagans ended. Quigley says that while she studied the President's
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astrological charts in detail, she never got to know Ronald Reagan and only met him once in person
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at a 1985 state dinner. Among her duties, Quigley claimed she would help plan all of the Reagans
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trips, including scheduling times for Air Force One's takeoffs and landings. She'd also line up start times for Reagan's speeches and press conferences, such as the
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State of the Union Address. Quigley and the First Lady devised a color-coded calendar together to keep everything straight
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Days marked with green would unfold smoothly. Yellow indicated the couple should exercise caution
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And red was basically the astrological equivalent of, don't get out of bed
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That sounds like a joke, but according to some insiders, there were really days when
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Nancy would advise Ron to skip work because the position of the stars were just too unfavorable
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I think we've all had those days. More commonly, the claim is they'd just adjust the scheduling
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and timing of events as best they could. Quigley also became something of a personal
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image consultant for Nancy Reagan. The First Lady had begun the administration by emulating
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Jackie Kennedy, purchasing new presidential dinnerware and attempting to make the White
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House appear more contemporary and fashionable But Quigley claims she advised the First Lady to change her tactics pushing her to skip shoots for fashion magazines in favor of dedicating herself to causes
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that were more directly relevant to everyday Americans. Much of Quigley's work was behind the scenes and personal
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making her as much a trusted confidant as an expert advisor. But she claims there were times when her guidance
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ended up having a significant impact on the Reagan's outlook and behavior, altering the course of American history
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A lot of Quigley's responsibilities revolved around timings and schedules. As an astrologer, her trade requires charting
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where heavenly bodies will be at precise moments in time, and then making predictions based on those charts
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It's exhausting work, as far as making stuff up goes. As far back as 1967, when he was being sworn in as California's new governor
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Ronald Reagan was fixated on getting the timing just right. It's never been confirmed, but rumor has it that he'd initially scheduled his swearing-in ceremony for 12.10 a.m.
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nine minutes after his term officially started, because of a superstitious belief that it would bring him good luck
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Once people started speculating about the seemingly random choice, Reagan moved up the ceremony to a less conspicuous 12.01 a.m
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He claimed it had never been about the position of the stars, but about working around a football game he wanted to watch on TV
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At 12.01 a.m., would that be Monday night football or Tuesday night football
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Hmm. Quigley later claimed that she helped determine the timing of Reagan's second inauguration
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which took place 50 seconds past 1156 AM, and had also determined the specific times when
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Reagan would have his presidential debates with Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale
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It's also possible that Quigley's influence actually impacted the end of the Cold War
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Reagan had come into office as a fiercely anti-communist crusader who referred to the
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Soviet Union as an evil empire and the sworn enemy of the US. Much of his time in office
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had been spent bolstering America's military might and making bold threats against the Soviets
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Reagan started to soften his position in 1985 after reformer Mikhail Gorbachev assumed power
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ultimately serving as the eighth and final Soviet head of state. According to claims made by Joan Quigley's sister, Ruth
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astrological charts had paved the way for the president's change of heart
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Ruth claims that Joan drew up Gorbachev's astrological chart after learning his birthday
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Wait a second, don't you need to know the time of birth? I'm starting to wonder if this astrology stuff is a sham
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She compared Gorbachev's chart to Reagan's and concluded that the two men had compatible personalities
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and could productively work together, potentially bringing about an end to the Cold War
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She gave this information to Nancy Reagan with the hopes it be passed on to her husband and pressed him to engage the Soviet leader in talks Ruth Quigley also claims that her sister pushed Reagan to remain at the 1986 Reykjavik summit
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with Gorbachev, even as the formal negotiations were collapsing. Though this summit didn't produce
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an actionable result, the progress made there ultimately resulted in the 1987 Intermediate
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Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the US and the USSR, a landmark arms control deal that remained
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in place until 2019. It also solidified the relationship between the two leaders, which helped bring about
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the end to the Cold War entirely, that and a collapsing Soviet economy. But it was the friendship, mainly
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If two heads of state can't bond over a shared astrological chart, what's the point of even
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having stars? Though the fact that the Reagans visited with astrologists in the past was fairly well known
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around Washington and Hollywood, neither of them spoke about it during Reagan's administration
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and apparently the opposing political party didn't want to exploit this common knowledge
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All right, all right, it doesn't make a lot of sense. Most of the public remained ignorant of the President and First Lady's thoughts on the
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stars and the importance of their relative positions. It wasn't until the publication of former Treasury Secretary and White House Chief of Staff Donald
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Reagan's memoir, For the Record, From Wall Street to Washington, in 1988, that Nancy Reagan's
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relationship with Joan Quigley and reliance on astrological charts became mainstream knowledge
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According to Regan, virtually every major move and decision the Regans made during his time in the
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White House was cleared in advance with the Regans' astrologer based on her horoscopes
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Though Regan didn't name Quigley specifically in his book, he would refer to her as a San
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Francisco-based astrologer. Eventually, she came forward and identified herself as Nancy's consultant and vowed never again to take on political clients. Turns out that advising
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movie stars on which films would align best with their birth charts is much less pressure than
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having the ear of the president, and less chance of accidentally triggering a global nuclear war
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which is a plus. Amidst a public backlash to the idea of a president consulting an astrologer for
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any reason, the Reagans clarified that they had never leaned on Quigley for specific advice
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Reagan said, no policy or decision in my mind has ever been influenced by astrology. He also
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brought up the assassination attempt and its impact on Nancy, explaining that astrological
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charts and horoscopes had helped her cope with the trauma. However, even though he disavowed using astrology
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to make political decisions, Reagan was reluctant to completely discount what his wife held so dearly
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He said, I've not tied my life by it, but I won't answer the question the other way
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because I don't know enough about it to say, is there something to it or not
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Was he lying or telling the truth? Who knows? After all, he was an actor