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The material on this page was written and designed by Michael O'Reilly. It's an excerpt from the full length article published in the February 2016 issue of Dell Horoscope.
Ten U.S. Presidents
and the
Part of Fortune
One area astrologers can investigate the relevance of the Part of Fortune is in the charts of the famous. When the Part of Fortune is found in the 10th house of leadership, honors, and reputation, the individual thrives on being a public figure, really enjoys the attention. This is especially true when the Part of Fortune is well aspected. If it’s terribly “afflicted” -- as the classically trained astrologers say – the individual may fear attention, suffer heartbreaking defeats, or falls from power.
The Part of Fortune may relate to the 10th house in a variety of other ways besides actually being located there. It may form an aspect to the Midheaven from somewhere else in the chart, or an aspect to a planet in the 10th house. Another possibility is that it may form an aspect to the ruler of the Midheaven. The conjunctions, sextiles and trines promote success, while the squares, oppositions and other minor but challenging aspects may deny success. Today’s astro-psychologists won’t tell you this, but the classically trained astrologers will. The conditions of the Part of Fortune in relation to the 10th house or Midheaven have a strong fated quality to them, and may show success or failure. This is especially true when the orbs are tight, certainly no more than five degrees.Looking into the role the Part of Fortune plays in U.S. presidents’ charts provides some stunning consistencies which demonstrate how this works in practice. The caveat here is that an accurate birth time is essential before coming to any conclusions. Here’s a look at the horoscopes of ten presidents and their Part of Fortune, both natally and for when they were elected, or thrust into office by fate.The ten presidents were chosen based on the acknowledged accuracy of their birth times, with all being elected after 1900. Before this era, birth times are highly speculative, and even afterwards, some difficult omissions had to be made due to conflicting information. Ronald Reagan’s birth time is a prime example of a chart we’d like to look at, but had to be left off the list. Joan Quigley rectified his birth time to 3:43 am, giving a 20º Sagittarius Ascendant. Another widely used birth time, supposedly taken from his birth certificate, is 4:16 am, which gives 27º Sagittarius Rising. Yet, as the source notes on AstroDataBank inform us, a copy of Reagan’s birth certificate can be viewed at the Reagan Library, and only the date is shown, no time. Unfortunately, George Bush (41) also had to be left off the list. Reliable sources give his likely birth time to be between 10 am and 11 am, giving him an Ascendant of anywhere between 20º Leo and 2º Virgo. The possible range of Ascendants is too wide to allow us to come to any meaningful conclusions. The presidents on this list all have their birth times rated A or AA, with the exception of Teddy Roosevelt, who’s birth time is rated B. The Part of Fortune and the Tenth House
1. Teddy Roosevelt (October 27, 1858; 7:45 pm; New York, NY) – was born with his Part of Fortune in the 10th house where it’s unusually well aspected. It’s trine to the Sun is one of the best indicators for fame and success, and this is supported by a sextile to Pluto, and a sextile to Black Moon Lilith. TR’s Part of Fortune is doubly blessed by conjoining the North Node and being widely conjunct the Midheaven.
TR’s relentless ambition is well-known and he rose to political power at a relatively young age, becoming William McKinley’s vice president at the turn of the century. TR became president when McKinley died from an assassin’s bullet on September 14, 1901. At the time, transiting Neptune, the ruler of TR’s Pisces Midheaven, was trine the Midheaven on one side, and his Sun-Mercury in Scorpio on the other, a naturally fortuitous set-up. As for the Part of Fortune, TR’s progressed Mercury (the ruler of his chart) was exactly sextile to natal Fortuna and trine natal Pluto.
The progressed Part of Fortune (P2 PF) was making numerous aspects, including a trine to natal Mars, and a square to his progressed Sun, which in turn was conjunct natal Venus. The fact that his ascension manifested via the tragic assassination of McKinley is shown by transiting Pluto squaring TR’s P2 PF.
TR was then elected to the presidency as the incumbent on November 8, 1904. Now transiting Neptune (the ruler of the Midheaven) was exactly trine his 10th house Fortuna. P2 PF was making a Grand Trine, linking his Gemini Ascendant and his progressed Mars in Aquarius. The involvement of Mars in both the 1901 and 1904 events indicates his military background and imperialistic display of American weaponry under his “showing of the flag” program.
TR decided not to run in 1908, but was a third party candidate in the 1912 election under the newly formed “Bull Moose” Party. With transiting Pluto trine his Midheaven and also trine his Mercury-Sun, one would think he would win. But his P2 PF was conjunct Chiron and opposite Saturn. He lost to his hand-picked successor in 1908, William Howard Taft.
2. Warren G. Harding (November 2, 1865; 2:30 pm; Blooming Grove, OH) – is unique among this list of presidents in that he has no direct connection between his natal Part of Fortune and the 10th house. However, Fortuna at 5º Virgo is closely sextile to Saturn, which many astrologers consider to be the natural ruler of the 10th house. Fortuna is also sextile the Scorpio Sun, sextile Uranus, and trine the Taurus Moon, making it exceptionally well aspected.
Harding was elected president on November 2, 1920 when his progressed Sun (in the 10th house) was trine his natal Part of Fortune. His progressed Part of Fortune (P2 PF) was at 11º Libra where it conjoined natal Venus and was squaring his progressed Jupiter, the ruler of his Sagittarius Midheaven. Progressed Venus was conjunct his Midheaven, doubling up on the beneficial Venusian influence. But Venus has a dark side in politics: graft, cronyism, and corruption.
The power of money in high places was leading to Harding’s impeachment. The stress was getting to him and in the summer of 1923 he took a vacation. He came down with pneumonia and heart problems, finally succumbing on August 2, 1923 to a cerebral hemorrhage. At the time his P2 PF was in his 8th house (associated with death, and general misfortune by the horary astrologers) where it was squaring his progressed Midheaven. Transiting Jupiter was precisely conjunct his 8th house Sun: he had found the escape he was looking for in death.
3. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882; 8:45 pm; Hyde Park, NY) – was born with his Part of Fortune at 18º Aquarius where it trines the Gemini Midheaven. Fortuna is also favorably conjunct the Sun, and widely conjunct Mercury, the ruler of the Midheaven and Virgo Ascendant. Fortuna here squares Chiron, indicating that he was a “wounded president”, crippled from polio. Jupiter conjoins Chiron, giving him the feeling that he could overcome his handicap, which in turn allowed him to inspire millions of Americans economically crippled by the Great Depression.
FDR was first elected president on November 8, 1932 when transiting Jupiter was quincunx (150º) natal Fortuna and transiting Uranus was simultaneously sextile Fortuna. His progressed part of Fortune (P2 PF) was at 20º Sagittarius, where it opposed his Midheaven and was sextile natal Fortuna.
FDR was re-elected on November 3, 1936 with a landslide victory when his progressed Midheaven opposed natal Fortuna. At the same time, P2 PF was exactly conjunct his Aquarius Sun and progressed Pallas, the political strategy asteroid.
Four years later, with World War II looming, voters elected Roosevelt to an unprecedented third term on November 5, 1940. Natally, FDR has Mars conjunct his Midheaven where it’s supported by a trine to Mercury, the ruler of the Midheaven and his chart. The strong martial presence suggests that he would become a war president. When he was elected in 1940, his P2 PF was at 28º Pisces where it squared his 10th house Mars. The Mars signature was active in another way, with his progressed Mars perfectly quincunx his Sun. And with transiting Neptune squaring his Mars and his progressed Moon just entering his secretive 12th house, FDR was busy behind the scenes helping British and Chinese allies.
In 1944, with the war still raging and FDR’s health failing, he won his 4th term in office on November 7. He was experiencing a progressed Sun-Mars square at 13º Aries-Cancer, with his progressed Mars exactly conjunct the U.S. Sun at 13º Cancer. Under this influence, he couldn’t slow down. Yet his P2 PF was conjunct progressed Neptune, and transiting Neptune was forming a hard aspect to natal Fortuna (a trioctile, or 135º aspect), weakening his physical well-being.
FDR died of a cerebral hemorrhage (stroke) on April 12, 1945. P2 PF was conjunct progressed Chiron, with both squaring natal Fortuna. His progressed Midheaven at 25º Leo was precisely conjunct natal Black Moon Lilith (orb: 0º03’), with both opposing the U.S. Moon (representing the people). Lilith aligned with the progressed Midheaven shows that his fate, tempered by his declining health, was largely unknown by the general public. FDR’s death was met with shock and grief across the U.S. and the world.
4. John F. Kennedy (May 29, 1917; 3:00 pm; Brookline, MA) – was born with his Part of Fortune located in the 4th house of home and family where it opposes his 10th house Saturn-Neptune-Midheaven triple conjunction. This set-up reminds us of the immense wealth he was born into, but also the terrible burden of responsibility and expectations to run for president, especially after his older brother Joseph died in 1944.
Many presidents not on this list have stated birth times with the last two digits being 00, meaning they were born on the hour. These numbers, like JFK’s, are obviously rounded off, but his 3:00 pm is close enough to work on. Personally, I prefer a birth time of 3:07 pm, which moves Fortuna from 29º21’ Capricorn to 0º46’ Aquarius. Either way, the difference is not great enough to leave him off the list. The 3:00 pm Capricorn Fortuna is clearly trine Jupiter, while the 3:07 pm Aquarius Fortuna is more clearly trine the Gemini Sun. Also, when Fortuna is in early Aquarius, it forms a trioctile (135º) to his Moon, the ruler of his Cancer Midheaven.
Using the 3:07 pm birth time, JFK’s progressed Part of Fortune (P2 PF) was at 3º Virgo where it conjoined his progressed Midheaven at 6º Virgo when he was elected president on November 8, 1960. Using the 3:00 pm birth time, P2 PF was still conjunct the progressed Midheaven though the orb is now 1º15’ degrees wider. This configuration is tremendously enhanced because transiting Pluto was conjunct JFK’s progressed Midheaven, while the P2 PF was perfectly sextile natal Pluto. The point of this exercise of comparing two possible birth times is to show how the Part of Fortune can be used to rectify a chart.
JFK was assassinated on November 22, 1963. At the time, his P2 PF was in the 12th house at 12º Libra (using 3:07 pm). At this location, P2 PF was perfectly octile (45º) progressed Black Moon Lilith at 27º Leo. The passage of P2 PF through the 12th house is generally considered misfortunate, but especially when making hard aspects to other placements. They don’t come harder than Black Moon Lilith, representing intuitively felt but unseen enemies.
At the moment JFK was assassinated, a rare three-planet configuration was in play: Mercury was at 9º44’ Sagittarius, Jupiter was at 9º48’ Aries, and Uranus was at 9º48’ Virgo. Using the 3:07 pm birth time, JFK’s progressed Midheaven was at 9º48’ Virgo! Plus, his progressed Moon at 9º Gemini was squaring his progressed Midheaven.
5. Richard Nixon (January 9, 1913; 9:35 pm; Whittier, CA) – has his Part of Fortune at 17º Libra where it contributes to both a Grand Trine and a T-square. Fortuna trines his Midheaven and Aquarius Moon, a fortunate configuration that enhances his ability to succeed as a politician. Fortuna also squares his Capricorn Sun on one side and Neptune on the other, a more challenging set-up that may get caught up in scandal, especially since Neptune is also perfectly quincunx Black Moon Lilith.
However, he won on November 5, 1968, narrowly defeating Hubert Humphrey. At the time, his P2 PF was trine his 10th house Pluto. A double Saturn influence was also in play at this time: P2 PF was quincunx natal Saturn, and transiting Saturn opposed natal Fortuna. This Capricorn knows Saturn, and Nixon was steadied by this stern influence. He won by portraying
Nixon lost a squeaker to Kennedy in the 1960 contest when his progressed Part of Fortune (P2 PF) was conjunct natal Neptune, where it activated his challenging T-square.
himself as a figure of stability during a phase of national unrest and violence.
Nixon was re-elected on November 7, 1972 under favorable conditions around his Part of Fortune. His progressed Midheaven was sextile natal Fortuna, while P2 PF was simultaneously trine his progressed Midheaven and sextile natal Fortuna. P2 PF also was aligned with the natal Midheaven, and sextile his progressed Mars. The inclusion of Mars in this configuration indicated that the general public trusted Nixon to end the Vietnam War. The exceptionally favorable conditions around his natal and progressed Part of Fortune brought him one of the largest landslide victories in American history.
Also in 1972, the Watergate scandal was just beginning to surface. Nixon was faced with impeachment, but he opted to resign on August 9, 1974. At the time, transiting Pluto was conjunct his karmic South Node, and both were squared by his progressed Part of Fortune at 5º Capricorn. Also at the time a transiting Uranus-Chiron opposition was precisely squaring his natal Neptune. Progressed Black Moon Lilith was entering into a trioctile (135º aspect) to natal Fortuna, as Nixon simultaneously entered a phase of isolation and depression.
There's much more!
See how the Part of Fortune played out in the lives of presidents
Gerald Ford, jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama
in Part Two
