Milhous, Part 1

Today we go to another politician's chart, and we also take a needed break from the subject of death, which has come up a bit too much since the beginning of this blog.

We move, instead to a topic far more unpleasant than the violent death of beloved national leaders: Richard Milhous Nixon, 37th President of the United States.

One of the advantages of studying famous people's charts is that it's often possible to acquire fairly accurate birth data on them. One of the disadvantages is that we often only know a handful of external events of their lives: marriages, losses and successes. But that's still plenty to go on. In the case of Richard Nixon, the professional losses and successes are epic.

"The professional losses and successes are epic." It so happens that there is planetary placement that epitomizes that phenomenon: Saturn in the 10th house.

Richard Nixon went from being a McCartheyite congressman in 1947 to U.S. Senator in 1951 to Vice President (against Eisenhower's better judgement) in 1953. He would lose the presidential race to John F. Kennedy in 1960. But he would succeed in becoming President in 1968, only to deservedly lose it in 1974.

Today we will look at two placements: Saturn in the 10th and Venus in the 7th house. The seventh house is that of marriage. The 10th is that of the career. The two planets have exchanged houses. That is, Saturn is in the 10th in Taurus (which is ruled by Venus). Venus is in the 7th in Aquarius (which is ruled by Saturn).

These two houses lie in a quadrant from one another. And that is a problem. Saturn sees the 10th house from itself. As a result, the mutual interchange or parivartana yoga also causes an affliction. Saturn sees Venus (in this case within a fairly narrow orb of 4 degrees). Thus there is a double Saturnian effect on the 10th house: Saturn occupies it and also sees its ruler.

This is not the place to explain how this chart could take someone to the presidency, so I will simply note that it takes a whole lot more than Saturn in the 10th which is, after all, a characteristic shared by over 500 million human beings on earth right now. Suffice it to say that this chart is further proof of the enormous role played by the 5th house in politician's horoscopes.

Saturn in the 10th house is not disastrous for the career. It can take you to the peak of a mountain. But there's a good change a swift kick is just around the corner. In the case of Milhous, that happened more than once. Note, however, that Saturn is not an afflicted planet in this chart. It is, rather, an afflicter. Venus, on the other hand, is afflicted.

Saturn as ruler of the house of marriage, indeed introduced Tricky to his long suffering wife at the first available opportunity: Jupiter sub Saturn, in 1940. Within months of the beginning of the 19 year Saturn period, he would become Vice President of the United States.

Saturn being Saturn, however, the kick at the mountaintop was about to come. In 1960 Nixon would run against John F. Kennedy.

We will continue our study of Richard Nixon soon, but we part with a trivia question and a gift: One other U.S. president had Saturn in the 10th. Who was it?

And here is our gift to you, beloved reader.