Last spring when I noticed that the 2009 Presidential Inauguration chart would feature Mercury Retrograde AND Moon Void of Course, I did a survey of the past presidential inaugurations to see which, if any of them, contained either of these two configurations. This journey was like walking through quicksand, as the official time of the swearing in is 12:00 Noon on inauguration day, but, as we have seen with the most recent event, delays can occur.
With the exception of George Washington, who was sworn in on April 30, 1789, the official day of subsequent presidential inaugurations was established for March 4, until Franklin Roosevelt changed the date, beginning with his second administration in 1937, to January 20.
There are a number of variants. Several successors were sworn in upon the death in office of the president. These times are often officially noted, including the two ceremonies, one private and one public, for Chester A. Arthur. If the official date of inauguration fell on Sunday, inauguration took place the next day. Beginning with Woodrow Wilson, a private swearing in took place on Sunday, followed by the public ceremony the next day. The timing of the private ceremonies for Woodrow Wilson on March 4, 1917, and for Dwight Eisenhower on January 20, 1957 is unclear. However, both apparently took place sometime in the late morning. The most notorious variant occurred when Rutherford B. Hayes was sworn in privately Saturday evening, March 3, 1877, in order to secure his questioned presidency. For this survey, the timing of the first administered oath was used.
Until this year, there had been 43 presidents, with 69 oaths of office.
Eleven presidents took the oath of office with Mercury Retrograde: James Madison 1809, Andrew Jackson 1829, Zachary Taylor 1849, James Garfield 1881, William McKinley 1901, Woodrow Wilson 1913, Warren G. Harding 1921, Franklin D. Roosevelt 1937, Dwight Eisenhower 1957, Richard Nixon 1969, and George H. W. Bush 1989.
Six presidents took oath of office with Moon Void of Course: James Monroe 1817, Andrew Jackson 1833, John Tyler 1841, James K. Polk 1845, John F. Kennedy 1961 and Richard Nixon 1973.
Only one president took oath of office with both Mercury Retrograde and Moon Void of Course: Harry S. Truman 1945.
So, the real question is: Did these inaugural configurations make a difference?
Of the presidents with Mercury Retrograde, three died in office of illness: Zachary Taylor, James Garfield, and Warren Harding; one was assassinated: William McKinley; and two were significantly ill while still in office: Woodrow Wilson and Dwight Eisenhower.
Of the presidents with Moon Void of Course, one was assassinated: John F, Kennedy; and one resigned: Richard Nixon.
Of the one president with both Mercury Retrograde and Moon Void of Course in his inauguration chart, Harry S. Truman picked up the pieces of Roosevelt’s truncated fourth administration, ended the Second World War, brought the country back from the chaos of post-war economics, and, despite polls to the contrary, led a grass-roots campaign to be reelected for his own full term of office. What a legacy!
Presidents who died in office, but who had neither Mercury Retrograde nor Moon Void of Course in their inauguration chart were: William H. Harrison 1941 of pneumonia, Abraham Lincoln 1865 of assassination, and Franklin Roosevelt 1945 of cerebral hemorrhage.
As I am not a statistician, I do not know what this survey portends for Barack Obama. As you can see from the survey, sometimes the configurations had an ominous effect, and sometimes not. The only other president with both configurations in his presidential oath chart seems to have fared pretty well with his historic circumstances. I know that Barack Obama seems to be invoking the legacy of Abraham Lincoln in his symbology, however the similarity with the first administration of Harry S. Truman is truly uncanny.
Tobey
