I was the teflon in. . .the 'Teflon Presidency,' "" boasts Quigley in this jaw-dropping and self-serving--and distinctly...

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WHAT DOES JOAN SAY?"": My Seven Years as White House Astrologer to Nancy and Ronald Reagan

I was the teflon in. . .the 'Teflon Presidency,' "" boasts Quigley in this jaw-dropping and self-serving--and distinctly slippery--account of her purported role as Svengali to the Reagans. Writing, she says, in response to Nancy Reagan's My Turn (""It reads like fiction and much of it is evasive""), Quigley flings down the gauntlet to the former First Lady and anyone who doubts that she and her astrological predictions more-or-less ran the country for eight years. ""I was definitely responsible for Carter's losing [the Carter-Reagan debate]""; ""I only allowed Ronald Reagan to go any place, including outside of the White House, at safe times""; ""I was heavily involved in what happened in the relations between the superpowers""--the extraordinary claims go on and on, backed here by no documentation other than an acknowledgement by former chief-of-staff Donald Regan that ""he--or in this case she--who controls the president's schedule controls the working of the presidency."" And Quigley works hard to confirm that she had that control, from the timing of Reagan's cancer surgery to that of summit conferences, public appearances, and even that Carter-Reagan debate: ""I chose the time of 9:30 P.M., October 28, in Cleveland, Ohio,"" says Ouigley, going on to offer-as she does for other decisions--an arcane rationale involving grand trines, astrological agents and configurations, and so on. At the very least, Quigley's detailed summary of chart-casting principles, backed by examples that include a look at Gorbachev's horoscope, provides readers with a useful astrological primer--more useful by far than her frequent gushings about her evident political favorites: Ronald Reagan, Robert Bork, George Bush--and herself.

Pub Date: April 1, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Birch Lane/Carol

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1990

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