not categorised

Trump’s brawling exit from the White House, slashing-and-burning as he goes, leaves (he hopes) a scorched earth legacy for his replacement. It is even for him, nauseatingly destructive. He is, for one, auctioning off portions of the Arctic national wildlife refuge to oil drillers to add to his previous sins against the environment and mother earth. Executions are also on his wish list as he ‘rushes to kill three prisoners over four days as a macabre climax of his time in the White House.’ One of them, if it goes ahead on January 12^th will be the first woman executed in 70 years.

Lisa Montgomery, 27 February 1968 in Kansas, did commit a shockingly brutal murder of an eight months pregnant woman to steal her baby sixteen years ago. But the story of Montgomery’s childhood is so beyond horrific that it is a miracle she survived at all, let alone was left with any spark of humanity. Raped, gang-raped while still a child, suffering severe concussive injuries when she objected which are visible on MRI scans, sold for sex by her mother – not a story for the faint of heart or stomach. No civilized country executes those suffering from severe mental disorders – apart from the USA.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/05/lisa-montgomery-death-row-execution-history

  Montgomery is a Sun and probably Moon in Pisces opposition Jupiter in Leo, with her Jupiter square Neptune. It was possibly her emphasised Jupiter which allowed her to keep going in the face of years of brutalising treatment. What stands out starkly is a Mars Saturn conjunction in forced-to-be-self-reliant Aries. Mars Saturn can be an indication of unkind if not downright cruel treatment. But there is always a spectrum of meaning with any planetary aspects and how they work out will depend partly on house positions and on the ‘indefinable’ something that a chart won’t show. In old style astrology Mars Saturn had associations with assassinations or violent death; as well as military ability.

  Two born near Montgomery with the same Mars Saturn in Aries are Daniel Craig, born 2 March, who became the face of acceptable violence as James Bond. And Kate McGann, born 5 March, tragic mother of the disappeared Madeleine.

  Montgomery has her Black Moon Lilith conjunct the destructive Fixed star Algol opposition Neptune. When she committed the murder in 2004, her Solar Arc North Node was approaching the conjunction to her BML and opposition her Neptune.  A touch nebulous but it may be significant.

  Oddly enough her Jupiter falls exactly on Trump’s Ascendant; her Uranus Pluto squares his Full Moon, her New Moon sits in his 7^th; and her Mars Saturn sits in his 8^th.  There’s more than a hint of a karmic link between them.   And their relationship chart has a composite Sun Venus opposition Neptune, trine Pluto, square Uranus – which is quite interconnected.

  If there is any decency in the universe, his karma will surely come up and bite him for his misdeeds.

Rumours are rife in Scotland that Trump may fly to his Turnberry golf course hotel in Ayr (despite it being closed) on January 19^th to avoid the Biden Inauguration next day. It may turn out to be a non-story or he’ll change his mind or Nicola Sturgeon will quite rightly throw a hissy fit over him breaching coronavirus restrictions and deny him entry.  Nor is it clear how, as a private citizen, he would be allowed to fly back to the US after January 20 from a plague-zone.

   In any event he might be better advised to avoid turning a publicity spotlight onto his two Scottish golf courses, which are haemorrhaging money, and in debt to the tune of £158 million. Their long-term viability is underwritten by the Trump Organization, which will come under renewed scrutiny after Trump leaves the White House. And there is a larger and scarier threat with Scottish lawmakers pushing to investigate Trump’s finances using an anti-money-laundering statute typically employed against kleptocrats, oligarchs, and crime kingpins. Their question: Where did the hundreds of millions Trump poured into his Scottish courses actually come from?

  During his well-documented low period between 2006 and 2014 he splurged $400 million in a cash spending spree, in addition to Scotland, purchasing a golf club in Ireland, five courses in the USA, and several expensive homes.  Then spent mega-millions more in refurbishments.

Questions, questions and with Deutsche Bank backing off, who knows what might crawl out from under rocks?

  Scotland is where his mother Mary was born, but is a risky area for him. Relocating his chart to Ayr put his secretive, dirty-dealing Pluto in the 10^th which is generally considered unfavourable, since it brings out a ruthless energy which can be destructive or damaging. His Pluto is being particularly battered this coming year by tr Uranus in square and tr Saturn in opposition.

  Trump’s relationship with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has never been good and she said recently that he will face “due accountability” in Scotland if evidence emerges that his Scottish golf courses have been used for money laundering and fraud. Trump’s Pluto is conjunct her Mercury, her Saturn is conjunct his Midheaven and square his Mars – so there will be a war of words and she’ll put blocks in his way.

   Their relationship chart is volatile with an uncompromising composite Uranus Mars which is being ramped up to explosion point through this year by the tr Saturn square tr Uranus. The recent December Solar Eclipse was opposition their composite Saturn; and tr Pluto is opposition the composite Mercury this month and again later in 2021. Relations will deteriorate badly in the months to come.    

Screen goddess Sophia Loren, one of the last true stars of the movies, has returned to the screen aged 86 in the Netflix The Life Ahead directed by her son Edoardo Ponti. Dispensing with any pretensions at glamour or likeability, she appears angry, defeated and cynical as Madame Rosa, a former sex worker and Holocaust survivor, who looks after the children of “working women”.

  Sophia’s life started in the unlikely beginnings of a Rome home for unmarried mothers. By the time she was eight, she, her mother and sister were starving, hiding from air raids in a rat-infested train tunnel, full of “sickness, laughter, drunkenness, death and childbirth”. Her mother was a beauty and Sophia started on the beauty pageant circuit at 15, moving into bit film parts until eventually she was discovered by Carlo Ponti, twenty years her senior, whom she eventually married, produced two children and stayed with throughout his life.

She says her most important teacher was Vittorio De Sica who directed her breakthrough film, The Gold of Naples in 1954 which started her 13-film collaboration with Marcello Mastroianni and, eventually, a career in Hollywood where she landed speaking no English.

  She was born 20 September 1934 2.10pm Rome, Italy and has a far-travelled 9^th house Virgo Sun with a lucky, successful Jupiter conjunct her Midheaven in a determined and confident square to a 7^th house Pluto. Her screen presence was never less than intense thanks to her Pluto and co-stars like Richard Burton remarked on her intelligence. Her Jupiter opposes a domestically-unsettled 4^th house Uranus squaring onto her Pluto – she would be controlling and secretive, but also able to push back boundaries.

  She has an Aquarius Moon conjunct Saturn opposition an 8^th house Mars in Leo – a hint of her hard beginnings and the lifelong obsession with poverty it left behind.  In addition to Mars she also has Venus and Neptune in the 8^th, giving her the film-star knack of projecting an aura.

  Carlo Ponti, 11 December 1912 1pm Magenta, Italy, also had successful Jupiter on his Midheaven, in his case in Sagittarius with, also like her, a packed 9^th house in his chart – good at communication and travel. His Moon Venus in Capricorn would connect with her Virgo Sun. His money-minded Saturn in Taurus was square her Moon which is less than ideal, though her Moon Saturn would be acclimatised to the cool, materialistic and workaholic Saturnine energies. Her Sun fell on his Descendant which is ideal for a relationship with her Jupiter in his 7^th as well.

  He was more of a behind-the-scenes support for her; though his Pluto in Gemini opposition Jupiter was trine/sextile her Midheaven so he’d be instrumental in making her career a success.

  Both children, Carlo a conductor, and Edoardo have prominent Jupiter in their charts making for gilded lives.

Please add below. Older posts under News on the top bar.

The confected outrage over gender fluidity and pronouns has been well and truly skewered by the genuine article. Comedian Eddie Izzard, who came out 35 years ago as transvestite and more recently transgender, defended JK Rowling against accusations of being transphobic. “We need to look at the things she has written about in her blog. Women have been through such hell over history. Trans people have been invisible, too. I hate the idea we are fighting between ourselves.”

  Eddie was born 7 February 1962 7.30 pm (unverified) in Aden, Yemen, to English parents, and was brought up in Northern Ireland and Wales. He knew from aged four that he was transgender. “I’m gender fluid. Your brain gets coded male or female when you’re young. Mine got coded both ways. I have the gift of both, although it doesn’t feel like a gift at first.”

‘If [people] call me she and her, that’s great – or he and him, I don’t mind. I prefer to be called Eddie, that covers everything.”

 He cut his teeth as a street entertainer, ‘made burbling, conversational surrealism his stock in trade’ and hit fame in his thirties as a stand-up comic, often in drag, following in the Monty Python tradition – as Darth Vader in the Death Star canteen (“Give me penne all’arrabiata or you shall die!”), the thoughts of a busily munching squirrel (“Did I leave the gas on?”) or God as James Mason. ‘Izzard didn’t just riff off recognisable reference points but spun big existential questions into hallucinogenic gold.’

Now 58 he has stayed the course, has built a stage and screen acting career, sold out Madison Square Garden, was the first solo comedy act to play the Hollywood Bowl, did a long stint in Paris, performing in French, and has gigged in Germany, in German. He/she has also caught the headlines doing astonishing back-to-back marathon runs for charity, to be repeated this month on a treadmill. He’s a dedicated Labour activist and may go into politics.

   His/her chart has an astonishing six planets in Aquarius, a sign often associated with comedians –  Jimmy Tarbuck, Jimmy ‘Scnozzle’ Durante, Ned Sherrin, Michael Bentine, Barry Humphries, Les Dawson amongst others. In Aquarius he a disciplined, determined and sharp-witted Mars Saturn conjunction, as well as sunny, charming, chatty, lucky Mercury, Sun Jupiter and Venus. Neptune in Scorpio sits in square with Uranus as well as a leadership North Node across the zodiac in Leo. So incredibly Fixed and enduring.

  He/she probably has unaspected Pisces Moon which will tend to make his feminine impulses act erratically. On his artistic 5^th Harmonic the Moon is heavily aspected in opposition to Sun, Jupiter, Venus square Pluto Saturn (Mars) so through his creative work he can fully express his emotions and feminine side. His mother died when he was six of cancer.

  The other cross dressing though not transgender comedian Barry Humphries, the Australian Dame Edna Everage, was also a multiple Aquarius with Sun, Saturn and Venus in Aquarius with a Sun Saturn trine Jupiter.

Hilaria Baldwin, wife of Alec, being ‘outed’ as not-Spanish is a silly season twitterfuffle. Only in America where ethnicity is as carefully calibrated as caste in India, would it even have surfaced. A celebrity influencer sprinkling a little distinctive glitter on her bio to separate her out from the crowd is hardly pass remarkable. Though her sin appears to be taking away attention from proper Latinas and appropriating what isn’t hers.

  She was born in Boston on 6 January 1984, spent some holidays in Spain growing up, maybe more though she’s vague when pushed, and her parents now live on Mallorca. She is the mother of Baldwin’s five children, whose names are Spanish-influenced and she is multi-talented – teaches yoga, podcasts and writes, co-owns a chain of yoga studios, has penned fitness books and has a signature calming ointment to her name. 

  She’s a Sun Capricorn sextile Saturn in obsessively conscientious Scorpio. What probably draws her to the flamenco-vibe is her four planets in adventurous, far-travelled Sagittarius – Venus Uranus and a fantasy-prone Neptune Jupiter. She also has an ultra-determined Mars in late Libra conjunct Pluto which is sextile her head-in-the-clouds Jupiter Neptune Mercury. Her free-spirited, wild-child Gemini North Node opposes her Sagittarius planets. And she has a loves-to-shock Aquarius Moon.  

Alec Baldwin, born 3 April 1958, is an upfront Sun Aries with an excitable and uncompromising Mars in Aquarius opposition Uranus square Mercury opposition Neptune. His Venus in Aquarius resonates with her Moon; her Mars Pluto is conjunct his Jupiter; and her Venus in Sagittarius connects with his Aries Sun.  They are both high-octane personalities and both have strong Mercury Neptune aspects which will be no drawback in the showbusiness world of make believe.

The UK will be more buffeted by the transiting Uranus square Saturn than many countries (except the EU – and now that I think about it India, Pakistan and China). Tensions will run high over restrictions to freedom as well as the fallout from economic disruptions.

  Tr Saturn will square the UK 8^th house financial Mars in late March/early April, mid July and across the New Year into 2022 for setbacks, irritations and accidents. But it is tr Uranus which will have the more obvious effect as it forms a shocking/insecure/over-reactive conjunction to the UK Mars through most of May, late November through December 2021 and again in February 2022 – there will be financial and other major upsets. When tr Pluto hit this part of the UK chart a few decades back there were a stream of major disasters – ferry sinkings, Kings Cross fire etc. So it will be accident prone on a larger scale than Saturn.

  2022 will see much the same as tr Uranus square tr Saturn hits on the UK 2^nd house Neptune. Uranus won’t clear the UK’s Fixed planets until early 2025 so it will be a bumpy ride with multiple forced changes coming one on top of each other.

  Any legislature changes with extended devolution or splits is likely to come in 2023/24 with tr Uranus square the 11^th house Saturn.

  What will be interesting to watch to see how it turns out is the UK 5^th house Venus. The 5th is the chart area of entertainment as well as financial speculation. The Solar Arc Sun opposes the Venus exactly in nine months and the Solar Arc Midheaven is conjunct in eighteen months. Both of which might suggest positive outcomes although tr Saturn and tr Uranus will be impacting the Solar Arc Sun, Solar Arc Midheaven and Venus throughout 2022 as well, so it will be a time of jolts, jangles and stop-start progress.

  Back in 2021 minor good news will come from tr Jupiter conjunct the UK Pluto in Pisces June 9^th to July 2^nd, and again in January. Might be sporting successes. Jupiter is also moving through the UK 5^th from late January 2021 for a year which will – some of the time – lead to renewed self-confidence. Though Jupiter will battle with tr Saturn moving through Aquarius as well, which latter requires effort to take responsibilities seriously.

There’s uncertainty now till late January 2021; and some downbeat moments March to mid April, mid September to mid October and Jan/Feb 2022. And losses late May, on and off to March 2022. But those are run of the mill life-being-normal kind of influences.

   Northern Ireland, 7 December 1922 3.28pm Belfast, is shifting off an old track with tr Uranus impacting on its Water Grand Trine of Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto so is having to cope with new circumstances and changes. It will cause strain but it may not all be negative since it will force the country to rethink its ambitions for the future. Pluto moving through the 10^th (start time being accurate) from exactly now onwards for a decade can be seen as a search for a new direction. 2022 will be a time of high anxiety about domestic matters and deep questioning of roots and family past.

  Relations with Ireland 1949 look undermined, unresolved and damaged through 2021/22 with tr Neptune conjunct the composite Mars and opposition Saturn; not warmly co-operative; pushed and pulled by circumstances in 2022/23 and turned upside down by 2024 with completely new agreements needed.

  Wales, 3 March 1284 JC, is ploughing through discouraging times in 2021/22 and is low in morale with tr Pluto conjunct the Pluto Saturn and tr Neptune conjunct the Pisces Sun. And the Devolution 1998 chart is no more settled with tr Uranus square tr Saturn causing disruption.

  Scotland, up in arms over Brexit, is the most likely to aim for separation though economic realities as well as a Sturgeon v Salmond split in the SNP may make for a tighter vote than it appears now if it came to a referendum.  The Scotland Act of Union, 1 May 1707 JC suggests that 2023 may be the most likely time for a Scexit push with tr Uranus conjunct the 1707 Sun and square the Pluto Jupiter. But it is a tightly welded-together chart and won’t split easy. Uranus has been round this circuit several times in the last four centuries.

  The Scottish Devolution chart, 17 November 1998, would point to 2024/25 as the times of radical change. Neither of the two ancient Scotland charts of 1034 and 842 indicate much in the way of a drive for independence.  

  Maybe Keir Starmer’s ideas for a constitutional commission to extend devolution may gain traction.   

Add ON:

England – there are two charts – 11 May 973 JC and 25 December 1066.

  The 1066 chart shows dampened hopes through 2021 with tr Neptune opposition the Jupiter – high expectations which end in disappointment.  But both charts would indicate that 2023 to 2025 are the years of major turmoil, uncertainty and upheaval.

  The 1066 chart has tr Pluto conjunct the financial Venus in 2022/23 for considerable economic challenges; with a series of insecure, shocking, highly strung, undermining jolts from Solar Arcs in 2023/24 – tr Uranus conjunct the Neptune and Solar Arc Sun square Neptune; Solar Arc Uranus opposition Mars; and tr Neptune square Uranus.

  The 973 chart has much the same timeline with uncertainty in 2023/24 from tr Neptune square the Saturn; and tr Uranus conjunct the Taurus Sun, Mars and square Pluto in 2024/25.

   So not dissimilar to the timeline of the ructions on the UK 1801 chart and the 1707 Scotland Act of Union chart.  It doesn’t mean there will be an outright split. But the England identity will certainly go into a full wash-and-spin which won’t be too comfortable.

The final (allegedly) moment of the irrevocable parting of the ways from the EU will come at 11pm London time tonight.

  This produces a mixter maxter chart with three distinct strands:

Neptunian dreams with Venus in freedom-loving and adventurous Sagittarius opposition a wild-child Gemini North Node square Neptune in the employment and health 6^th house.

Uranus in the financial 8^th in an innovative trine to the Sun and an erratic square to Jupiter Saturn in Aquarius – adventurous, opportunistic, dictatorial, inconsistent.

  And a log-jammed, frustrated, furious – and then some – 8^th house Mars square Pluto Saturn Jupiter, which will take superhuman effort to push through financial problems. It also suggests bitter wrangling over financial matters, immediately and with escalating tensions in three and four years time as the Mars Pluto Saturn move by Solar Arc to exact.

Last and probably least there’s a flashy Leo Moon sitting on the UK Jupiter and opposition Jupiter Saturn in Aquarius – continuing the contradictory themes of high hopes and pessimism.  

Add On: Next day commentaries:

‘The UK has repatriated economic sovereignty and discovered that, far from allowing it to humble the EU, it has harmed itself. [Brexit] is still a promise without a plan. We have broken out of one regime of international relationships into a holding position – worse than what came before.’

‘I voted for Brexit – but not for this. Sean O’Grady thought that Leave could lead to a better deal for Britain. But, he writes, what we’ve ended up with instead is the worst of all worlds.’

‘A trade deal that requires a high degree of continued alignment on labour market regulation, environmental standards, state aid and much else besides doesn’t entirely free the country of its past ties.

 [But]no longer will it be possible to blame the EU bogey for the country’s troubles, or for sitting on our hands and doing nothing. No more excuses. Britain must learn to stand on its own two feet.’

‘Another union — that between the nations of England, Scotland and Wales and the province of Northern Ireland, will take centre stage in Brexit’s next act. Forget the guff about embarking on a new Elizabethan age. “Global Britain” is at present heading towards the rocks of constitutional break-up.

The decision to leave the EU was, at its heart, an expression of English nationalism. A reordering of relationships within the UK is inevitable — and a parting of the ways a real and present danger.

 Changing minds to guarantee the preservation of the Union will require, at very least, two steps. The first, which should be the easiest, is Mr Johnson’s departure in favour of a prime minister ready to redistribute power within the UK. The second (contingent on the first) is a constitutional offer to Scotland — and to Wales and Northern Ireland — that would create an essentially federal union. The status quo is no longer an option.’

An astro thought popped into mind at the news that Meghan and Harry had produced their first Archewell love-and-compassion podcast which featured, amongst other celebrities, seventeen-month-old Archie saying ‘Happy New Year.’ Reviews suggest it was ‘blandly Californian. Like Goop but without the fun.’ Vacuous and naff.

 For a couple whose raison d’etre for bolting was a driving desire for privacy, fuelled in part ‘twas said by Harry’s dislike of being in the Royal goldfish bowl, it seems a tad strange to be exposing their offspring to a gawping public. And naming their (presumably hopefully mega-million dollar) foundation after him. Especially after all the fuss about keeping his birth and christening under wraps.

  When Archie arrived I winced a touch at his chart which has the Saturn Pluto conjunction in his 10^th of career. Saturn in the 10^th suggests a workaholic, disciplinarian, chilly mother and with Pluto added in she becomes even more hard-driving and controlling. It doesn’t mean he won’t be successful long term, since he’ll have duty welded into his DNA but it certainly doesn’t point to a playful, carefree childhood where he’s left to make his own choices.

  Meghan’s Pluto squares Archie’s Midheaven, so she will be instrumental in dictating his path in life until he breaks free.

  The relationship charts with both Meghan and Harry have composite Sun Venus so there will be a good deal of affection. But with Harry it’s a more sociable and enjoyable, fun interface; while with Meghan there’s an emphasis on work and money.

   Relations within the Royal Family don’t appear to be easing much. Will and Harry, if anything will move further apart through this year; and Harry and his father Charles will also be jolted and jangled, perhaps by other family events with a sense of disappointment lingering.

  Meghan and the Queen will be moving through a tumultuous two years with more aggravations and frustrations following.  Meghan and Charles are drifting, with 2022 being a sore point as enthusiasm is dampened; and the same with Will who’ll find it tricky to keep calm as angry influences blow up in 2022/23.

  Which mirrors the Harry/Meghan relationship chart on which family tussles loomed large with a composite Moon square Saturn Pluto which sees continuing pressures hanging over from 2020 through 2021, and worsening in 2022/23 as tr Pluto opposes the composite Moon.

A shell-shocked USA, battered by rancour over Trump’s presidency and his chaotic, vengeful exit, never mind the pandemic, could be forgiven a sigh of relief at the hope of quieter times ahead. With no mid degree Fixed signs on the USA 1776 chart the disruptions of the prevailing 2021 tr Uranus in Taurus square tr Saturn in Aquarius won’t have much direct impact.

   But certain themes will run on from last year with tr Pluto opposition the USA Mercury, exact now till late January, repeating mid August to late November. On its own, this would bring mental strain and intense, probably bitter, debate. But it will be ramped up by Mercury being natally opposition the USA Pluto and therefore a harbinger of more momentous changes to come as Pluto heads for its First Return since the USA was founded in 2022/23. (Examples of other countries going through a Pluto Return see post: October 16 2020.) The divisiveness and fraudulent misrepresentation will run on.

  One consolation to be drawn is that Joe Biden’s Jupiter in Cancer is conjunct the USA Mercury so he might manage to pour syrup on the worst of the hatred and bitterness.

  The Eclipses in Gemini/Sagittarius in June and December will continue to rattle the USA Uranus and Mars, leading to a heated, argumentative mood, both internally and externally.  [The Gemini and Sibley 1776 USA charts will also have their Ascendant’s affected by these Eclipses so they will bring about – as last year – a re-evaluation of America’s image in the eyes of the world and its relationships.]

   What is worrisome is tr Neptune square the USA Mars late March to mid April, early September to mid October, mid January to mid February 2022. Traditionally this brings about a panicky sense of failure, with dented self-esteem.

  Similar occurred before:

 In 1980 with tr Neptune in Sagittarius opposition the USA Mars, in the final year of Jimmy Carter’s presidency generally regarded as lacklustre. The US was in a minor recession spawned by the 1979 oil crisis; the unemployment rate rises to 6.3%.

In 1938 with tr Saturn in Virgo square the USA Mars. President Roosevelt on his less successful 2^nd Term hints at US neutrality in the approaching war with Germany.

In 1897/98 tr Neptune in Gemini is conjunct the USA Mars. William McKinley President – the Spanish–American War started after an explosion on USS Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba, leading to U.S. intervention in the Cuban War of Independence. It led to the U.S. emerging predominant in the Caribbean region and acquiring Spain’s Pacific possessions.

In 1857 Neptune in Pisces square the US Mars – Franklin Pierce president, an anti-abolitionist; the Supreme Court ruled that Blacks are not citizens and slaves cannot sue for freedom, driving the country further towards the American Civil War of 1861.

  Not terminal but on the whole uninspiring times in US history.

  What is also worth considering given the aggravated nature of the aspects on Inauguration day is the USA First President chart, of 30 April 1789 12.45pm New York. Tr Pluto is square the Mercury on this chart also at 24 degrees, so similar phases of ramped-up debate as indicated by the 1776 chart throughout 2021 Tr Neptune is conjunct the Saturn for uncertainty and paralysis, picking up late February and running till January 2022.

What to watch for is tr Uranus conjunct the First President Taurus Sun at ten degrees – with tr Saturn in square – which does suggest considerable disruption. This runs from April 2021 on and off until early 2022.

  Interestingly previous occurrences of this coincided with the Neptune transits above to the USA Mars.

Uranus in Taurus conjunct the FP Sun, June 1853 to March 1854, during Pierce’s presidency who is ranked as one of the worst and least memorable U.S. Presidents.

Uranus at 10 degrees Taurus – May 1937 to Feb 38, Franklin D Roosevelt after a successful first term from 1933, failed to garner support for his Second Stage New Deal intended to drag the USA out of the Great Depression. The business community objected, equating him with Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. The Supreme Court became his primary domestic focus during his second term after the court overturned many of his programs. Roosevelt’s “court packing” plan ran into intense political opposition from his own party, since it upset the separation of powers. Although by 1941, seven of the nine Justices had been appointed by Roosevelt.

  Overall the influences tended to coincide with ineffective presidencies.