December 17, 1998 - As noted in the last installment, the strongest prevailing aspect during the scheduled impeachment discussion is Mercury-Pluto, which in the past has not been directly involved in impeachment or resignation activities to any noticeable extent. In the two instances given, though one of the politicians in question pegged a future date for resignation, the primary similarity between them is that both Johnson and Gingrich refused to run again for the position each held at the time. As an "opt out" or "cop out" aspect, Mercury-Pluto seems to accompany the recognition that to win the battle at hand (which both Gingrich and Johnson probably could have managed) would destroy more than it would build. This is certainly evidenced in Gingrich's statements on November 6th and 7th that he wanted to remove himself as a target for those who would cannabalize his party.
The implications of this for an impeachment vote in the House aren't at all clear, since no one in this case is in quite the same circumstance as Gingrich and Johnson. Clinton can resign, but he can't "not run," Gingrich, who is still nominally in control of the House, can't get much more nominal. His predecessor, Bob Livingston, did just announce past extramarital affairs, which might be seen as a Mercury-Pluto mea culpa, but this may mean little for impeachment. And 435 separate individuals can't opt out, or can they? At the moment, that doesn't seem to be the mood of the Republican majority.
For the few instances of impeachment or related events in America I have been able to obtain (one President and one governor for actual impeachment, plus Nixon's impeachment-related resignation and Jackson's censure by the Senate for misusing the powers of his office) and even for similar events in other times and countries, the main players seem to be, in order and in combination, Venus-Uranus and Sun-Jupiter-Saturn. A suggestion of this can be found in the table given in an earlier installment. Where Mercury is involved, it is most often found in close conjunction to the Sun, with no consistent aspects with other planets.
Venus-Uranus, and to a lesser extent, Venus with Pluto, Saturn or Neptune (in about that order) do not seem to indicate the success or failure of an impeachment effort, but rather occur at one crest of a series of social and political waves which demand confrontation between a chief executive and those with more diffuse power, such as a Congress confronting a President or the barons confronting King John of England over the Magna Carta at Runnymede on June 15, 1215 (Sun conjunct Venus square Uranus). As Venus-Uranus conjunctions, squares and oppositions are not rare, such crests occur all the time, part of the ebb and flow of politics and human affairs, and thus often mark lesser challenges to the authority of the person at the top. Their applicability to impeachment or similar matters comes when a confluence of outer-planet aspects to Venus (Uranus, Pluto and Neptune) and Sun (Jupiter and Saturn) coincide with political and social circumstances. And I do use the word "coincide" on purpose here, as I don't want to get into the philosophical question of whether such constellations cause or merely aggravate the events associated with them.
Following are brief descriptions, with charts, for censure and impeachment efforts aimed at American Presidents Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Oklahoma Governor J. C. Walton. The charts continue to be in sidereal form, but I will soon provide a "resources" page with tropical charts and aspect lists. Where times are available, the house cusps and inner circle of planets are for the natal chart (Johnson and Nixon). Where the birth date only is available (Jackson), a sign wheel is used, with the inner planets set for noon lmt at the place of birth. Where no birth date is available (Oklahoma Governor Walton) the transits for the day in a sign wheel are shown.
March 15, 1767, no time
March 28, 1834 - Two censure resolutions are approved by the Senate, condemning Jackson for removing Federal deposits from the Bank of the United States and placing them in various state banks. At the time, Jackson's party, the Democrats, controlled the House of Representatives, so the vote in the Senate was spurred by the opposition parties, led by the National Republicans. No time for Jackson is available
December 29, 1908, 12:35 A.M. LMT
Raleigh, North Carolina
Relocated to Washington, DC
February 24, 1868 - Republican Representative John Covode of Massachusetts offers a resolution to impeach Johnson for "high crimes and misdemeanors," which passes along party lines, 126-47. Nine of the resulting articles deal with his supposed violation of the Tenure of Office Act, one is aimed at his "ridiculous harangues" against Republican congressmen, and one is an omnibus article that includes the first ten.
May 11-26, 1868 - Johnson is tried in the Senate, with the first vote taken on May 16th. On each article, he is acquitted by one vote. Chart is for the first vote on May 16th.
January 9, 1913, 9:35 P.M. PST
Fullerton Township, CA
Relocated to Washington, DC
February 6, 1974 - After several months of investigation by Congress, many press reports, and Nixon's firing of special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox (October 20, 1973), the House authorizes the Judiciary Committee to inquire into whether Nixon has committed impeachable offenses.
July 30, 1974 - The Judiciary Committee votes out three articles of impeachment, two (obstruction of justice, abuse of power and failure to carry out the Presidential oath of office) with bipartisan support.
August 9, 1974, Noon EDT - Nixon resigns after the release of a "smoking gun" White House tape of him instructing a subordinate to try to halt the FBI investigation of the Watergate burglary by telling them it was a CIA operation.
Finally, before getting to Clinton's case, here is the one instance I can find of the date of a governor being removed from office by a state legislature, though I'm sure there must have been other cases in America's 222 years. On September 15, 1923, Oklahoma's Governor (no birth date available) put the state under martial law in order to deal with what he contended was a "state of insurrection and rebellion" being fomented by the Ku Klux Klan, also swearing that anyone aiding the Klan would be considered an "enemy of the state." When told that members of the state legislature were going to convene a special session in order to impeach him, he threatened to throw them in jail. On October 25th, he was suspended from office for the duration of his trial, and on November 19th he was removed by a vote of the Oklahoma Senate. The chart above is for this latter date.
In passing, I'll note that on September 15, 1923 there was a Mercury-Pluto conjunction, the same aspect forming when Clinton declared, in effect, martial law on Iraq on December 16, 1998. And as we get on to Clinton's case, I will note beforehand that I have found some Venus-Uranus aspects, but they are a bit different than the ones seen very clearly above in three of the four cases.
Next: Clinton's Different Venus-Uranus