THE LUCK OF RONALD REAGAN. I acknowledged earlier how much I marvel that the Romans relied on the innards of birds in making important decisions. I used to say that one good thing about having Ronald Reagan as President was that he was lucky and it was good for the country to have a President who was lucky. Then I read in an article by Frances Fitzgerald in the New Yorker that Reagan was frequently sent good luck charms in the mail, and the staff that opened the President’s mail was instructed to set aside some of these charms for him. He would select some new good luck charms every week or so and carry them with him. So Reagan worked at being lucky.
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But his real ace in the hole was Nancy’s astrologer.
I’m sure someone somewhere has done studies about good luck charms “working” thanks to the placebo effect. I haven’t read much about the placebo effect, but it sounds like it might be applicable here.
Mchael Mandelbaum wrote an article in Foreign Affairs that was advertised as “The Luck of Reagan,” but appeared in the following somewhat more placid form :
Michael Mandelbaum, American Policy: The Luck of the President
From Foreign Affairs, America and the World 1985
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