Jeane Dixon
Jeane L. Dixon (January 5, 1904 – January 25, 1997[1]) was one of the best-known American astrologers and psychics of the 20th century, due to her syndicated newspaper astrology column, some well-publicized predictions and a best-selling biography.[2]
Early life
Born Lydia Emma Pinckert in Medford, Wisconsin, but raised in Missouri and California, Dixon was very reluctant to release personal details. She was married to James Dixon from 1939 until his death, but they apparently had no children. She worked with him in his successful real estate business. It was commonly reported that she was born January 3, 1918; however, per the Social Security Death Index her actual birthdate was January 5, 1904.[3]
Career as a purported psychic
She is best known for allegedly predicting the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In the May 13, 1956, issue of Parade Magazine she wrote that the 1960 presidential election would be "dominated by labor and won by a Democrat" who would then go on to "[B]e assassinated or die in office though not necessarily in his first term." She later admitted, “During the 1960 election, I saw Richard Nixon as the winner.”[4]
Dixon gained public awareness through the biographical volume, A Gift of Prophecy: the Phenomenal Jeane Dixon, written by syndicated columnist Ruth Montgomery. Published in 1965, the book sold more than 3 million copies. A devout Roman Catholic, she attributed her prophetic ability to God.
President Richard Nixon referred to Dixon as "the soothsayer" and ordered preparations for a terrorist attack she had predicted.[5] She was also one of several astrologers who gave advice to Nancy Reagan during the presidency of Ronald Reagan.
The Jeane Dixon effect
Dixon was so well-known that John Allen Paulos, a mathematician at Temple University, coined what he called the "Jeane Dixon effect", in which people loudly tout a few correct predictions and overlook false predictions. Many of Dixon's forecasts proved false, such as her prediction that World War III would begin in 1958 over the offshore Chinese islands of Quemoy and Matsu, that labor leader Walter Reuther would run for president in 1964 and that the Soviets would land the first man on the moon.[6]
Final days
She died of cardiac arrest in Washington, D.C. at the age of 93.
References
- American National Biography. Supplement 1, pp. 163-164. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Notes
External links
- Jeane Dixon at IMDb
- Nixon's Secret Psychic Advisor by James Donahue