Cosmic Parallels: The Surprising Similarities Between Joe Rogan and James Forrestal

Interestingly, the two Silver Shield coins released this week, Cosmic Rogan and Forrestal Knew Better, memorialize two men’s lives who, on the surface, seem to have nothing in common. And yet, in many ways, they are cut from the same cloth.

Although James Forrestal and Joe Rogan were born seventy-five years apart from one another, and as a result, one is from The Greatest Generation and the other is a Baby Boomer, their biographies show they share many of the same personal histories including heritage, private lives, career paths, talents and passions.

James and Joe’s primary commonality is their shared Irish heritage. Both men are the products of middle class, ambitious Irish fathers, and both were named after their fathers – Joesph, after his father Joesph and James, after his father James. Another shared Irish trait is their short stature. Jim was 5’-9” tall and Joe is 5’-8”. They were both born in the Northeast. Forrestal was born just north of New York City and Rogan was born across the Hudson River from New York City in New Jersey. They were both raised in Catholic families and they both share the name James, which is Rogan’s middle name too.

Another coincidence had to do with their fathers. Both of their father’s careers were established in the construction industry. Jim’s father was an excellent carpenter and owned a construction company. Joe’s father was an architect. Another point of interest is that both Forrestal and Rogan avidly pursued athletics as young men. Jim was an amateur boxer in his youth and Joe was a taekwondo champion in his youth.

Also, neither man continued on to college directly after their graduation from high school. Forrestal went to work and Rogan continued to pursue his taekwondo career. When both men finally attended college, Rogan at University of Massachusetts and Forrestal at Princeton, they both left college before either of them had completed their degrees. Another alignment of their lives occurred when we discovered that when both men were young, they both worked for newspapers companies. Jim worked for the newspapers themselves, while Joe delivered them.

Additionally, both men were only married once. Forrestal was married to Joesphine (nee Ogden) and Rogan is married to Jessica Ditzel. They are each the father of two children, although Rogan adopted a third child from his wife’s first marriage.

Obviously, both of these men share one predominant aspect in their lives - their rise to become very influential public figures. More interesting is the fact that each acquired his fame, although in different venues, through his passionate, and often, very controversial political rhetoric. Neither ever refrained from expressing their contentious opinions on the crucial issues of the day.

Since Rogan has vehemently denied being a Republican, and maintains very liberal political views, he is more aligned with the ideology of the Democrat Party of today. And, not surprisingly, Forrestal was also a Democrat, as were all the Irish of his day. One of their shared political nemesis’ is their common hatred for communism. Although, Forrestal’s virulent animosity was focused on Communist Soviet Socialist Republic of Russia (USSR), Rogan’s hostility is directed towards Communist China.

Jim and Joe also shared their animosity for wealth and society, and as such, they are both cynics. Alcohol also played a key role in their lives as both men struggled with its detrimental effects upon, and within, their personal lives.

Granted, there are many other men who share some of the same circumstances, political opinions and personal experiences as did these two men, but there are very few men who can say that their lives aligned with another’s, with almost perfect synchronicity, as did these two men’s lives.

Now, that’s truly Cosmic!