by Marilyn J. Muir, LPMAFA
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
A recent article was the current iteration of the historical ranking of the U.S. presidents. There have been multiple presidential ranking studies done encompassing historians, political experts, general public, college professors, etc. It is difficult to assemble a large group of people with no political bias or a personal axe to grind. Even with the highly educated, personal bias creeps into every attempt to fairly assess the contributions or failures of our highest elected official. It is always best to remember the adage: history is written by the winners.
As research for my 2009 book, I studied the connections between each president’s chart and the U.S. Virgo rising Declaration of Independence chart. I individually compared the thirteen main points for each president: Midheaven, Ascendant, ten traditional physical bodies and Node to the same points for the country, using traditional and natural groupings for my research. As I researched, I tried to let the charts tell me the story by relying on astrological factors and not my personal opinion or bias. The charts did not disappoint me. In those comparisons, three themes emerged as keys to unlocking dynamics between this country and its leaders. The three Declaration of Independence themes were:
- Aquarius and/or Uranus on an angle, and/or near the Moon 22 Aquarius 37
- Mercury/Pluto opposition 24 Cancer 20R to 27 Capricorn 33R
- USA Neptune at 22 Virgo 25 in the chart’s first house
I composed a spreadsheet to verify connections: conjunctions and oppositions only, tight 5˚ orb, but allowed up to 8˚ applying for the Sun, due to its mass and its orb of influence, and the Moon, due to its speed and proximity to the Earth. It can move one degree every two hours on a birth clock and is the nearest body to us, about 1/4 million miles.
Notice the emphasis on the three outer planets. Our Declaration of Independence was in 1776. The Founding Fathers were born prior to that: George Washington in 1732, Benjamin Franklin in 1706, etc. Those three outer planets were not visible; therefore, they were not conscious and not configured into any chart set at that time. Uranus had been seen but not identified as a planet; it was entering our consciousness, on the very edge of awareness. The spirit of revolution was waking up! Neptune and Pluto were unknown at our country’s founding, and yet they show dominance in our founding chart. The order of impact was first the Uranus/Aquarius theme, followed by the Mercury/Pluto opposition, then Neptune. These were the undercurrents (unconscious) stirring men’s souls, at work but not yet visible (conscious).
Surprisingly, the presidential connections I might have expected to emerge from my spreadsheet were not what I experienced. If I learned anything from the study, it was that the presidents, to a man, fit into the U.S. chart in some form or fashion. There were no electional errors including those who were in office a short time, were controversial, or had the most impact. I found that as a country we got either a superior president or one heck of a teacher/lesson! Only one President’s chart keyed to all the categories: John F. Kennedy. Are you old enough to remember the feeling of Camelot? JFK resonated with the citizenry; he was the whole package according to the connections, and we had him such a short time.
How did my 2009 astrological tally work with the current tally by learned historians! Public opinion tallies also were available. With so many opinions and polls, all different tallies, how do you compare outcomes? The good people at Wikipedia provided figures for many of the polls over the years. As suspected, they did not agree with one another. Wiki additionally provided an aggregate, a compendium of the individual polls. The combination of the intellectual and popular polls made sense to me. It should minimize individual bias.
Wiki’s 2018 aggregate top tier (eleven of 44 presidents) revealed this descending order: (1) Lincoln, F.D. Roosevelt, Washington, T. Roosevelt, Jefferson, Truman, Wilson, Eisenhower, Jackson, Kennedy, (11) Obama.
The 2018 lowest aggregate scores in ascending order were (44) Trump, Buchanan, Harding, A. Johnson, Pierce, Fillmore, W. Harrison, Tyler, Grant, Taylor, (34) Hoover.
To be fair, Trump has only been in office a year as I write this. Harrison was in office only thirty days, Garfield only 200 days, and Taylor only sixteen months. There are fewer studies for the more recent presidents, potentially influencing the aggregate. Note: Grover Cleveland was president twice in separate elections and can confuse the count, 45 presidents but only 44 people.
To prevent repetition in aspects, the Declaration of Independence (DOI) Virgo rising chart’s thirteen positions in sign order starting with the midheaven (MC) are:
- MC 8 Gemini 52
- Uranus 8 Gemini 54
- Mars 21 Gemini 10
- Venus 2 Cancer 43
- Jupiter 5 Cancer 52
- Sun 13 Cancer 01
- Mercury 24 Cancer 20R
- True N Node 6 Leo 35
- Asc 11 Virgo 46
- Neptune 22 Virgo 25
- Saturn 14 Libra 48
- Pluto 27 Capricorn 34R
- Moon 22 Aquarius 37
After the three primary groupings, the balance of the DOI categories were naturally grouped, i.e.: Mercury opposed Pluto as one, Venus/Jupiter conjunct as one: eleven categories. Conjunctions and oppositions, tight orbs, president chart to DOI chart, same thirteen positions (apples to apples): three keys listed first, aggregate top presidents 1st to 11th in order:
Abraham Lincoln (Civil War) five of eleven:
- Sun 23.5 and Asc 22 Aquarius; conjunct DOI Moon
- Moon 27 Capricorn: conjunct DOI Pluto opposed DOI Mercury
- Jupiter 22 Pisces: opposed DOI Neptune
- MC 7.5 Sagittarius and Neptune 7 Sagittarius: conjunct DOI fourth cusp, opposing DOI MC/Uranus conjunct
- Mercury 10 Pisces conjunct Pluto 13.5 Pisces: opposed DOI Asc
Franklin D. Roosevelt (WW II) eight (grouped) of eleven:
- Sun 11 Aquarius, Venus 6 Aquarius: conjunct DOI South Node
- Mercury 27 Aquarius: conjunct DOI Moon
- Uranus 18 Virgo conjunct Asc 23 Virgo: conjunct DOI Neptune
- N Node 7 Sagittarius: conjunct DOI fourth cusp, opposed DOI MC/Uranus conjunct
- Moon 6 Cancer: conjunct DOI Venus/Jupiter conjunction
- MC 22 Gemini: conjunct DOI Mars
George Washington (Revolutionary War) five of eleven:
- MC 29.5 Capricorn: conjunct DOI Pluto opposed DOI Mercury
- Mercury 6.5 Aquarius: conjunct DOI T S Node
- Uranus10 Sagittarius: opposed DOI MC/Uranus conjunct
- Moon 17 Capricorn: opposed DOI Sun
- Pluto 18 Libra: conjunct DOI Saturn
Theodore Roosevelt (Spanish-American War) seven of eleven:
- Neptune 22.5 Pisces: opposed DOI Neptune
- Moon 17 Cancer opposed Mars 18 Capricorn: to DOI Sun
- Asc 25 Gemini: conjunct DOI Mars
- Venus 18 Sagittarius: opposed DOI Mars
- Jupiter 21 Gemini: conjunct DOI Mars
- True N Nod 7 Pisces: opposed DOI Asc
- Saturn 12 Leo: conjunct DOI N Node
Thomas Jefferson six of eleven:
- Asc 00.5 Aquarius conjunct out of sign Uranus 27 Capricorn:
- Asc/Uranus: conjunct DOI Pluto opposed DOI Mercury
- Moon 11 Sagittarius: opposed DOI MC/Uranus conjunct
- Mercury 26.5 Pisces: opposed DOI Neptune
- Neptune 9.5 Cancer: conjunct DOI Sun
- Neptune 9.5 Cancer: conjunct DOI Jupiter/Venus
Harry Truman (WW II) six of eleven:
- Jupiter 28 Cancer: conjunct DOI Mercury opposed DOI Pluto
- Saturn 10 Gemini conjunct DOI MC/Uranus
- MC 12 Cancer: conjunct DOI Sun
- Asc 10.5 Libra: conjunct DOI Saturn
- Venus 4 Cancer: conjunct DOI Venus/Jupiter conjunct
- Uranus 24 Virgo: conjunct DOI Neptune
- Pres.Truman had a natal Mercury/Pluto conjunction that can easily resonate to the DOI Mercury/Pluto opposition. Truman was the decision maker for the WW II atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan
Woodrow Wilson (WW I) seven of eleven:
- Moon 01 Aquarius in sign only
- Venus/Mars conjunct 17 Aquarius: 5.5˚ conjunct DOI Moon
- Neptune18 Pisces: opposed DOI Neptune
- MC 18 Cancer opposed Mercury 19 Cap: to DOI Sun
- Asc 15.5 Libra: conjunct DOI Saturn
- Sun 8 Capricorn: opposed DOI Jupiter/Venus
- Saturn 11 Cancer: conjunct DOI Sun
- T N Node 11 Aries: opposed DOI Saturn
Dwight Eisenhower (WW II general) five of eleven:
- Jupiter 3 Aquarius: conjunct DOI True S Node
- Venus 5.5 Sagittarius opposed Neptune 6.5 Gemini, Pluto 7.5 Gemini and MC 3 Gemini: opposed DOI MC/Uranus conjunct
- Mars 14 Capricorn: opposed DOI Sun
- Asc 6 Vir conjunct Saturn 12.5 Virgo conjunct DOI Asc
- True N Node 16 Gemini: conjunct DOI Mars
- see also Moon/Uranus conjunction 26 to 27 Libra square DOI Mercury/Pluto opposition (military?)
Andrew Jackson six of eleven (removed one):
- Sun 25 Pisces opposed Moon 24 Virgo and Jupiter 17 Virgo: to DOI Neptune
- Saturn 14 Gemini: conjunct DOI MC/Uranus conjunct
- Asc 26 Aries conjunct Uranus 27 Aries
- T N Node 9 Aquarius: conjunct DOI T S Node
- MC 15.5 Capricorn conjunct Pluto 12 Capricorn: opposed DOI Sun
- Venus 10 Aries: opposed DOI Saturn
John F. Kennedy eleven (grouped) of eleven:
- Uranus 24 Aquarius: conjunct DOI Moon (7’ orb)
- MC 24 Cancer, Saturn 27 Cancer: conjunct DOI Mercury, opposed DOI Pluto
- Neptune 3 Leo: out of sign opposed DOI Pluto
- Neptune 3 Leo: conjunct DOI T N Node
- Sun 8 Gemini: conjunct DOI MC/Uranus conjunction
- Moon 17 Virgo: conjunct DOI Nep and Asc (5.5˚)
- N Node 11 Capricorn: opposed DOI Sun
- Pluto 3 Cancer: conjunct DOI Venus/Jupiter conjunct
- Asc 20 Libra: conjunct DOI Saturn (5.5˚)
- Venus 17 Gemini: conjunct DOI Mars
Barack Obama six (grouped) of eleven (added three):
- Asc 18 Aquarius: conjunct DOI Moon
- Uranus 25 Leo, T N Node 27 Leo: opposed DOI Moon
- Jupiter 01 Aquarius: conjunct out of sign DOI Pluto
- Saturn 25 Capricorn: conjunct DOI Pluto opposed DOI Mercury
- Moon 3 Gemini: conjunct DOI Uranus/MC conjunct (5.5˚ orb)
- Mars 22.5 Virgo: conjunct DOI Neptune
- Mercury 2 Leo: conjunct DOI T N Node
- Venus 2 Cancer: conjunct DOI Venus/Jupiter conjunct
- Pluto 7 Virgo: conjunct DOI Asc
As I said earlier, there were no mistakes in who assumed the office of the presidency.
Sources: (all charts personally verified and/or rectified)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_presidents_of_the_United_States
- U.S.A Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 9:36 AM LMT, Philadelphia, PA
- Dwight Eisenhower, Oct 14, 1890, 3:00 AM CST, Denison, TX
- William Harrison, Feb 9, 1773, 10:44:36 AM LMT, Charles City County, VA
- Andrew Jackson, Mar 15, 1767, 7:35:57 AM LMT, Waxhaw, NC/SC (controversial)
- Thomas Jefferson, Apr 13, 1743, 1:53:12 AM LMT, Shadwell, VA
- John F. Kennedy, May 29, 1917, 3:00 PM EST, Brookline, MA
- Abraham Lincoln, Feb 12, 1809, 6:54 AM LMT, Hodgenville, KY
- Barack Obama, Aug 4 1961, 7:24 PM AHST, Honolulu, HI
- Franklin Roosevelt, Jan 30, 1882, 8:45 PM LMT, Hyde Park, NY
- Theodore Roosevelt, Oct 27, 1858, 7:45 PM LMT, New York, NY
- Harry Truman, May 8, 1884, 4:00 PM CST, Lamar, MO
- George Washington, Feb 22 1732, 10:00 AM LMT, Baynesville, VA
- Woodrow Wilson, Dec 29, 1858, 12:45 AM LMT, Staunton, VA
Published in AFA Today’s Astrologer May 2018 vol 80#5, republished with slight editing.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.