Rick Perry - next US President ?

Chart of Rick Perry born 4 March 1950 at 10.40 in Haskell TX, USA

Rick Perry is the current Governor of Texas, the 47th holder of this position. He's a Republican and on 13th August 2011 he announced that he would be running for the Republican nomination for president in the 2012 presidential election. At age 61 he's got good looks and a youthful charisma and under his belt he has the experience of being the longest serving governor in Texas state history.

What can we learn about him as a person from his chart? The chart is initially striking with a strong vertical direction. Aspect colours show a ratio of 3 red: 5 green:4 blue, giving Perry a high green quotient indicative of thinking, searching and questing. Alongisde this, note his comparative lack of red active, "doing" aspects, the 3 present in his chart are all oppositions with energy held in a stored or blocked state, awaiting release. Possibly this can only happen when the questions posed by the green aspects have been satisfactorily answered.

The overall aspect structure has a seesaw/diabolo appearance with some planets grouped in the lower hemisphere around the IC (giving him good access to the collective) and some in the upper hemisphere (offering the potential for individuation). A good and useful blend for a politician. The highest planet is Venus, in a stressed position by House before the MC - does he strive to be seen as pleasant, fair minded, and does he want to be likeable and be liked?

Mercury conjunct Jupiter are well-placed in 10th House providing the capacity for easy communication, and are part of the Megaphone Aspect Pattern. This pattern is concerned almost solely with communication, both giving and receiving it, and these two planets at this pattern's apex in 10th House could be a politician's dream. Interestingly, Barack Obama also has a Megaphone in his chart.

Striving and aiming high will play a large part in Perry's motivation. He has a Striving Figure in his chart. This is a relatively rare figure and is composed largely of green asepcts, which make it flexible and receptive to external influences.The planet at the apex - in Perry's chart it's his Sun, strongly placed in 11th House cusp - is highly sensitised as it receives only red/green aspects, and it represents his long term objectives. This guy aims high.

You can read more about Aspect Patterns in Aspect Pattern Astrology by Bruno and Louise Huber, and in my book, Aspect Patterns in Colour, now available in the US and Australia as well as in the UK.

But here's one final thought in this brief look at Perry's chart - Uranus is unaspected in 2nd House and stands apart from the rest of the aspect structure. Uranus is concerned with thinking outside of the box, with the potential for creative and innovative solutions to problems. It seeks ways to make life more secure and stable, even if it has to disrupt and upset things along the way. As the year of the next presidential election unfolds, it will be interesting to see if Perry's approach and behaviour echoes any of these speculations.