To Americans in the Heartland, Rudolph Giuliani was the mayor who led the people of New York through the difficult days after September 11 2001. While the President read a storybook to children and the Vice President fled into a bunker, Rudy Giuliani was the leader that all eyes turned to. To many New Yorkers, however, Giuliani was an arrogant and imperious mayor, who reduced crime by increasing police brutality and ironically failed to protect the city during the September 11 terrorist attacks by locating the Office of Emergency Management inside the World Trade Center, a move much criticized because of the previous attack against the World Trade Center. And few will soon forget the scandal over his announcement at a press conference that he was leaving his wife Donna Hanover for his lover Judith Nathan, an announcement not previously made to his wife. On September 10 2001, Giuliani’s approval ratings had fallen to 37%. Still, conservatives admire Giuliani’s tough stance on crime and his aggressive leadership style, as well as his encouragement of business and real estate development during his tenure as mayor.

So who is Rudy Giuliani really? Astrologically, his Sun is in the changeable sign of Gemini, the sign of flexibility, adaptation and communication. Gemini is driven to experience as many things as possible in one lifetime. Because of this, they are able to accomplish a great deal although they have a tendency to lose focus. Giuliani’s Sun is conjunct the planet of radical rebellion, Uranus, suggesting that he is a natural born rebel. Sun/Uranus people resist authority and must do things their own way, they flout convention and tend to dislike emotional attachment. Giuliani’s chart lacks the element of water that provides a conduit for the emotions, and this combined with the Sun/Uranus combination in the airy sign of Gemini indicates a lack of empathy and sensitivity. Giuliani is an idea guy, and the ideas are his own. Because Sun/Uranus is so independent of thought, there is an amorality inherent in this combination in that Giuliani does not subscribe to anyone’s conventions of morals but his own.

The Sun/Uranus combination in Giuliani’s chart is squared by Chiron, the planetoid that represents the wounded healer. A tight aspect of Chiron to the Sun indicates a painful wound (Chiron) to the essential Self (Sun) that occurred at an early age, often from the father who is represented by the Sun as well. It is well known that Giuliani’s father, a tavern owner in Brooklyn, was known for using a baseball bat to keep rowdy customers in line. It is very likely that Giuliani himself was the brunt of that bat from time to time.

His Moon is in Leo where it gives him an emotional need for attention and admiration. Leo is generous and open-hearted, but there is a pact inherent in the generosity of Leo. As astrologer Stephen Arroyo says, “Let’s encourage everybody to feel great! And then they’ll love me for it.” There is a powerful need to express the Self in a creative way with Leo. Because the Moon tends to show our secret emotional needs the craving for attention of the Moon is often masked by a false humility, but this is not the case with Mr. Giuliani. The Leo Moon in his chart conjuncts the expansive and confident planet Jupiter, identifying the source of his inner confidence and showing that he has a strong sense of justice and right and wrong. The confidence of the Jupiter/Moon combination, especially in Leo where like the Lion for which it is named, there can be a sense of royal entitlement, a stubborn and unyielding nature that can be more than a bit arrogant.

Mars in Giuliani’s chart is also in Leo (Giuliani has four planets in Leo altogether which gives his chart a strong Leonine flavor). Mars is our drive and the way we express our physical energy, and in Leo there is a strong constitution and a powerful desire (Mars) for recognition and acclaim (Leo) as well as a hearty sex drive. Mars in Leo is ambitious and proud, and this is exacerbated in Giuliani’s chart by a conjunction of Pluto to Mars. Pluto is the planet of power as well as being the instigator for transformative experiences that require a death of ego and regeneration. When Mars conjuncts Pluto, there is often an obsession with matters of personal power since Mars represents our individual power and Pluto is Power on a grander scale. This can be a potent placement for manifesting one’s desires as well, if the higher self as represented by Pluto is integrated with the individual desires of Mars. In any event, most Mars/Pluto people are a force of nature and not easily manipulated or managed. During Giuliani’s tenure as mayor he enjoyed demonstrations of the power that he held, such as undermining and effectively removing city officials such as Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and others who shared the limelight for the city’s successes in reducing crime.

Mercury in Giuliani’s chart is in the fixed and placid sign of Taurus. Mercury in Taurus shows that his mental process is slow and deliberate, and once he makes up his mind it is virtually impossible to change it. Giuliani’s temper is legendary, but it is not reactive as a more fiery Mars would be. His temper arises when he is blocked from doing things the way HE chooses (his Sun/Uranus) or when others attempt to thwart him and undermine his need to retain power (Mars/Pluto).

Giuliani has both positive and difficult planetary cycles coming up over the next two years, so it is difficult to predict whether or not he will be successful in his bid for the White House. In any event, he will be a formidable opponent and is likely to mount a rather ruthless campaign. With Pluto entering Capricorn in 2008, it’s possible that the widely anticipated breakdown (Pluto) of our governmental structures (Capricorn) could begin with a rigidifying of those structures (I’ll write more on that later as my thoughts gel). In this case, governmental entities would become more and more oppressive until the square from Uranus to Pluto in 2011 forces an eruption of revolutionary fervor. A Giuliani presidency could make George Bush seem like a card carrying ACLU member and resulting in the kind of oppression that would ripen our society for the 2012 events.