Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter

[Jim Eshelman]

One of the longest-lasting, committed, and thriving marriages on record. It should make a good example of positive synastry.

Jimmy Carter: October 1, 1924, 7:00 AM CST, Plains, GA (AA).
Rosalynn Carter: August 18, 1927, 6:00 AM CST, Plains, GA (A).

It's a relatively rare example of adjacent Sun-signs pairing well - here a Leo and a Virgo. OTOH one of the most immediate and striking features I notice is their Moons are in opposite signs, Libra and Aries.

Rosalynn's Sun-Neptune conjoins conjoins Jimmy's Venus-Neptune conjunction and (even closer) opposes his Mars - a complicated construct that I leave for each of you to disentangle (including understanding what each aspect structure means in their individual natal charts).

I'm particularly taken by his Jupiter square her Mars. Besides sexual elements, this overall means that he strengths her, enhances her power. Rosalynn has an enormously powerful chart anyway, with Leo-Aries luminaries and Saturn closely angular. He naturally strengthens, rather than challenges, this strength.

They have some interesting similarities, not the least of which is that each has a close Jupiter-Uranus aspect. This gives a broad, strong social-mindedness. Interestingly, his Mars opposite her Neptune (partile) has not been a problem as far as I can tell: It likely has added dramatic scope and emotional energy.

If houses are important, they both have 12H Suns, a kind of humility and perhaps reflecting their shared spiritual values. (More basically, his Virgo Sun already has natural humility while her Leo Sun has likely met and dealt with the same issue.) One thing this means is that their composite has a 12H Sun - important if houses are important, otherwise not. What most strikes me about the composite is the close Moon-Jupiter conjunction, which says many things (and it's in 5H). There are other features you can dig out for yourself.

[Jim Eshelman]

Me-Sa
Ju-Su

As I'm used to seeing, Novien-to-Novien aspects are unimpressive. All we get are his Mercury square her Novien Saturn (I doubt they have blocked, difficult communication with Jimmy not listening to Rosalynn) and his Jupiter square her Novien Sun (I imagine he does respect her and show this).

I'm not usually impressed with Novien-to-Novien.

But Novien-to-Natal is another matter! The first, big feature is his Novien Moon at 1°00' Leo conjunct her natal Sun (0°49' Leo) within 0°11'! (It's also conjunct her Neptune.) His Novien Sun 9°23' is minutes from opposite her Jupiter-Uranus conjunction (whereas his natal Sun is many degrees away).

I wondered if we would see aspects of endurance - basically, Saturn aspects of the right kind. I rather expected it and we really don't have them between the natals. Therefore, I find it interesting that his Novien Saturn at 14°03' Aries conjoins her natal Moon within 0°43'. I've seen Moon-Saturn in particular showing devotion, duty, and endurance in its positive expression.

Switching to her Novien around his natal, I don't see anything as interesting as the other way around. The only aspect of note is her Novien Jupiter-Uranus square his natal Moon.

[Jim Eshelman]

It's also worth taking a look at the capacity for marriage of each of these people. They are, of course, from a generation, a place, and a faith that contribute to high value on marriage and its endurance. Within those contexts, what do their charts show?

Jimmy is a Virgo-Libra. Libra Moons have a particular draw to marriage. Virgos have quite a lot of that as well, especially in terms of having fitting companionship. He's naturally withdrawn - Moon partile trine Pluto, possibly Sun in 12H, and one expression of Virgo - something that has been evident in his post-presidency. He has an awake, inquiring mind that won't quit and also great passion - Mars opposite Venus-Neptune bringing a fusion of passion with the will to force and formulate reality. All of this is within the context of a closely angular Saturn.

So - by native context, his luminary signs (especially Libra Moon), his sense of commitment and endurance, and many other traits, he would be drawn to marriage and able to navigate, strengthen, and preserve it. In fact, he's a natural for a story-book romance with that close Venus-Neptune conjunction: He has always longed to be enchanted and, with her Sun on his Venus-Neptune, Rosalynn evidently does that.

Rosalynn is a tough figure! (I've often noticed this in political wives I've known: They much more often manifest the tough power drives. Rosalynn was very active in the Carter WH, including sitting in on Cabinet meetings.) She's a Leo-Aries with Saturn closely angular and a close Sun-Neptune conjunction. She could be alone - solitary - much more easily than he (but with their excellent synastry, why would she want to be?). Despite the strong indications of strength (and an interchange showing that he has always encouraged and strengthened this), several indications in her chart suggest a submerging of her ego, an abdication of individual self-expression (the most obvious is her close Sun-Neptune conjunction; that this is in 12H may strengthen that more).

She has enormous resources of intelligence, insight, social vision, endurance, and more - all of great value to Jimmy in his career that she supported - but that's not the exact question I'm examining. The question is more how she would relate to marriage and long-term intimate partnering per se.

Her Moon is background in a sometimes emotionally brittle and undemonstrative sign. It's only noteworthy aspect is to Mercury. Her Venus is middleground in its fall - another undemonstrative placement - with its only aspect an octile to Mercury. None of this shows a romantic temperament. What does begin to show it is her close Sun-Neptune conjunction, one of the least common aspects for lifelong bachelors. Sun-Neptune likes to merge with another.

[Jim Eshelman]

Progressing each chart to the other's birth, beginning with progressing Jimmy's chart to Rosalynn's birth:

Natal Mercury-Uranus is across the quotidian horizon. Of greatest interest to me, though, are:

1°12' Vir - t Venus
1°34' Sag - p Moon
1°49' Vir - p Mercury

2°12' Aqu - r Mars
2°36' Aqu - p Mars
2°48' Leo - p Venus
2°54' Leo - t Neptune


Regressing Rosalynn's chart to Jimmy's birth: Again, the Moon is the main player. (Compare this to above.)

1°12' Vir - r Venus
1°21' Pis - p Moon

Also:

28°06' Can - p Sun
28°06' Can - t Neptune

This is quite excellent at sorting out a near-fated interlocking of these two birth moments in the same small town.