Whenever a secret society is mentioned in the United States, the first association among people might be the Illuminati or the New World Order. But there are also societies that are local only to the United States, unlike the Illuminati and New World Order that are spread worldwide. The most famous among the secret societies in the United States is the Skull and Bones secret society. Featuring three American presidents among its alumni, the Skull and Bones is a society founded at the University of Yale in 1837.
The founding members of the society that is also called “the Elite” and “the Brotherhood of Death” are Frederick Ellsworth Mather, Phineas Timothy Miller, Alphonso Taft, William Huntington Russell, and George Ingersoll Wood.
The origin of the society dates back to a period when a group of young and influential men decided to establish an organization for criminal purposes. In the beginning, the Skull and Bones society had one purpose: drug smuggling. As the years went by, the society transformed into powerful political society that had huge impact on the political life in the United States. One of the members, David Icke, once said that “Presidents are not elected by ballot, they are selected by blood”. Up until 1971, the society published the rosters and kept the lists at the Yale’s library. Nowadays, the society still exists, and among the powerful members, we’ve selected seven of the most influential ones.
William Averell Harriman, Class of 1913
One of the most successful politicians that got their BA at Yale, Harriman was called “Thor” by his peers at the Skull and Bones society. Harriman had two key aspects on his side: the membership in the secret society, and the money inherited from his father. Harriman’s father was a railroad baron, an industry worth millions.
After inheriting the fortune from his father, William candidate for Governor of New York City and won. Part of the Democratic party, William also served as Secretary of Commerce under President Truman, as special envoy to Europe to president Roosevelt and as US Ambassador in the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. Harriman is one of the members of the policy group known as the Wise Men.
Potter Stewart, Class of 1936
Stewart started his career as a journalist, but ended being a Supreme Court judge. During his time at Yale, Potter was working as a journalist and editor of the faculty newspaper, the Yale Law Review. He was member of the Bones society during his undergraduate days.
He became an associate judge of the Supreme Court in 1965, where he made several big contributions. One of his biggest contributions was the impact on the legalization of the sales of contraceptives. He also made huge contributions to laws in the area of criminal justice reform, civil rights, and his highest contribution, the Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. Before Potter started fighting for broader area of effect of the Fourth Amendment, the protections of the Amendment were limited to notions of property. But he called that the Amendment should “protect people, not places”.
McGeorge Bundy, Class of 1940
Mac Bundy was one of the US experts that worked on implementation of the Marshal plan, one of the crucial documents after World War II. But before he became one of the most trusted advisors for President Kennedy, Bundy was part of the Skull and Bones society. He was known as a man with personality of his own, which is one of the reasons JFK made him one of his “Wise Men”.
Bundy exceled in foreign and defense policy, serving as an advisor not only to Kennedy, but later to president Lyndon Johnson as well. However, with all his accomplishments, he also had his ups and downs. And today, he is remembered as the man who pushed Kennedy into the Vietnam War. Many people nowadays think of Bundy as the chief architect of the War and the man responsible for the escalation of the process.
George Herbert Walker Bush, Class of 1948
The Bush family had a long history at Yale, with both George Senior and George W. Bush being part of the Skull and Bones society. The Bush senior was the second president to be elected with a “Bonesman” history, with the younger Bush the third President.
George Herbert Walker Bush is famous for his time as a president, but also as a member and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, keeping secrets from everyone. He is also famous as the president who started the Gulf War, bombing Iraq and its dictator, Saddam Hussein, a war that his son continued.
John F. Kerry, Class of 1966
Kerry is one of the few Bonesman that are still in office and in politics. He spent his childhood abroad with his diplomat father, which was one of the reasons why the Skull and Bones society tapped him and wanted to groom him. He missed George W. Bush for two years, as Bush was a class of 1968 alumni.
Fun fact: Kerry and Bush went one at each other during the 2004 Presidential elections, with Bush taking home the victory. Nowadays, Kerry serves as the Secretary of State, and one of the most trusted advisors for President Obama.
George W. Bush, Class of 1968
As a president, George W. Bush didn’t get much recognition, and he was more famous for his goofy behavior than his serious politics act. His Kennedy bloodline helped George get into the Skulls and Bones society, as his family helped build the society.
He became the third member of the society to be elected President, and was the President who “allowed” 9/11 to happen. He responded by declaring war on terrorism, a War that still lasts.
Austan Goolsbee, Class of 1991
Austan Goolsbee is the youngest Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors. He is only 41, and yet one of the most influential persons in the economic policy of the United States during the reign of President Obama.
Goolsbee was senior economic policy advisor during the 2008 Presidential campaign of Obama, and nowadays leads the Economic Intelligence Practice at 32 Advisors. He departed the Obama administration in 2011 and returned as a professor at the University of Chicago.
