The View from the Meadow

Observations of the Passing Scene

Political and Social Commentary by Dave Satre

Skull and Boneheads
Yale’s Secret Society Aims to Control the World

Yale University’s The Order of the Skull and Bones society is the prestigious school’s highest honor. Only a select few of the school’s best and brightest, its greatest athletes, most accomplished scholars and most promising leaders are chosen for membership. Its members include the rich, the famous and the powerful, yet, very little is known about the Skull and Bones.

This is because Skull and Bones is a secret society. It’s members are pledged, beyond all other considerations, to absolute secrecy concerning the Bones, its history, its activities and its members. This group is widely considered to be the most powerful secret society in the history of the United States. It is sometimes referred to as a secret society for the males of prominent families. It is also referred to as The Brotherhood of Death. And their goal is to take over the world.

All Bonies pledge to help each other in business, finance, politics and social connections in order to gain both wealth and power. The society is also known to be guilty of serious and far-reaching crimes, including involvement in the global drug trade, and their goal is to rule the world.

Each year fifteen Yale juniors are selected to become members of Skull and Bones in their senior year by the society’s seniors. The last man selected becomes the “King” of his class. The tradition is based on the bible: “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many are called, but few chosen.” Each member receives a cryptonym --- a code name by which he is known the rest of his life.

“Bonesmen” are referred to as Knights and address each other as Patriarch, or Pat. They refer to everybody else as “barbarians,” but a barbaric part of the rites of the society require each member to “crook” something, or to steal something which is both unique and valuable. The best crook is honored with a plaque, which is considered a very high honor.

The Knights pledge a lifetime tithe to the to the Russell Trust Association, which is the Skull and Bones’ corporate shell. It’s also the wealthiest corporation in Connecticut and controls Yale’s finances. The organization also controls and finances the society’s goals. There are many complaints at Yale over the favoritism shown to Bonesmen. Timothy Dwight, a professor at Yale Divinity School, was installed as president of Yale in 1886 and since that time all Yale presidents either been "Bonesmen" or connected to the society in some way.

the College World Series with the Yale baseball team and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in the top 10 percent of his class.

As president he made many political appointments to Yale graduates and members of Skull and Bones in particular, He was also the head of the Central Intelligence Agency at one point, an organization which frequently recruits Bones members because of their known ability to keep secrets. Yale is said to have influenced the CIA more than any other university.

Both of the George Bushes benefited from the success of GW’s grandfather, Prescott Bush, a self-made man who became a large presence on the Yale campus. Prescott was an athlete and war hero who was elected to the Senate in 1952 as a Progressive Republican. He was known as an honorable and honest man who voted his conscience, not the party line. It is frequently felt that the Bush family gene pool degenerated consequentially down the line.

Prescott remained an active member of Skull and Bones the rest of his life and became a member of the Yale Corporation, serving on every committee related to Yale finance. It was his power and prestige that enabled both Georges to get into Yale, as well as quite a few other members of his family, many of whom would not have been accepted if not for the family’s prestige.

Famous families who were represented in the Skull and Bones society include the Tafts, Weyerhaeusers, Rockefellers, Goodyears, Pillsburys, Kelloggs and Vanderbilts as well as the Bushes.

Some of the more famous Bonies include William F. Buckley, Charles R. Walker (a Bush family member), Archibald MacLiesh, Senator John Kerry, Henry Luce, Frederick E. Weyerhaeuser, Harold Stanley (founder of Morgan Stanley), Dean Witter, Jr., and Artemus Gates, President of New York Trust Co., Union Pacific, TIME and Boeing).

For a List of the Members of GW’s Skull and Bones class CLICK HERE

For a List of Bushes who attended Yale CLICK HERE