Skull and Bones

Skull and Bones was founded in 1832 by William Huntington Russell and Alphonso Taft at Yale University as the Russell Trust Association, legally incorporated in 1856. The society selects fifteen Yale seniors annually based on leadership potential, academic achievement, and extracurricular prominence, creating a membership network that has included significant American political and business figures.

Notable members include Presidents William Howard Taft, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush, along with numerous senators, Supreme Court justices, and corporate leaders. Other prominent Bonesmen include Secretary of State John Kerry, Time magazine founder Henry Luce, and various members of prominent American families including the Whitneys, Harrimans, and Bundys.

The society conducts initiation ceremonies and weekly meetings in a windowless sandstone building called “The Tomb” on Yale’s campus. Members participate in ritual activities that reportedly include confessing sexual histories, lying in coffins, and engaging in mock combat, though specific details remain closely guarded secrets. The organization’s symbol features a skull above crossed bones with the number 322 below.

Conspiracy theories about Skull and Bones gained prominence through researcher Antony Sutton’s writings in the 1980s, which portrayed the society as controlling American foreign and domestic policy through alumni networks. These theories often emphasize the Bush family’s membership and alleged connections between Skull and Bones alumni in government positions.

The society’s secrecy oath reportedly binds members for life, creating suspicions about coordinated influence among alumni in positions of power. However, documented policy disagreements between Bonesmen in government suggest that shared membership does not necessarily translate to coordinated action or identical political views.

Critics argue that exclusive societies like Skull and Bones perpetuate elite privilege and create informal networks that advantage members in career advancement. Supporters maintain that the organization simply provides networking opportunities similar to other collegiate associations, albeit with more theatrical traditions.

The society’s influence on American institutions remains a subject of speculation rather than documented conspiracy, though the concentration of political power among a relatively small group of alumni continues generating theories about coordinated elite control that exceed available evidence.