What is skull and bones? (politics)

Skull and bones (skull and bones, Knights of Death, Knights, Star of Cooperation, Acura Club, Room 322).

In the beautiful campus of Yale University, there is a small building like a Greek temple, and several narrow windows are closed all the year round. The whole building is shrouded in mysterious colors. This humble building is the most mysterious and powerful homecoming site in America. Never open to the outside world, it has always maintained its own unique color and elite style, and there is also a chilling name called "skull and bones". Skull and bones has extremely mysterious membership rules, and even more daunting is its membership list. From this skull and bones, there are three American presidents, two Supreme Court justices, as well as numerous American congressmen and senior cabinet officials. 172 years later, skull and bones's members are almost everywhere, from the White House, Congress, cabinet ministries, the Supreme Court and even the Central Intelligence Agency.

Now, when US President Bush and Democratic presidential candidate Kerry compete fiercely for the US presidency, Americans are surprised to find that although the two presidential candidates come from different parties and have different political views and programs, they both keep an amazing secret. They are all members of skull and bones. Kerry joined 1965, and Bush entered skull and bones two years later. Mysterious skulls and bones began to surface.

The mysterious architecture of Yale campus

There are many secret alumni associations in Ivy League schools, and April and May are the time for these alumni associations to recruit new members every year. Yale has a beautiful spring in May, which may be the most beautiful season on Yale campus. Flowers are blooming everywhere, and the ancient campus is full of vitality. Freshmen like to play Frisbee on the grass together at this time, or play stereo all night and have a carnival in the open space of campus. However, there are a group of people who are too lazy to have fun. They are eager to get a pass and join a secret organization, so that they can even rise to the top. 1965 and 1967, Kerry and George W. Bush were introduced to the same secret class reunion as new members. When they entered this organization, they had already obtained a ticket to the peak of American power. This organization is skeletons and bones. It is also the most mysterious and powerful among more than a dozen secret student union organizations in Yale.

There is a brown rock building with a unique appearance and a style similar to that of a Greek temple on the high street of Yale University in the United States. This is the headquarters of skull and bones. The three-story building has a basement, and the vines on the brown outer wall are coiled. Members call it a "grave", and many helicopters can be parked on the roof. A famous saying is engraved on the side wall of the "tomb": "Who is an idiot and who is a wise man? Whether it is a beggar or a king, the ultimate destination is death. " The doors here are locked all the year round. Want to knock? If you are not a member of this reunion, even if you stand outside the door for three days and nights, you will not be moved. Outsiders know nothing about their internal activities and those of their members. It is said that the only time the tomb was invaded by outsiders was in 1876. All this makes skull and bones more mysterious.

Adhere to the tradition of the aristocratic elite

Every spring, 15 freshmen (Bai Gujing, Acura Knight, Boodle Boys, GB DBS——Boodle's Big Bones) are welcomed in the clubhouse in skull and bones. According to the membership requirements set by William Huntington Russell, the founder of the skull and bones (1809- 1885), the selected members must meet a series of almost harsh standards: first, they must come from wealthy families in the eastern United States, preferably British immigrants with noble blood. Secondly, we should have a good education, and it is best for middle schools to go to aristocratic boarding schools. Third, I like sports and am competitive. It is best to have military service experience. Skull and bones's candidate is a junior at Yale University, who just joined skull and bones in the year of graduation. There were racial and gender restrictions in early skull and bones. For example, Jews and blacks cannot join, and women cannot join. However, with the changes of the times, the restriction that skull and bones only accepts white men as members was impacted in the late 1980s. Skull and bones finally let Yale girls join 199 1.

Alexandra Robbins, an American journalist who once risked her life to report on skull and bones and wrote The Secret of the Tomb, once described skull and bones in an interview: "skull and bones's organization is very close and small. Only 15 people join the club every year, which means that only about 800 skull and bones members are alive at any time. Although the number is small, these people hold great power. Many skull and bones members are at the top of the US economic and political power pyramid. "

Weird initiation ceremony

"It's really like a grave, there are no windows, and the granite walls won't be forgotten at a glance. Besides, I used to live next to this building and passed by here almost every day. As soon as the initiation ceremony is held, you can hear strange and creepy shouts coming from that building. " Ron rosenbaum is a columnist for The new york Observer. He has studied Skull and Bones. He wrote.

The emblem of skull and bones is a creepy skull symbol with Arabic numeral "322" written on it. This organization believes in a legend. It is said that in 322 BC, the Greek speaker Debs Tini died, and the goddess of eloquence ascended to heaven with her. Therefore, this community calls itself the Eloquence Club, believing that the Eloquence Goddess has returned to the world on 1832. 322 became the code name of this organization.

When new members enter the door for the first time, they will go through a complicated and unfamiliar initiation ceremony. At the orientation meeting in skull and bones, an elderly member of "skull and bones" will lead the new members into the mysterious Room 322, which is also called the Inner Hall. A group of people dressed in strange clothes shouted around the new members. Then the old members of skull and bones will put a skull and bones on the shoulders of the new members and whisper, "Will you accept skull and bones all your life?" After the answer was yes, he officially became a member of skull and bones. Early members had to wrestle naked in the mud, which is said to mean "the death of the old world" and "the rebirth of the new world". All members who join the member organizations must agree with and commit themselves to the goal of seizing state power and creating a "new world order" by various means. One of the main purposes of the association is to help its members gain power and wealth.

A secret passage to the pyramid of power

Once you become a full member, you will get a ticket to the upper class of the United States, because new members will not only be taught how to step into the state power, but also get a roster of skull and bones members upon graduation. Rows of names on the roster are just steps to power and wealth.

Because the people who participated in "skull and bones" are basically famous American families, including Bushes, Pontis, harriman, Lord, Phelps, Rockefeller, Taft, Goodyear, Payne and Whitney. Therefore, the Association has been encouraging people to intermarry as much as possible, so as to keep the purity of "blue blood" (that is, aristocratic lineage) and jointly create a powerful alliance of "skull and bones". After Bush was elected president, he selected five key members to join the cabinet, including William Donaldson, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He joined skull and bones on 1953. Like the current President George W. Bush, he also swore to abide by skull and bones's commandments and keep all the secrets of skull and bones.

In fact, there are many similar student organizations in American universities, but skull and bones has its own unique characteristics. Once members of skull and bones join the club, they will become members for life and keep all secrets strictly. It is said that members of skull and bones must leave the room immediately after outsiders bring up the topic of skull and bones, so as to avoid leaking secrets. And skull and bones is extremely rich in financial resources. It is said that every new member will get $65,438+$5,000 when he joins the club. In addition, the most remarkable thing about skull and bones is that a large number of skull and bones members have become elites in American politics, finance and academia in the past century.

Skeleton Elite Series:

William taft (1878 member)

1908- 19 12 was the 27th president of the United States, 192 1- 1930 was the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (the only person in American history who served as both president and chief justice). In his hands, skull and bones entered its first golden age.

Henry stimson (1888 member)

A famous American military strategist, the executor of skull and bones's first golden age. 19 1 1 to 19 13 served as minister of the army. 1928 to 1929, as the governor of the Philippines. Secretary of State from 1929 to 1933. During his political career of more than 30 years, he served seven American presidents, namely theodore roosevelt, william howard taft, Woodrow Wilson, johncalvin coolidge, Hubert Hoover, franklin roosevelt and Truman. Stimson is just a political tumbler with great power. The big family in skull and bones officially started the establishment of the dual structure of politics and business in American society, and the influence of Whitney family (railway and arms industry), Ponty family (railway and financial industry) and harriman family (railway and financial industry) has been truly integrated and strengthened.

George Bush (member 1948)

That is, George H.W. Bush, the main member of the Bush family in skull and bones, was the president of the United States from 1988 to 1992, and his son george walker bush (a member of the class of 1968) is the current president of the United States. George Bush's father Prescott bush is a member of (19 17), and George Hulbert Bush, George Bush's uncle, is also a member of "skull and bones" (1927).

Avolol harriman (19 13 member)

The main members of the harriman family, a famous American railway family in the early days, held many positions, from the American ambassador to the Soviet Union during World War II, to American officials in the State Council, and then to the chief American negotiator in the Vietnam War armistice negotiations.

Robert lovett (member of 19 18)

He served as US Secretary of Defense, Treasury Secretary and Secretary of State, and was one of the most powerful figures in the history of skull and bones. He dominated American politics for nearly 40 years.

Henry Luce (member of1920th session)

Founder of the publishing empire of Time & Life in the United States, and advocate of the famous "American Century" theory.

Henry Davidson (member at the1920th meeting)

The main partner of Morgan Stanley investment bank, the behind-the-scenes leader of American financial network.