![]() ![]() You write them down on piece of paper, stick them in a bowl and vote on the topic," said a Bonesman of the 80s era. Thursday nights were predictable affairs, devoted to structured debates on such ever-green topics as "Do manners make the man?" "You submit topics of anyone's choosing. The society is famed for its dinners, which often had lobster on the menu - though it does not serve alcohol. Both men formed lasting friendships in the darkness of the tomb, cemented by a tradition that was a strange hybrid of debating society, group therapy and Epicurean club. "There were some people who felt that that was going to be a crowning achievement, and there were other people for whom the idea was absolutely laughable."įor Kerry and Bush, however, by all accounts their years in the crypt were among the formative experiences of their lives. Kurt Schmoke, now the dean of Howard University's law school, is of a similar vintage to Kerry and Bush, but refused the call. It was the Vietnam era, a time when the fixtures of the establishment were viewed with suspicion or derision, and even the boarded windows and padlocked doors could not keep the winds of social change from penetrating the Tomb.įor the first time, for instance, it became conceivable for those tapped for membership to turn down the offer. The 60s was not a comfortable time for secret societies. Bush's fellows included an Olympic gold medallist, Don Schollander, and a future Harvard surgeon, Gregory Gallico. The first president Bush and a smattering of other Bush relatives had also been members. Frederick Smith, a founder of the Federal Express delivery service, was also in Kerry's year.īush was inducted two years later, securing his entree through family connections. His fellows included one of his closest friends, William Pershing, who was killed in Vietnam, and David Thorne, the brother of his first wife. Kerry made the the ranks of the elect - or was "tapped", to use society parlance - in the spring of 1965 when he was in his third year as an undergraduate at Yale, and probably chosen because of his reputation as a strong debater. "I wish there were something secret I could manifest there," he said.īut some facts are known - despite the cryptic responses of the average Bonesman. "It's so secret we can't talk about it," said Bush. Asked about their association by one of America's most dogged interviewers, NBC's Tim Russert, neither was willing to divulge the secrets of the tomb. So far, Kerry and Bush have resisted being drawn into the debate, falling back on the society's customary secrecy. The more intriguing lore about the society includes the claim that each alumnus gets $15,000 (£8,500) on graduation (not true) and the notion that members spend an inordinate amount of time lying around in coffins (only for a few minutes on pledge night, apparently). Others, including Robbins, say that Bonesmen deliberately cultivate an aura of mystery around the society to give it greater significance than it deserves. ![]() Some critics during this election season have demanded that Kerry and Bush renounce their old association, arguing that membership of a secret society is inimical to the presidency. Conspiracy theorists have long insisted that the world is controlled by a shadowy network of Yale alumni, and the Kerry-Bush contest feeds directly into that fantasy. The rise of the Bonesmen has not gone uncharted. This is an organisation where members can call up presidents, supreme court judges and cabinet members, and ask for jobs, money and connections," says Alexandra Robbins, author of Secrets of the Tomb, an exposé of Yale's secret societies. "Skull and Bones is probably the most successful elite network this country has. That both Kerry and Bush will feature on the presidential ticket next November might be dismissed as weird coincidence, except for the fact that for generations the club's alumni have occupied positions of power and influence in America. The society is open to only 15 students from the senior or graduating class of Yale each year, and it is believed there are fewer than 800 living members. But even those anointed few - those, for example, who could be trusted with the secret of President Bush's society nickname which was "Temporary", as he defied convention and failed to choose one - would be staggered at the odds of two Bonesmen turning up in a direct contest for the US presidency. ![]()
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