What Is Skull and Bones?

Founded in 1832 at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, Skull and Bones is one of America's oldest and most scrutinized secret societies. Officially known as the Brotherhood of Death (though members rarely use the name publicly), the organization selects — or "taps" — a small number of Yale seniors each year for membership. Those chosen are called Bonesmen.

The society meets in a windowless stone building on Yale's campus known simply as The Tomb. Its rituals, oaths, and internal workings have been closely guarded for nearly two centuries, making it a perennial subject of fascination, speculation, and serious journalistic investigation.

A Brief History

Skull and Bones was founded by William Huntington Russell and Alphonso Taft after Russell reportedly brought elements of a German secret society back from a study trip abroad. It was incorporated as a legal entity — the Russell Trust Association — in 1856, giving it a formal structure that has allowed it to own property and manage finances independently of Yale University to this day.

For most of its history, membership was restricted to white men from elite Protestant families. Women were first admitted in the 1990s following considerable internal controversy.

Notable Members

What makes Skull and Bones unusual is not just its secrecy, but the disproportionate number of its alumni who have reached prominent positions in American public life. Documented Bonesmen include:

  • William Howard Taft — 27th President of the United States
  • George H.W. Bush — 41st President, former CIA Director
  • George W. Bush — 43rd President
  • John Kerry — U.S. Secretary of State, 2004 presidential candidate
  • Henry Stimson — Secretary of War during World War II
  • McGeorge Bundy — National Security Advisor under Kennedy and Johnson

What Do They Actually Do?

Based on accounts from former members and investigative journalism (notably Alexandra Robbins' book Secrets of the Tomb, published in 2002), Skull and Bones functions primarily as a powerful alumni network. Weekly meetings during senior year involve personal sharing — members are reportedly encouraged to give detailed autobiographical confessions to build trust and mutual vulnerability among the group.

After graduation, the network provides connections, mentorship, and career advantages that can be invaluable at the highest levels of finance, law, intelligence, and government. Whether this constitutes a "secret cabal" controlling world events is a different question — it functions more like an extremely exclusive, well-connected alumni club.

Separating Fact from Mythology

Critics and researchers distinguish between what is documented and what is speculated. What is verifiable: Skull and Bones exists, selects elite members, has a well-documented alumni network, and has produced a remarkable number of influential figures. What is not supported by evidence: claims that it directly orchestrates global events, controls governments, or is connected to satanic or occult rituals in any meaningful way.

The organization's influence is real — and worth understanding. But the reality of an elite alumni network is, in many ways, more unsettling than the mythology.