Top 20 Influential Skull and Bones Members

  1. William H Taft - 1878

    President William H Taft – 1878

    William Howard Taft – Elected President in 1909, William H. Taft was the first Skull and Bones member to hold the office of the presidency. As President, Taft was the first to introduce a Corporate tax rate. He brought up more antitrust lawsuits against corporate monopolies than any other president at the time and negotiated with Railroads to avoid an 11% price increase. Taft also oversaw the expansion of the USA to include New Mexico and Arizona. Taft would go on to become Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. As a Justice, Taft would oversee revisions and up holdings to Child Labor Laws, probable cause laws, and wiretapping laws.


  2. George H W Bush - Top 20 Skull and Bones Members

    George H. W. Bush

    George H. W. Bush – George H. W. Bush served as Director of Central Intelligence under Gerald Ford and was Vice President under Ronald Reagan. Bush restored the CIA from the controversy in the Church Committee, which found that the CIA was engaging in illegal and unauthorized activities. Bush served in the Navy during World War II and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, 3 Air Medals, and a Presidential Unit Citation. As President, Bush led Americans during the Gulf War and negotiated a strategic partnership with Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev.  He may best be known for his “Read my lips, no new taxes” speech while he was a Presidential candidate.

  3. George W Bush

    George W. Bush

    George W. Bush – George W. Bush was elected President in 2000 and served 2 terms, after defeating fellow Skull and Bones member John Kerry in 2004. Bush oversaw education reform which eliminates or reduces public funding for schools with low standardized test scores. Bush guided the country during the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 which started the War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was responsible for the capture of Iraqi criminal and former leader Saddam Hussein. Bush served in the Texas and Alabama Air National Guard and was the Presidential Campaign Manager for his father before becoming Governor of Texas on his way to the Presidency.

  4. John Kerry

    John Kerry

    John Kerry – US Secretary of State and former US Senator, John Kerry ran against fellow Skull and Bones member George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election. As a US Navy Lieutenant, John Kerry won a Silver Star, a Bronze Star Medal, and 3 Purple Hearts. Kerry is married to Teresa Heinz, whose father in law (through a widowed marriage) was also a Bonesmen.

  5. Stephen A. Schwarzman – CEO of the Blackstone Group, Stephen Schwarzman is said to have amassed a personal fortune of $6.5 billion was one of Time Magazines Top 100 Influential People of the world in 2007. He was initiated into Skull and Bones just one year after George W. Bush.

  6. William H. Russell – Russell founded Skull and Bones with Alphonso Taft in 1832. Russell’s family made their fortune in the Opium trade. After founding the New Haven Collegiate and Commercial Institute, Russell would form the Russell Trust Association. The association is still responsible for managing all of the Skull and Bones assets including The Tomb and Deer Island.


  7. Prescott Bush - 1916

    Prescott Bush

    Prescott Bush – Prescott Bush was an American Senator from Connecticut and the Patriarch of the Bush Family that includes 4 Skull and Bones members and 2 Presidents. After serving in the United States Army in World War I, Bush was a member of the CBS Board of Directors with the help of fellow bonesman William Averell Harriman.  Bush was a board member for the first national Planned Parenthood campaign and the United Negro College Fund.

  8. Potter Stewart – As a Supreme Court Court Justice, Stewart was essential in upholding the 4th amendment. Stewart established protections around illegal search laws, probably cause for police traffic stops, and established protections of freedoms from disclosing private information.

  9. James Angleton – As Chief of CIA Counterintelligence Staff, Angleton was appointed in the wake of the Warren Commission’s CIA probe about the Kennedy assassination. Since the Skull and Bones members have deep ties within the CIA, Angleton was the perfect candidate to cover up for his Skull and Bones brothers.

  10. Alphonso Taft – Alphonso Taft was US Secretary of War under Ulysses S Grant. As a co-founder of the Skull and Bones Society, Taft is responsible for building the link that ties all of these influential people to each other. Taft also served as US Attorney General and fathered William H. Taft, who would go on to become President of the US, and a Skull and Bones member.

  11. Henry Luce

    Henry Luce

    Henry Luce – Luce was tapped to join Skull and Bones in 1919. He went on to found the most highly influential magazine empire in the world. Luce founded Time Magazine, Life Magazine, Fortune Magazine, and Sports Illustrated.

  12. Harold Stanley – After co-founding Morgan Stanley in 1935, Harold Stanley ran the company for 20 years. Stanley spoke on behalf of the banking industry and provided testimony against the government accusations of anti-competitive workings.

  13. Morrison R. Waite – Waite served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1874-1888. Waite’s biggest accomplishment on the court came while broadening the scope of government regulation.

  14. William Averell Harriman – Son of a railroad baron, Harriman founded Brown Brothers Harriman & Co employing both George Herbert Walker and Prescott Bush. Harriman owned or invested in Union Pacific Railroad, Polaroid Corporation, United American Lines, Wells Fargo and Company, and Guaranty Trust Company among others.

  15. William F. Buckley

    William F. Buckley

    William F. Buckley Jr – Buckley is considered the founder of the American Conservative Movement in the early 1950s. His media empire included political magazine National Review and television show Firing Line. Buckley is said to be the most important public intellectual in the United States and the preeminent voice of American conservatism.

  16. Archibald MacLeish – Pulitzer Prize winning poet. MacLeish was the Librarian of Congress under Franklin D Roosevelt. MacLeish also helped to develop the Research and Analysis branch of the CIA (Office of Strategic Services at the time). His skill as a writer helped him to succeed as the War Department’s Office of Facts and Figures because of his ability to express ideas in propaganda.

  17. Robert Lovett

    Robert Lovett

    Robert Lovett – Secretary of Defense under Harry Truman, Lovett is considered to have architected the Cold War. Born into a Railroad family, Lovett served in the United States Navy during World War I. In addition to his work in the Defense Department, Lovett also served as Under Secretary of State and was offered a position on the presidential cabinet of John F Kennedy but declined.

  18. Austan Goolsbee – Although his career is only beginning, Goolsbee was confirmed to Council of Economic Advisors in 2009 by congress and became Chairman of the council. Goolsbee has been named a guru for the future by the Financial Times.

  19. McGeorge Bundy – US National Security Advisor to Presidents Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, Bundy was a proponent of bombing Vietnam and starting the Vietnam War. Richard Nixon had included Bundy on his “Enemies List,” which came out as a result of the Watergate Scandal.

  20. Jonathan James Bush – Son of Prescott Bush and Brother of George H. W. Bush, Jonathan James Bush is a successful banker and investment broker. J. Bush and Company is a discreet banking provider in Washington D.C. and works primarily with embassies around the world.