{"id":203,"date":"2023-10-08T21:50:50","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T21:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesynchromystic.com\/?p=203"},"modified":"2026-04-11T16:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T16:59:11","slug":"10-u-s-presidents-who-were-secret-society-initiates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thesynchromystic.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/08\/10-u-s-presidents-who-were-secret-society-initiates\/","title":{"rendered":"10 U.S. Presidents Who Were Secret-Society Initiates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(And 10 of America\u2019s Elite Brotherhoods)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"U.S. Presidents Who Were Secret-Society Members (Top 11)\" width=\"525\" height=\"295\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZPD1SbQoFDs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>Put faces with names, above!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Preface<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1961, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy spoke to the American Newspaper Publishers Association, remarking, in part: \u201cThe very word \u2018secrecy\u2019 is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn1\">[1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That these comments issued from JFK is interesting for several reasons. A main one is that his life would be publicly and violently snuffed out two and a half years later in what the United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations concluded was \u201cprobably\u201d the \u201cresult of a conspiracy.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn2\">[2]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more, see \u201c10 Reasons to Believe JFK Was Killed by Conspiracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That JFK would direct this message to newspaper men is also intriguing, not least because of post-Watergate-scandal revelations, reported by journalist Carl Bernstein, of collusion between the intelligence community and the press. More on these disquieting disclosures in a future video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I take these \u2013 and myriad other \u2013 tidbits as indications of just how often the American people are kept in the proverbial \u201cdark\u201d about the inner workings of their own government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This can be quickly \u2013 albeit roughly and even playfully \u2013 illustrated by surveying some of the ostensible \u201cpublic servants\u201d who were devotees of various organizations that, well&#8230; let\u2019s just say aren\u2019t entirely forthcoming about the goings on at their meetings. In this presentation we\u2019ll do just <em>that<\/em>, by looking at the top ten Presidents of the United States alleged to have been card-carrying members of secret societies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Caveats<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is intended for educational or entertainment purposes only. No allegations of wrongdoing, on the part of any individual or organization, are expressed or implied. The information supplied herein has been gleaned from public records. Its factuality is assumed. Referenced rankings and statistics are for comparison or illustration and have not been calculated with scientific rigor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Introduction<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to authors Craig Heimbichner and Adam Parfrey, at \u201c&#8230;the beginning of the twentieth century, &#8230;as many as one-third of all Americans belonged to a secret society&#8230;\u201d of some kind.<a href=\"#_ftn3\">[3]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Without a doubt, the largest and best-known of these groups is <em>Freemasonry<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Freemasonry, or the \u201cAncient Free and Accepted Masons,\u201d are bundle of traditionally fraternal \u2013 that is, male-member-only \u2013 associations. The complicated origin story is not without interest and has been the subject of endless debate and speculation. To do it justice, it should probably have its own devoted presentation. But a few brief comments are in order, here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some historians trace Freemasonry, sometimes called the \u201cCraft,\u201d back to various societies of artisans, called <em>collegia<\/em>, that existed in Roman times. These may \u2013 or may not \u2013 have segued into Medieval trade guilds, specifically ones organized for stonemasons. These are craftsmen who have been trained to build, cut, and otherwise work with stone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Allowing for technological developments and stylistic innovations, stonemasons have been credited with construction projects ranging from Europe\u2019s great cathedrals, all the way back to the pyramids of Egypt and even the Biblical Tower of Babel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At some point, approximately during the 17<sup>th<\/sup> century, groups of work-a-day masons began to fellowship with select men who did not have anything to do with stone, professionally. These first \u201cnon-operative\u201d inductees were likely nobility or other wealthy patrons and their admission into the \u201corder\u201d launched so-called \u201cspeculative freemasonry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is a fitting name since much has been conjectured about possible links between Freemasonry and streams of <em>bona fide<\/em> esotericism, such as alchemy, Kabbalah, and Rosicrucianism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And many colorful connexions are asserted \u2013 with varying degrees of credibility \u2013 with all manner of predecessors from Gnostic-heretical groups like Catharism and Manich\u00e6anism, \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026military-religious orders such as the Knights of Malta and the Knights Templar, and other things besides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The official emergence of institutional Freemasonry, as it\u2019s known today, dates to the founding of what was then called the Grand Lodge of London but is today \u2013 after various growth and mergers \u2013 the United Grand Lodge of England. Masonic assemblies are termed \u201clodges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For various socio-political reasons, the order experienced explosive growth and even migrated across the ocean to America where many of the United States\u2019s Founding Fathers, including Benjamin Franklin,<a href=\"#_ftn4\">[4]<\/a> eagerly joined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We highlighted Franklin in the video \u201c10 Occultists Who Were Accused SPIES.\u201d In that place we get into the possibility that was decidedly more satanic than the usual portrayals of him let on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ignoring, presently, the several U.S. Presidents who were members of <em>multiple<\/em> secret societies, we may name at least nine who almost certainly belonged to the Freemasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These include our first head of state, the Revolutionary War hero, George Washington;<a href=\"#_ftn5\">[5]<\/a> \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8230;James Monroe, whose \u201cMonroe Doctrine\u201d arguably became the foundation of U.S. Imperialism; \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8230;Andrew Jackson, the hero of the War of 1812\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026whose opposition to the Second Bank of the United States is largely forgotten, but which loosened the grip of private interests over the nation for 80 years (until the creation of the Federal Reserve System); \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8230;James Polk, who spearheaded the country\u2019s expansion into the south and west; \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8230;James Buchanan, whose legacy was, in part, the disastrous fratricidal conflict known as the \u201cCivil War\u201d; &#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8230;Andrew Johnson, reportedly so inebriated at his vice-presidential inauguration he was nearly unable to recite his oath of office,<a href=\"#_ftn6\">[6]<\/a> who became president after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln; \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026James Garfield, one of four \u201ccommanders in chief\u201d to have been assassinated, and the only White-House occupant to have created a unique proof of the Pythagorean Theorem; \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information on the esoteric importance of Pythagoras, see our dedicated video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8230;Lyndon Baines Johnson, Kennedy\u2019s successor \u2013 allegedly implicated in the assassination by former Central Intelligence Agency asset E. Howard Hunt \u2013 whose \u201cGreat Society\u201d program ushered in the Civil Rights Act and Medicare; \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8230;and Gerald Ford, birth name \u201cLeslie Lynch King, Jr.,\u201d remembered mainly for his participation in the Warren-Commission whitewash and for \u201cpardoning\u201d Richard Nixon who, you\u2019ll recall, had been charged with abusing presidential power and obstructing justice to cover up the Watergate burglary.<a href=\"#_ftn7\">[7]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are also a few others with <em>possible<\/em> masonic affiliations. Depending on the prejudices of the source, these possibilities may be leveraged into affirmations (as with some anti-Masonic authors) or are vociferously denied (as is the standard line from Masonic apologists).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prominent, here are Thomas Jefferson, drafter of many of the nation&#8217;s important foundational documents (including the <em>Declaration of Independence<\/em>), and James Madison, who (alongside Alexander Hamilton and John Jay) helped write the Federalist Papers; \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8230;as well as Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes, both of whom presided over the so-called \u201cReconstruction\u201d era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If we expand our list slightly, we might include William Jefferson \u201cBill\u201d Clinton, born William Blythe III, to bring our count to fourteen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You see, \u201cSlick Willie\u201d is touted as perhaps the most famous past member of the Order of DeMolay (now \u201cDeMolay International\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This group, which is basically Freemasonry for boys, was founded in 1919 and named after Jacques de Molay, a 14<sup>th<\/sup>-century of Knight Templar whose tenure as head (or \u201cGrand Master\u201d) of that military order coincided with its dissolution at the hands of King Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V. High-ranking Templars were accused of assorted crimes \u2013 such as desecrating Christian icons and sodomy \u2013 and many, including de Molay himself, were burned at the stake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The junior masonry named in de Molay\u2019s honor claims to instill values such as fierce loyalty, even in the face of death. It seems to have helped form our 42<sup>nd<\/sup> President, perhaps priming him for his instruction, under Georgetown University Professor Carroll Quigley, \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026in the history of the shadowy Round Table Group, a consortium of \u201cthink tanks\u201d that were ostensibly the brainchild of 19<sup>th<\/sup>-century British colonialist and diamond magnate, Cecil Rhodes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So far, we\u2019ve limited ourselves to men who supposedly confined their fraternal horizons to Freemasonry. And we\u2019re already knee deep in cryptopolitical intrigue!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The \u2018Top-10\u2019<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But there are eleven others who apparently took to oaths and secret handshakes with more enthusiasm. These fellows were connoisseurs of confidential information and the societies that purport to guard it. I\u2019ve loosely arranged the names as a \u201ctop-ten\u201d list, where the entrants are ranked in descending order according to the number of societies they belonged to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Admittedly, though, this list is a bit awkward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Firstly, there are only five numerical positions represented. This is because there are so many \u201cties\u201d \u2013 that is, occasions where a president has the same number of fraternal affiliations as one or more of his confr\u00e8res.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Secondly, I\u2019m not pretending to have plumbed the depths of each president\u2019s membership profile. To put it another way, I may have neglected a few connexions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I wasn\u2019t especially concerned with thoroughness because, thirdly, this list is intended to be on the lighthearted side and doesn\u2019t give any consideration to the possible cryptopolitical \u201cweight\u201d of any of the organizations included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, for expedience, I have only counted ten (or so) secret societies. While the inclusions are, I think, justifiable and representative of the field of options, they are not exhaustive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In other words, the entire list is open to question. So, don\u2019t take it too seriously!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Number 8<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All that said, coming in at \u201cnumber eight\u201d (or, #s 8, 9, 10, and 11), we have a four-way tie among William Howard Taft, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Richard Milhouse Nixon, and George W. Bush who each belonged to at least two, publicly identifiable secret societies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Infamous for his Watergate shenanigans \u2013 which we got into in \u201c10 Occultist Spies\u201d \u2013 \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026Nixon is routinely found on lists of the most hated or worst U.S. presidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One story has it that Nixon \u2013 who was supposedly self-conscious of his humble origins \u2013 was launched into power by the secretive \u201cCommittee of 100.\u201d Not to be confused with the contemporary association of Chinese-American businessmen, the earlier incarnation was allegedly a consortium of rich California Republicans looking to unseat a popular \u201cNew Deal\u201d Democrat named \u201cJerry\u201d Voorhis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As he rose to prominence, Nixon made his way onto the ticket with Dwight Eisenhower. However, revelations that Texas oil men had established a slush fund for him worth about $18,000 threatened to stop his career in its tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He went on \u201cair,\u201d as it were, and delivered his now famous \u201cCheckers speech.\u201d Among other things, Nixon admitted receiving a cute puppy as a political gift but stated that, due to his family\u2019s newfound affection for it, he resolved to keep it regardless of the consequences. The comments saved him and ultimately paved the way to the presidency over a decade later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An interesting side note is that ol\u2019 Tricky Dick himself \u201cjust happened\u201d to be in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Officially, he was there in his capacity as legal counsel for the Pepsi Corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unofficially, well\u2026 there\u2019s a video presentation that gets into the topic, if you\u2019re interested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking of JFK, his inclusion on this list may seem odd given our opening quotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then again, politicians have a generally poor reputation for consistency. As the 15<sup>th<\/sup>-16<sup>th<\/sup>-century Italian Renaissance philosopher Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli argued, political rhetoric is \u201c&#8230;power-oriented in the sense that the orator\u2019s mission was to mold his listeners\u2019 responses and work on their wills.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn8\">[8]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It has long been rumored that JFK was, well&#8230; let\u2019s say&#8230; given a \u201cboost\u201d on election day from certain \u201cfixers\u201d in the Chicago mob. Word on the street once was that JFK\u2019s dad, Joseph Kennedy, made a deal with mafioso Sam Giancana to help get \u201cJack\u201d into the White House. Apparently, someone either forgot to tell JFK, or he and his family decided to double cross <em>La Cosa Nostra<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For, when JFK leveled up, his brother \u201cBobby\u201d Kennedy continued his longstanding crusade against the \u201cOutfit.\u201d Usually pooh-poohed by academic types, this theory has been advanced to explain the spate of high-profile assassinations that seemed to disproportionately affect the Kennedys in the 1960s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perhaps, however, one may be tempted to give JFK a \u201cpass.\u201d For besides his membership in a group (to be discussed in a few minutes) that, by most accounts, was simply a drinking club, his primary affiliation seems to have been with the Fraternal Order of Eagles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This group, initially formed in 1898 by a half dozen theater proprietors, subsequently became more politically active. It claims to be staunchly anti-Communist and claims credit for the institution of the Mother\u2019s Day holiday as well as for campaigning in support of Franklin Roosevelt\u2019s \u201cNew Deal\u201d policies, including Social Security. In other words, the Fraternal Order of Eagles seems to operate fairly transparently \u2013 by secret-society standards, anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Things are a bit different, however, the Yale-University-based order called \u201cSkull and Bones,\u201d which was introduced in the aforementioned \u201c10 Occultists Who Were Accused SPIES.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Founded by Connecticut businessman and politician William Huntington Russell, \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026it conducts its secretive rituals inside a windowless stone building cheerfully named the \u201cTomb.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes referred to as \u201cChapter 322,\u201d speculation abounds that this Ivy-League frat house functions as an American arm of the legendary New-World-Order architects known as the \u201cIlluminati.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In fact, according to a recent edition of Heart\u2019s <em>Biography<\/em> magazine: \u201cIt is speculated that the number refers to the year 322 BCE, when Athens transformed from democracy to plutocracy following the death of the Greek orator Demosthenes.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn9\">[9]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Be that as it may, it is exceedingly interesting that Skull and Bones, with all its bizarre and \u2013 reportedly, <em>sexualized<\/em> \u2013 initiations, \u201cjust happened\u201d to spring up in the aftermath of the William Morgan Affair that precipitated organized anti-Masonry in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The sordid scene unfolded in the town of Batavia, New York in 1826. One William Morgan \u2013 either a disgruntled ex-Mason or a lodge crasher, depending on the account you read \u2013 was arrested on a flimsy pretext. He was subsequently kidnapped by a posse of Freemasons who apparently gained access to him by posting his bail. Like that of Teamster boss James Riddle \u201cJimmy\u201d Hoffa, Morgan\u2019s fate is often said to be \u201cunknown.\u201d But the presumption, partially informed from a deathbed confession of one of the alleged perpetrators, was that Morgan was murdered.<a href=\"#_ftn10\">[10]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The motive was Freemasonic resentment toward Morgan because of a book-length expos\u00e9 he wrote disclosing the secrets of their order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In any event, the first \u201cThird\u201d political party in the U.S. was the short-lived Anti-Masonic Party, established in 1828. So it was, in 1832, during the ensuing anti-Freemasonic furor, that Skull and Bones cropped up in New Haven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Its membership roster is a \u201cWho\u2019s Who\u201d of American finance, industry, and politics. So-called \u201cBonesmen\u201d have included Central Intelligence Agency \u201ccounter-intel\u201d chieftain, James Jesus Angleton, <em>Time-Life<\/em> publisher Henry Luce, and Stephen Allen Schwarzman, the founder of the private-equity powerhouse Blackstone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Numerous other names could be added to the list. But, for our purposes, we draw attention back to two. Number one, there\u2019s William H. Taft, the only U.S. President to also have been a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">William Taft\u2019s father, Alphonso Taft, helped get Skull and Bones going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Number two, we have George W. Bush. Of course, \u201cDubya\u201d was the son of George Herbert Walker Bush, \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026who we\u2019ll get to shortly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both Bushes followed in the footsteps of Bush I\u2019s father, Prescott, who \u2013 in 1917<a href=\"#_ftn11\">[11]<\/a> or 1918<a href=\"#_ftn12\">[12]<\/a> \u2013 allegedly used him time as a \u201cYalie Bonesman\u201d to dig up the skull of the famous Apache Indian Geronimo and whisk it back to New Haven as an ornament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 2004 presidential election pitted Bonesman John Kerry against Bonesman George W. Bush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Number 5<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At number five,<a href=\"#_ftn13\">[13]<\/a> we have a three-way tie. This triad is distinguished for the trio of secret fraternal organizations that make up its <em>curriculum vit\u00e6<\/em>. And it is comprised of William McKinley, Ronald Reagan, and the previously named George Herbert Walker Bush. There are a few highlights \u2013 or lowlights \u2013 from this group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For one thing, we have yet another president (McKinley) who was outright assassinated; \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8230;one president (Reagan) who was almost assassinated; \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8230;and a third (Bush I) who \u2013 at one time \u2013 was the director of a government agency that specializes in spycraft, covet action, and so-called \u201cblack ops,\u201d including assassination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All three were Republicans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By way of a little background, we may turn to the <em>History Channel <\/em>which, in 2012, aired a series titled <em>The Men Who Built America<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over eight installments,<a href=\"#_ftn14\">[14]<\/a> the \u201cdocudrama\u201d staged fictionalized reenactments \u2013 purportedly based on real events \u2013 of portions of the lives of some of America\u2019s \u201crobber barons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The individuals spotlighted were 19<sup>th<\/sup>-century shipping and railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt; \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8230;19<sup>th<\/sup>-20<sup>th<\/sup>-century oilman John D. Rockefeller; \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8230;19<sup>th<\/sup>-20<sup>th<\/sup>-century industrialist Andrew Carnegie; \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8230;financier and Rothschild-banking asset J.P. Morgan; \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8230;and pioneering automobile manufacturer Henry Ford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Episode #7, titled \u201cTaking the White House,\u201d centers on the attempt, by \u201cVanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie and Morgan\u201d to \u201cunite in a bid to buy the White House by striking a lucrative deal with Ohio Governor, William McKinley.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn15\">[15]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the <em>History Channel<\/em>, this \u201cbid\u201d consisted at least partially of a \u201cdonation\u201d of $30 million to McKinley courtesy of the above-named <em>money trust<\/em>.<a href=\"#_ftn16\">[16]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McKinley\u2019s close ties to finance and industry, and his opposition by populist-Democrat and master orator William Jennings Bryan created \u2013 or, at least, <em>cemented<\/em> \u2013 the idea that Republicans are the \u201cparty of the rich.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Further reinforcing this notion has been the tendency of Republican presidents \u2013 including Nixon,<a href=\"#_ftn17\">[17]<\/a> Reagan and Bush I \u2013 to belong to yet another cryptic and private group. In this case, it is one that annually meets in Sonoma County, California, in the shady surrounds of imposing redwood trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Called the \u201cBohemian Club,\u201d it hosts a summer retreat at the eponymous \u201cBohemian Grove\u201d in Monte Rio, some 70-odd miles north of San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Originally founded in 1872 by a cadre of newspaper men, it morphed into a clique for economic heavy-hitters and kingmakers. The \u201cGrove\u201d is an interesting symbol in its own right \u2013 one which I hope to explore in a future installment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But as a literal forest hideaway, it appears to date from around 1901.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This was the era of President Theodore \u201cTeddy\u201d Roosevelt, among whose claims to fame is launching the \u201cconservationist movement,\u201d which reclassified massive tracts of the country\u2019s land as \u201cNational Parks,\u201d making them off limits to developers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8230;<em>Unless<\/em>, that is, you\u2019re among the privileged class. Then you can go ahead and build your magnificent woodland haven in the middle of the John Muir Woods and have the grounds cared for by the National Park Service.<a href=\"#_ftn18\">[18]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Mel Brooks\u2019 character repeatedly exclaims in <em>The History of World, Part 1<\/em>: \u201cIt\u2019s good to be the king.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By some accounts, until Donald Trump took office, \u201c[e]very Republican president since Herbert Hoover [had] belonged to the club.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn19\">[19]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A centerpiece of the \u201cSummer High Jinks\u201d spectacle performed at the Grove every year is a psychodrama titled the \u201cCremation of Care.\u201d It features the supposedly mock-sacrificial immolation of a figure \u2013 designated \u201cDull Care\u201d \u2013 below a humongous wooden owl (whose character, at one time, was voiced by a recording of longtime Columbia Broadcasting System anchorman Walter Cronkite).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more on this conscience-banishing ritual, see \u201c10 Occultists Who Were Accused SPIES.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Number 3<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In third place,<a href=\"#_ftn20\">[20]<\/a> we have a two-way tie of those who belonged to no fewer than four secret societies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here, we\u2019ll recall \u201cRough Rider\u201d Teddy Roosevelt, whose corporate \u201cmonopoly-busting\u201d is reputed to have struck a blow for the little guy, \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026but which resulted in John D. Rockefeller\u2019s net worth skyrocketing to levels it hadn\u2019t hit previously. I won\u2019t hazard any guesses about whether this outcome was foreseen or unforeseen, intended or not intended. It is routinely asserted that Roosevelt took a turn to the left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Indeed, he eventually opposed his former prot\u00e9g\u00e9, Bonesman William Howard Taft, in the 1912 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the Trust Buster failed to obtain the Republican nomination, in the contest that wound up in the favor of Democratic Woodrow Wilson, he created his own third party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officially named the \u201cProgressive Party,\u201d it was popularly nicknamed the \u201cBull Moose Party,\u201d after a bombastic comment from Roosevelt who defiantly claimed that he remained \u201cstrong as a bull moose\u201d after being thrown over for Taft at the Republican Convention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bombastic phrase was typical for Roosevelt. But it\u2019s noteworthy that he was a member of the Loyal Order of Moose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The secret society, now known as Moose International, follows the overarching pattern \u2013 for initiations, advancement, and meetings \u2013 long established by Freemasonry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like numerous other groups, however, it appears to have been primarily catered to men who wished periodically to blow off steam and get loaded. In this vein, it is usually depicted as a rival to another, similar drinking club called the Order of Elks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the mold of social organizations with quirky beginnings, the Elks is said to have begun life in 1868 as a get-together of a minstrel troupe that called itself the \u201cJolly Corks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once upon a time, justifiably or not, the group had a reputation for ribaldry. It was thought that their meetings were occasions \u2013 or even pretexts \u2013 for drunkenness, indecency, and even orgies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This description hearkens to tales of the 18<sup>th<\/sup>-century \u201cHell-Fire Club,\u201d one incarnation of which boasted Benjamin Franklin as a member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We got into this in a little more detail in \u201c10 Occultists Who Were Accused SPIES\u201d and we mentioned it in passing in \u201c10 \u2018Sex-Magic\u2019 Cults.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After the passage of some time, and a dash of remedial \u201cP.R.,\u201d the modern association \u201crebranded\u201d itself as benefit society, under the expanded named \u201cBenevolent and Protective Order of Elks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Minimally, that means <em>insurance sales<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the Elk\u2019s members, at some stage of its evolution, was 33<sup>rd<\/sup> U.S. President, and 33<sup>rd<\/sup>-Degree Freemason, Harry S. Truman \u2013 who, \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026some say, had his early governmental ambitions bankrolled by fraudster \u201cpolitical boss\u201d Tom \u201cT. J.\u201d Pendergast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Michael Hoffman once noted, \u201cGive \u2018Em Hell Harry\u201d \u2013 true to his nickname \u2013 \u201cdid just that\u201d by authorizing the vaporization of several hundred thousand Japanese at Hiroshima and Nagasaki when the United States of America became the first and (so far!) only country in world history to use atomic weapons in war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perhaps it\u2019s meaningful that Truman was also a prominent member of Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, colloquially called the \u201cShriners.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn21\">[21]<\/a> Their presumably once-secret vow, the alleged text of which is now widely available from online and print sources, reads like a blood oath invoking \u201c&#8230;Allah, the God of Arab, Muslim and Mohammed&#8230;\u201d.<a href=\"#_ftn22\">[22]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In any case, their characteristic headgear, a tasseled conical red hat called a \u201cfez\u201d is often adorned with Islamic-esque symbols like the curved sword (called a \u201cscimitar\u201d) and the crescent moon. Some anti-Masons, Protestant Fundamentalists, and others of a generally paranoid bent sometimes fret about the deep color of the hat. Occasionally, it is suggested that it is blood red \u2013 in commemoration of some past, but difficult to precisely identify, Muslim-instigated slaughter of Christians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nowadays, the name \u201cShriner\u201d is perhaps more frequently conjoined with the word \u201chospital\u201d than with anything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Though, to be fair, this talk sometimes invites \u201cMoolah clowns\u201d \u2013 and they can be horrifying enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Who said secret societies were <em>only<\/em> for Republicans? Right, just ask Kennedy or Truman!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sidelight: Royal Order of Jesters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some secret organizations contain <em>even more reclusive<\/em> societies within the larger society. In at least one case, these are nested several layers deep \u2013 like \u201cRussian dolls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Take, for example, the fact that the Shriners only accept \u201cmaster masons\u201d in good standing. These are men who have attained the Third Degree within basic, Blue Lodge (or \u201cCraft\u201d) freemasonry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But \u2013 by invitation only \u2013 a select few Shriners may be asked to join the more obscure Royal Order of Jesters which, by its own admission, is dedicated to enjoyment and merrymaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Jesters were reportedly founded in 1911, adopting for themselves a vaguely sinister totem called the \u201cBillikin\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026\u2013 among other symbols, some of which evince an apparent fascination with death (one apparently shared by other orders, such as the previously named Skull &amp; Bones).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Weirdly, the Billiken isn\u2019t unique to the Jesters. In fact, earlier claim to it may have been made by the Catholic, Jesuit-controlled Saint Louis University, which refers to the Buddha-looking sigil \u2013 and stylized variations, thereof \u2013 as its \u201cgood-luck charm\u201d and mascot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once prosecuted back east on charges of prostitution and human trafficking (with hints of deadlier antics), the Royal Order of Jesters has been investigated for its \u2013 shall we say? <em>excessive partying<\/em> \u2013 by now-absentee researcher Sandy Frost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, as of this recording, an eye-opening piece is readily available at Medium.com, the \u201cblogging\u201d website started by Twitter cofounder Evan Williams. No fewer than two U.S. Presidents are said to have had connexions with these exclusive fun-seekers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first was Missourian Harry S. Truman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The second? Gerald R. Ford \u2013 whose wife, Betty Ford, became something of a byword for alcoholism \u2013 not least through her own struggles and via her eponymous \u201csubstance-abuse\u201d clinic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Number 2<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now we\u2019re really \u201cup there,\u201d as it were, on our list. One, two, &#8230;even <em>four<\/em> secret-society affiliations is small potatoes for our next president who, according to the record, maintained at least <em>six<\/em> such memberships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019re speaking of 29<sup>th<\/sup> President, Warren Gamaliel Harding \u2013 who popularity at the time of his election quickly eroded in the face of numerous, unflattering posthumous disclosures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among minor accomplishments, Harding is remembered for the creation of the Veteran\u2019s Bureau which, through various twists and turns, has become the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Though, it is arguable that the most distinctive things about him were the strangeness of his death and the brevity of his presidency that, nonetheless, was riddled with scandal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In one writer\u2019s bitingly sarcastic appraisal, Harding was \u201c[a] newspaper publisher who became president of the U.S. And gave dirty politics a bad name by surrounding himself with some of the most dishonest and corrupt chiselers of all time.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn23\">[23]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He wasn\u2019t even close to having occupied his office for the absolute <em>shortest<\/em> amount of time \u2013 that dubious \u201caward\u201d goes to 9<sup>th<\/sup> President, William Henry Harrison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, he\u2019s one of ten presidents to have served less than a single full term, for one reason or other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the case of Warren G. Harding, accounts vary slightly. The cause of death has various been attributed to any, or some combination, of the following: cardiac arrest, cerebral hemorrhage, food poisoning, and pneumonia. I plan to spend just a tad more time with this curious story in a forthcoming video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, for now, suffice it to say that Harding\u2019s peculiar demise punctuated a presidency the climax of which was, at least retrospectively, the bribery fiasco known as \u201cTeapot Dome.\u201d The upshot of the affair was that Harding\u2019s Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall, was convicted of accepting money from oil men \u2013 including Harry Ford Sinclair \u2013 to secretly transfer land rights from the Navy to private business interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Well, to be precise, Harding gave Fall control of Teapot Dome by executive order. Then Fall handed it over to Big Oil. I suppose that provides a veneer of \u201cdeniability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe that would be giving Harding too much credit. One source alleged that he spent more time playing poker than governing the nation. Harding hosted regular poker games attended by a fair few of his \u201cOhio Gang,\u201d including \u201c&#8230;Fall, Attorney General Harry Daughtery, [gofer] Jesse Smith, and Veterans Bureau head Charles R. Forbes. After the Teapot Dome scandal, Fall and Forbes went to jail, Daugherty got two hung juries, and Smith committed suicide.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn24\">[24]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Or\u2026was it <em>murder<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anyway, Harding loved his secrets. Like McKinley before him, he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a group whose origins are as mythologized as those of Freemasonry \u2013 from which it may have emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ignoring the surely fantastical claims of 11<sup>th<\/sup>-century beginnings, the Odd Fellows can be documented in 18<sup>th<\/sup>-century England, where it attracted such members as dissident journalist and politician, John Wilkes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilkes was also a member of the previously mentioned Hell-Fire Club, which we covered in greater depth in \u201cTop 10 Occult Spies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Odd Fellows was subsequently associated with the rakish British monarch George IV. In turn, King George had dealings with portrait artist Richard Cosway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cosway was connected to an erotic-mystical circle via English Romantic artist, poet, and Emanuel-Swedenborg enthusiast William Blake\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026whom we discussed in \u201cTop 10 \u2018Sex-Magic\u2019 Cults.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Odd Fellows crossed the Atlantic with Thomas Wildey, who founded a lodge in Baltimore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This North American progenitor initially catered more to the blue-collar set than had its ancestor from London. This explains Harding\u2019s involvement, since he started off as a \u201cworking man,\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn25\">[25]<\/a> selling insurance and doing other odd jobs in his youth.<a href=\"#_ftn26\">[26]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like the exclusive Skull-and-Bones fraternity, the Odd Fellows has \u2013 or had \u2013 a fascination with death symbolism. According to the <em>Washington Post<\/em>, human \u201c\u2026skeletons \u2026reside in closets, drawers, attics and crawl spaces in Odd Fellows lodges nationwide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reportedly, these remains are invoked as emblems \u201cof mortality\u201d during <em>initiation<\/em> ceremonies. According to one member, the skeletons are hidden and only make their appearances when a prospective candidate actually goes through the secret admission ritual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Odd Fellows appear to have derived these practices from the Freemasons \u2013 at least, those of the higher-degree Scottish Rite. In Masonic ritual materials, one can find innumerable references to coffins, \u201cdeath\u2019s head\u201d skulls, skeletons, and other ritual paraphernalia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Commentators as far flung as the 19<sup>th<\/sup>-century Presbyterian preacher Charles Finney and 21<sup>st<\/sup>-century writer John \u201cEd\u201d Decker have asserted that members of the \u201cBrotherhood\u201d go so far as to drink wine from a human skull during the 30<sup>th<\/sup>-degree ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Predictably, this is denied by Masonic apologists, like S. Brent Morris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, the macabre spectacle was given credence by novelist Dan Brown, whose book <em>The Lost Symbol<\/em> \u2013 which Morris admitted \u201cshowed Masons in a pretty good light\u201d \u2013 incorporates the scene into its opening pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Similarly to the Elks, the Odd Fellows were believed to incline toward the Bacchanalian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One aspect of this suspicion was the fact that it was the Odd Fellows, rather than the Masons per se, who were accused of incorporating goats into their outrageous ritualism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This would be an amusing irrelevance were it not for curiously recurring links between goat symbolism and devil worship. Notable mentions include: Aleister Crowley\u2019s rendition of the #15 \u201cDevil\u201d card in the Tarot deck as well as \u00c9liphas L\u00e9vi\u2019s drawing of Baphomet, \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We can\u2019t neglect the related, so-called \u201cGoat of Mendes\u201d or \u201cBaphomet sigil\u201d originally published \u2013 if not drawn by \u2013 occultist Stanislas de Guaita.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reportedly, there\u2019s also an obscure reference, in Masonry, to a \u201cGod of All Things\u201d that later morphed into a \u201cGrand Architect Of The Universe.\u201d Those initials are awfully GOAT-like.<a href=\"#_ftn27\">[27]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Number 1<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But even Warren G. Harding, with his half-dozen affiliations, can\u2019t hold a candle to Theodore Roosevelt\u2019s fifth cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. By my (admittedly rough and unscientific) count, F.D.R. was a veritable aficionado of secret societies, having been actively involved with no fewer than seven of them over his lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Democrat \u2013 in fact, <em>the<\/em> <em>ultimate<\/em> <em>Democrat<\/em> in the minds of his many admirers \u2013 F.D.R. was famously elected for a whopping four presidential terms. Of course, he only served three of them since he died a few months into 1945.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officially, he is said to have died from an \u201cintracerebral hemorrhage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also suffered from diseases of his arteries and heart, and recent medical revisionists have suggested that, perhaps due to his longtime tobacco smoking, he may have died of cancer.<a href=\"#_ftn28\">[28]<\/a> We may have an additional possibility to float in a follow-up presentation. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In any case, and justifiably or not, F.D.R. is credited with helping to bring the United States out of the Great Depression. His so-called \u201cNew Deal\u201d policies enlarged the federal government in the name of economic recovery and future stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He instituted the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, ostensibly to safeguard bank accounts.<a href=\"#_ftn29\">[29]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Though\u2026 according to financial advisor and writer Fredric Mark \u201cRic\u201d Edelman, writing in his <em>The Truth About Money<\/em> (originally published in 1997): Nowadays, \u201c\u2026FDIC \u2026has only $1.25 per $100.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn30\">[30]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FDR created the Social Security Administration as a sort of \u201csocial-insurance\u201d program, including various old-age benefits.<a href=\"#_ftn31\">[31]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not all these achievements were universally acclaimed. Some have proved more lastingly controversial than others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, FDR is remembered for confiscating <em>most<\/em> privately held gold under the guise of rebooting the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, some wealthy gold bugs \u2013 especially (one presumes) those within FDR\u2019s Blue-Blood circle \u2013 were at least partially exempted from complying with the Executive Order 6102. You see, some holdings were treated as collector\u2019s (or \u201cnumismatic\u201d) pieces, rather than as circulating coin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Great Depression itself was a suspiciously selective catastrophe. Noble-Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman was among the more prominent people to call attention to the r\u00f4le of the Federal Reserve in crashing the America economy \u2013 despite the uncomfortable fact that the \u201cFed\u2019s\u201d whole reason for existing was ostensibly to prevent such misery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All this led to the charge, from many of the \u201cright side\u201d of the politic spectrum, that Franklin Roosevelt was either an out-and-out Communist or, at the least, a sympathizer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In fact, it seems that some American industrialists and money men became so fed up, that they attempted to orchestrate a <em>coup d\u2019\u00e9tat<\/em> to remove Roosevelt from power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the basic narrative, which I hope to expound in a follow-up presentation, a highly decorated marine-corps officer, General Smedley Darlington Butler, was approached to lead the American Legion to facilitate this \u201cregime change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">[Video clip of Butler]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That F.D.R. came through the event unscathed testifies to the diligence of his attendant angel. The entire story \u2013 sometimes referred to as the \u201cBusiness Plot\u201d or the \u201cCapitol Hill Coup\u201d \u2013 is a fascinating chapter of American history. It seems to be a part of the complicated crypto-political backdrop for the so-called \u201cJanuary 6<sup>th<\/sup> Riot,\u201d the symbolism surrounding which we sketched in a dedicated video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although we intend to tug on some conspiratorial threads in this tangled yarn in future installments, for now, we return to the fact that FDR maintained numerous secret-society connexions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of these was with the Knights of Pythias,<a href=\"#_ftn32\">[32]<\/a> which organization Roosevelt is said to have joined during his long presidential tenure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Knights of Pythias, instituted during the fratricidal waste that is euphemistically termed the \u201ccivil war,\u201d was apparently \u201cchartered\u201d \u2013 whatever that comes down to \u2013 by the federal government (either Abraham Lincoln or, more likely, Congress).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Its ritualism is based on the so-called Pythagorean ideal of friendship, as exemplified in the myth of Damon and Pythias.<a href=\"#_ftn33\">[33]<\/a> This is just a single example of the abiding fascination with Pythagoras one discovers in esotericism. For examples, &amp; for the reasons, see \u201cTop 10 Occultists of All Time\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026as well as the dedicated \u201cPythagoras.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Knights were founded in 1864 by a U.S. Treasury Department clerk named Justus Henry Rathbone. Rathbone was also a member of the so-called Improved Order of Red Men\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026which F.D.R., some years later, would also join.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The society adopted some of the symbols and vocabulary of Amerindians in a manner similar to the embrace of the trappings of Islam by the Masonic Shriners or \u2013 for that matter \u2013 like the Knights of Pythias\u2019s own Knights of Khorassan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The word \u201cKhorassan\u201d is interesting. It supposedly signifies the \u201ceast\u201d or \u201csunrise.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn34\">[34]<\/a> One author has it that \u201cKhorassan signifies, in the old Persian language, Province or Region of the Sun.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn35\">[35]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It crops up in the romantic lore of St. Louis\u2019s \u201cVeiled Prophet Parade.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And, more recently, we\u2019re told there\u2019s an offshoot (or upper echelon) of the dangerous al-Qaeda organization: an \u201cISIS\u201d-like operation supposedly calling itself the <em>Khorasan Group<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The name is explained as an obscure reference to the same general area that has been the key geo-political node and espionage epicenter for over a hundred years \u2013 and which you can discover more about in the video \u201c10 Occultist Spies.\u201d It was of great interest to mason and novelist Rudyard Kipling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And this leads us back to F.D.R. for whom, arguably, a major preoccupation was Freemasonry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most flamboyant attestation of this is the fact that it was during Roosevelt\u2019s presidential incumbency that the all-seeing eye symbol was placed on the U.S. dollar bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Well in advance of its implementation in the design of the dollar, eminent 19<sup>th<\/sup>-century Harvard art professor, Charles Eliot Norton, labeled eye-and-pyramid amalgam a \u201cdull emblem of a masonic fraternity.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn36\">[36]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are a few other key players in that drama, including FDR\u2019s third-term vice president and mystic, Henry Agard Wallace; Wallace\u2019s one-time personal, spiritual \u201cguru,\u201d the Russian Theosophist Nicholas Roerich&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026to whom we devoted a segment in the previously named \u201c&#8230;Occultist &#8230;SPIES&#8230;\u201d video&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8230;and hearkening back to the Knights of Pythias, FDR\u2019s treasury secretary, Henry Morgenthau Jr. (You\u2019ll recall that the Knights get their start in the imagination of a treasury clerk.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Dr. Robert Hieronymus, a specialist on the United States Great Seal, Roerich likely suggested placing the all-seeing-eye symbol on the dollar. And then Wallace brought the idea to FDR, who simply instructed Morgenthau to use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The upshot is that presidential secret-society affiliations literally stare us in the face whenever we pay with cash \u2013 an occurrence that (admittedly) happens less and less often with each passing day. And, of course, it\u2019s far from the only association between our currency and occultism. See \u201cTop 10 Gold-Making Alchemists\u201d for the magical origins of the serpentine \u201cdollar sign.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Did we miss \u2013 or miscount \u2013 anyone? What order would you have preferred? Feel free to drop us a comment, below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But if you found something of interest, please be sure to \u201cLike\u201d the video and, if you\u2019re not already subscribed to the channel, consider doing so in order to see more content similar to this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you think others might appreciate this content, do us a favor and share the link. And if you have video ideas or suggestions, don\u2019t hesitate to let us know!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Copyright 2023, TheSynchroMystic. All applicable rights reserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a>President John F. Kennedy, \u201cThe President and the Press: Address Before the American Newspaper Publishers Association,\u201d Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, April 27, 1961; online at &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jfklibrary.org\/archives\/other-resources\/john-f-kennedy-speeches\/american-newspaper-publishers-association-19610427\">https:\/\/www.jfklibrary.org\/archives\/other-resources\/john-f-kennedy-speeches\/american-newspaper-publishers-association-19610427<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a>House Select Committee on Assassinations, <em>Investigation of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: Hearings Before the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U.S. House of Representatives<\/em>, United States Congress, Ninety-Fifth Congress, Second Session, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Printing Office, 1978-1979; online at &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/research\/jfk\/select-committee-report\">https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/research\/jfk\/select-committee-report<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a>Adam Parfrey and Craig Heimbichner, <em>Ritual America: Secret Brotherhoods and Their Influence on America<\/em>, Port Townsend, Wash.: Feral House, p. xviii.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a>For his part, Franklin presided over Masonic assemblies both in America and in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref5\">[5]<\/a> According to the official website of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc., the third U.S. president \u201cis frequently, yet falsely, linked to the Freemasons.\u201d (\u201cFraternal Organizations,\u201d Monticello.org, n.d., &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.monticello.org\/research-education\/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia\/fraternal-organizations\/\">https:\/\/www.monticello.org\/research-education\/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia\/fraternal-organizations\/<\/a>&gt;.) No initiation records are extant that would be evidence of the contrary, as is usually pointed out by Masonic apologists (such as S. Brent Morris). Despite these protests, Jefferson is sometimes found on rosters of Masonic presidents. (See, e.g., \u201cMasonic Presidents of the United States,\u201d Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, National Archives, &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.trumanlibrary.gov\/photograph-records\/58-11\">https:\/\/www.trumanlibrary.gov\/photograph-records\/58-11<\/a>&gt;. Notice that James Madison is also depicted on the image.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref6\">[6]<\/a> Amy Wallace, David Wallechinsky, and Irving Wallace, <em>The Book of Lists #3<\/em>, New York: Bantam, 1983, p. 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref7\">[7]<\/a> Jimmy Carter is sometimes listed as a Freemason. However, supposedly, this is based upon a misreading of the significance of that fact that he was sworn into office using George Washington\u2019s Inaugural Bible, which was in the custody of a Masonic Lodge (St. Johns No. 1, New York). Carter is best remembered for brokering a peace deal between Egypt and Israel that concluded three decades of hostility \u2013 but also served as the catalyst for the creation of Baptist minister Jerry Falwell\u2019s \u201cMoral Majority,\u201d which signaled a new partnership between Protestant Christians and the Republican political party. Fundamentalists were professedly dissatisfied with what they interpreted as a betrayal of the Israeli state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref8\">[8]<\/a>Virginia Cox, \u201cRhetoric and Ethics in Machiavelli,\u201d John M. Najemy, <em>The Cambridge Companion to Machiavelli<\/em>, chapt. 11, Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010, &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/books\/abs\/cambridge-companion-to-machiavelli\/rhetoric-and-ethics-in-machiavelli\/9F3D60D530A02EDF192819DB3FC3C40A\">https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/books\/abs\/cambridge-companion-to-machiavelli\/rhetoric-and-ethics-in-machiavelli\/9F3D60D530A02EDF192819DB3FC3C40A<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref9\">[9]<\/a> \u201cSkull and Bones, Yale University,\u201d <em>Biography Presents Secret Societies<\/em>, New York: Hearst Specials, 2023, p. 43.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref10\">[10]<\/a>The confession is from Henry L. Valance, as published in Charles G. Finney, <em>The Character, Claims, and Practical Workings of Freemasonry<\/em>, Cincinnati: Western Tract &amp; Book Society, ca. 1869, &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gospeltruth.net\/1869Freemasonry\/freem_chap2.htm\">https:\/\/www.gospeltruth.net\/1869Freemasonry\/freem_chap2.htm<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref11\">[11]<\/a>Marcus Baram, \u201cDid Bush&#8217;s Grandfather Steal Geronimo&#8217;s Skull?\u201d <em>ABC News<\/em>, Jun. 20, 2007, &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/story?id=3299671&amp;page=1\">https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/story?id=3299671&amp;page=1<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref12\">[12]<\/a>\u201cGeronimo&#8217;s Kin Sue Skull and Bones,\u201d <em>Associated Press<\/em> via NBC, Feb. 18, 2009, &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/id\/wbna29265600\">https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/id\/wbna29265600<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref13\">[13]<\/a>Numbers 5, 6, and 7!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref14\">[14]<\/a>Or, four parts over eight hours of broadcast time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref15\">[15]<\/a>For the quote, available (at time of writing) via a Google search, see: &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=history+channel+men+who+built+america&amp;rlz=1C1UEAD_enUS946US946&amp;oq=history+channel+men+&amp;aqs=chrome.0.0i355i512j46i512j69i57j0i22i30l7.3870j0j9&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8#wptab=si:AEcPFx7344W7I-FdyS_HaKiRPRHW9DfKDEEkRfxriy8TgoDRa69ZGfZQIjCsemp_VNl8HxbR9--Jc26PvlJUYJ3419Wj6u34i4-RRRNnqywV-cPZJYZLgeSqX-E0y9v8E3NQbyGstGBps9sXrC-Im-8F8adJLrRmUNvFjArWMbGl3DD1usg-4AA%3D\">https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=history+channel+men+who+built+america&amp;rlz=1C1UEAD_enUS946US946&amp;oq=history+channel+men+&amp;aqs=chrome.0.0i355i512j46i512j69i57j0i22i30l7.3870j0j9&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8#wptab=si:AEcPFx7344W7I-FdyS_HaKiRPRHW9DfKDEEkRfxriy8TgoDRa69ZGfZQIjCsemp_VNl8HxbR9&#8211;Jc26PvlJUYJ3419Wj6u34i4-RRRNnqywV-cPZJYZLgeSqX-E0y9v8E3NQbyGstGBps9sXrC-Im-8F8adJLrRmUNvFjArWMbGl3DD1usg-4AA%3D<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref16\">[16]<\/a>See, e.g., the episode summary available at the <em>Internet Movie Database<\/em>, \u201cTaking the White House,\u201d <em>History Channel<\/em>, season 1, episode 7; \u201cStoryline\u201d at <em>IMDB<\/em>, &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt18298200\/?ref_=ttep_ep7\">https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt18298200\/<\/a>&gt;. Cf. The 1913 <em>Pujo Committee Report<\/em>, details about which can be found at \u201cMoney Trust,\u201d <em>Wikipedia<\/em>, Feb. 3, 2023, &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Money_trust\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Money_trust<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref17\">[17]<\/a> According to Wikipedia\u2019s summary of the \u201chistorical drama\u201d <em>Secret Honor<\/em>, \u201c\u2026Nixon admits that he has been the willing tool of a political network he alternately calls \u2018the Bohemian Grove\u2019 and \u2018The Committee of 100\u2019.\u201d \u201c<em>Secret Honor<\/em>,\u201d <em>Wikipedia<\/em>, Aug. 27, 2022, &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Secret_Honor\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Secret_Honor<\/a>&gt;; see Donald Freed and Arnold M. Stone, <em>Secret Honor<\/em>, Robert Altman, dir., New York: Cinecom, 1984, film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref18\">[18]<\/a>See \u201cBohemian Grove,\u201d National Park Service, Nov. 7, 2021, &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/places\/000\/bohemian-grove.htm\">https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/places\/000\/bohemian-grove.htm<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref19\">[19]<\/a>Devon Jackson, \u201cBohemian Club,\u201d <em>Conspiranoia<\/em>, New York: Penguin; Plume, 2000, p. 33.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref20\">[20]<\/a>#s 3 &amp; 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref21\">[21]<\/a>Cofounding credits are given to surgeon Walter Millard Fleming, allegedly a Masonic-degree collector almost as enthusiastic as John Yarker, and playwright William J. Florence (born William Jermyn Conlin).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref22\">[22]<\/a>Parfrey and Heimbichner, p. 119.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref23\">[23]<\/a>Laurence J. Peters, qtd. in David Wallechinsky, Irving Wallace, and Amy Wallace, <em>The Book of Lists<\/em>, New York: Bantam Books, 1980, p. 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref24\">[24]<\/a>Wallechinsky, Wallace, and Wallace, op. cit., p. 374.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref25\">[25]<\/a>\u201cJFK and the U.S. Presidents Who Died in Office,\u201d <em>History<\/em> (U.K.), &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.co.uk\/articles\/us-presidents-who-died-in-office\">https:\/\/www.history.co.uk\/articles\/us-presidents-who-died-in-office<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref26\">[26]<\/a>\u201cWarren G. Harding,\u201d <em>Wikipedia<\/em>, Mar. 5, 2023, &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Warren_G._Harding\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Warren_G._Harding<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref27\">[27]<\/a>On the latter, see Parfrey and Heimbichner, op. cit., p. 51.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref28\">[28]<\/a>Barron H. Lerner, \u201cRoosevelt\u2019s Last Days: Did cancer kill FDR?\u201d <em>Slate<\/em>, Nov. 24, 2009, &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/technology\/2009\/11\/did-franklin-d-roosevelt-actually-die-from-cancer.html\">https:\/\/slate.com\/technology\/2009\/11\/did-franklin-d-roosevelt-actually-die-from-cancer.html<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref29\">[29]<\/a>\u201cHistory of the FDIC,\u201d Fed. Deposit Insurance Corp., Jun. 6, 2022, &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fdic.gov\/about\/history\/\">https:\/\/www.fdic.gov\/about\/history\/<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref30\">[30]<\/a> Ric Edelman, <em>The Truth About Money<\/em>, 3<sup>rd<\/sup> ed., New York: HarperBusiness; Rodale, 2004-2005, p. 63. (Earlier editions read: \u201c\u2026$1.22 per $100,\u201d ibid.) The figure may have been updated for the 4<sup>th<\/sup> edition, published in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref31\">[31]<\/a>\u201cSocial Security History,\u201d Social Security Administration, n.d., &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ssa.gov\/history\/50ed.html\">https:\/\/www.ssa.gov\/history\/50ed.html<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref32\">[32]<\/a>Established in 1864 by a school teacher named Justus Henry Rathbone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref33\">[33]<\/a>The story goes that Pythias was sentenced by a tyrant to death for treason. Pythias accepts his punishment, but asked only for the latitude to conclude his personal business. The tyrant only agreed on the condition that Pythias&#8217;s bosom companion, the innocent Damon, submit to arrest to guarantee Pythias&#8217;s return. The tyrant is initially surprised that both men agree to this condition. The tyrant, expecting Pythias to simply disappear, anticipates Damon&#8217;s execution. But Pythias does come back. The astounded tyrant frees both men in admiration of their friendship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref34\">[34]<\/a> \u201cKhorasan,\u201d <em>Wiktionary<\/em>, Mar. 16, 2023, &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Khorasan\">https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Khorasan<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref35\">[35]<\/a> Thomas Moore, <em>Lalla Rookh: The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan<\/em>, London: Hurst, 1817; online at &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/fiftywordsforsnow.com\/ebooks\/lalla\/prophet.html\">https:\/\/fiftywordsforsnow.com\/ebooks\/lalla\/prophet.html<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref36\">[36]<\/a>Qtd. by Gaillard Hunt, ed., <em>The History of the Seal of the United States<\/em>, Washington D.C.: U.S. Dept. of State, Govt. Printing Office, 1909, p. 55; archived online at &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=jUZmAAAAMAAJ&amp;pg=PA55\">https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=jUZmAAAAMAAJ&amp;pg=PA55<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(And 10 of America\u2019s Elite Brotherhoods) Preface In 1961, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy spoke to the American Newspaper Publishers Association, remarking, in part: \u201cThe very word \u2018secrecy\u2019 is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings.\u201d[1] &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/thesynchromystic.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/08\/10-u-s-presidents-who-were-secret-society-initiates\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;10 U.S. Presidents Who Were Secret-Society Initiates&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[213,257,270,272,214,265,258,274,261,259,275,276,277,273,278,263,271,269,266,77,178,267,262,264,279,268,204,260,4,53,256,280,281,282],"class_list":["post-203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alternative-history","tag-american-political-history","tag-american-ruling-class","tag-civic-mythology","tag-conspiracy-culture","tag-deep-politics","tag-elite-networks","tag-franklin-d-roosevelt","tag-fraternal-organizations","tag-freemasonry","tag-george-h-w-bush","tag-george-w-bush","tag-gerald-r-ford","tag-government-transparency","tag-harry-s-truman","tag-hidden-influence","tag-historical-inquiry","tag-institutions-and-power","tag-intelligence-and-secrecy","tag-john-f-kennedy","tag-myth-and-symbolism","tag-political-elites","tag-political-power-structures","tag-presidential-history","tag-richard-m-nixon","tag-ritual-and-initiation","tag-secret-societies","tag-skull-and-bones","tag-synchromysticism","tag-theodore-roosevelt","tag-u-s-presidents","tag-warren-g-harding","tag-william-h-taft","tag-william-mckinley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesynchromystic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesynchromystic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesynchromystic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesynchromystic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesynchromystic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/thesynchromystic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210,"href":"http:\/\/thesynchromystic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203\/revisions\/210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesynchromystic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesynchromystic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesynchromystic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}