It sounds like something out of the movie, “National Treasure” – the idea that America’s most powerful leaders have allegiance to fraternities cloaked in secrecy and whose members have formed a worldwide cabal that controls societies to benefit themselves. But is it just a myth perpetrated on the big screen to sell popcorn? The answer is yes – and no.

In “National Treasure,” the secret society was Freemasonry. And while there is no evidence that freemason presidents, which includes Washington, Monroe, both Roosevelts, Truman and Ford, share a secret handshake and password to unlock the wealth of the world, Freemasonry is steeped in rituals and secrecy even to this day. And it’s not the only secret society that boasts presidents as its members.

While Harvard claims eight U.S. presidents as alums, their fellow Ivy League school and rival Yale’s secret society Skull and Bones has three – both father and son Bush and Taft. While Skull and Bones was meant to be simply a social fraternal order, their rituals are so under wraps that when George W. Bush ran against fellow Bonesman John Kerry, both refused to discuss the group, having been sworn to secrecy.  

Why is this important? Do we have to lose sleep over the prospect of Freemasons or Bonesmen controlling us through a New World Order? No, but here’s the point: many people choose a school for networking possibilities once they achieve their degree. Showing up for an interview with a resume that lists your school as the school your successful employer is also an alum from is like showing off the decoder ring or giving the secret handshake to gain entry to an exclusive club. Is there any reason to believe that politics, world finance and the military industrial complex doesn’t work the same way?

Think about it. In an era where transparency is needed, but seldom accomplished, hasn’t the time come to let secret societies go the way of the rotary phone and high button shoes? Any society that has to be shrouded in secrecy and promote unflagging allegiance to it and its members is not healthy for a free and open society – whether the president of the United States, your neighborhood teacher or your family physician belong to it. •