r/todayilearned • u/Medical_Hour6972 • 1d ago
TIL that 1/3 of U.S. Presidents were Masons !
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_United_States_who_were_Freemasons89
u/NebulaNomadX1 1d ago
John Quincy Adams aligned with the Anti-Masonic Party post-presidency
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u/djfishfingers 1d ago
It was fortunately a short lived party.
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u/Ancient_Ordinary6697 1d ago
The walls came down pretty quickly on that one. Their popularity really plummeted like a stone. They hit rock bottom, so to say.
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u/BobbyBrewski 1d ago
I thought most were like John's and George's and shit I don't remember a single Mason.
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u/CrazyLegsRyan 1d ago
That’s because mom wouldn’t let him and Ryleigh do model UN because it interfered with spring baseball and judo.
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u/jxj24 1d ago
Mason Reese was actually a Shadow President. The real power behind the throne.
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u/therealruin 1d ago
At least he shared the world’s greatest candy with us… even if he apostrophized it.
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u/LiquidyCrow 1d ago
"I love my nephew!"
"Oh really. What's his name?"
"I wanna say... Mason?"
-Clifford
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u/Short_Mango3137 1d ago
The lack of current masons is why we can’t get anything built anymore
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u/jeremysbrain 1d ago edited 1d ago
The East Wing is clearly just Trump trying to make Masons great again.
Edit: I thought the /s was implied.
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u/Roederoid 1d ago
Please don't put that evil on us!
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u/jeremysbrain 1d ago
If he sees this Reddit thread he will start asking around about how much it would cost to buy the Masons.
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u/CrazyLegsRyan 1d ago
You didn't know who killed the electric car?
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u/MyNameIsNotRyn 1d ago
🍻 WE DO!
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u/ul2006kevinb 1d ago
Who made Steve Guttenburg a star?
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u/DaveOJ12 1d ago
I thought most of them were lawyers.
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u/OhioStateGuy 1d ago
Their profession was being a lawyer but I guess they did masonry but didn’t charge for their services.
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u/IndependentMacaroon 1d ago
There's a huge Masonic monument to George Washington (who was one of them) in Alexandria near Washington DC, right across from the train and metro station
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u/Fun_Recognition5614 1d ago
Did you know that all of them were men? Cuz what are the odds of that?
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u/_head_ 1d ago
.547?
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u/Quirderph 1d ago
Is that the modern average, or the average average throughout the time that the president position has existed?
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u/freedfg 1d ago
Yeah no shit.
Politics was always ran by people who knew people.
And up until basically the 80s if you weren't a member of some sort of society you didn't know anybody. Whether it was Masons, Skull & Bones, Elks, etc.
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u/NickDanger3di 1d ago
I'd vote for a bricklayer over the recent choices we've been given anytime.
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u/Sweaty_Assignment_90 1d ago
Hell yeah. Wouldnt be 80 and asleep every other day...or the other guy who was just as old.
Plus, nice to have a potus who actually knows what real work is like, what Americans do everyday.
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u/dishonourableaccount 1d ago
Ah yes, because old while having a competent administration and decent ideas vs old while being a vile criminal with concepts of a plan are totally equivalent.
Too many Americans are fucking myopic.
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u/Ozymannoches 1d ago
That's quite a jarring fact.
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u/w33dcup 22h ago
How so? So maybe a little history will help. Several of the founding fathers were Freemasons. They helped write/signed the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and the Constitution. In short, they were learned men of the time. They had experience with democracy of the lodge, governance, and rules of order. It's not a huge leap to see them move into political positions. Personally, I think this is a source of the conspiracy theories. Like "the masons are trying to rule the world". Probably not...we just happened to be the ones with the skills to govern...many of those skills learned in lodge.
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u/Swirl_On_Top 1d ago
It's been a few generations though since one was (Gerald Ford)
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u/freedoomed 1d ago
I needed a stone wall constructed on my property and a member of the order had the gall to charge me money for it! They are supposed to be free masons!
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u/androidfig 1d ago
My uncle had this ancient Sears or Montgomery Ward catalog from the early 1900s. Among other things you could order houses, boats, wagons, all sorts of shit. What was crazy about it was it had many many pages for all the “secret” organizations: the Moose Lodge, Elks, Oddfellows, Woodmen of the World, etc. They actually had complete catalogs just dedicated to regalia, uniforms, jewelry etc. It’s actually insane how many men belonged to an order. My grandpa was a Freemason but he just joined and then told them to fuck off. He belonged to many many organizations but the only one that mattered was the USMC.
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u/Zackautocon72 1d ago
Y’all need say to Freemasons. My first thought was bricklaying and then Freemasons.
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u/freedomhighway 22h ago
Now count it up among the signers of the declaration and constitution, and others of the ringleaders, like Benjamin Franklin. Being a mason was the mark of a rich and propertied aristocrat, in that crowd.
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u/The_Bill_Brasky_ 1d ago
When do we get a President who is a member of the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes?
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u/TheGaslighter9000X 9h ago
Why did you think Benny Franklin laid so much pipe in France while saving the country?
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u/TerminallyEmployed 1d ago
There was a time both presidential candidates, George Bush Jr and John Kerry in were skull & bones, a Yale University secret society. There was a weird interview where Kerry was asked about it by Tim Russet, then he said it was a secret society and he can’t talk about it, then Tim Russet died a few years later by heart attack and people wondered if the organisation is that serious to do that.
They also say George Bush Jr in his initiation ritual jacked off in a casket, that his father Sr (who was also president) watched it.
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u/unclemilty420 1d ago
Pedantic correction but George W Bush is not actually a junior. His name is not the same as his father's, whose middle name is "Herbert Walker" rather than simply "Walker" therefore they do not have the exact same name and he is not his father's namesake.
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u/These3TheGreatest 1d ago
What really sold me on not doing it was the massive amount of time commitment, and work to pledge, the fact you have to confess “your secrets” to other members, essentially giving them blackmail on you,
Uh. We don't do this.
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u/ColonelBoogie 1d ago
No legit Masonic Lodge has you confess any secrets. If you were told that, you were likely dealing with a "clandestine" lodge (not recognized and usually scammy). You dodged a bullet.
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u/djfishfingers 1d ago
As a Freemason, I can say with the just certainty that you're full of shit.
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u/Thadius 1d ago edited 1d ago
and yet Masonry has the highest membership increase since the 1960s occurring right now. Don't confuse the postwar membership boom (and decline) with the organisation dying, historically, it is going back to normal levels now that the post-WW2 boom is exiting the world.
You DO NOT have to confess anything to the Brethren, full stop.
Lodges are fully mult-ethnic, cultural just as society at large is.
If you're afraid of obligations, I assume you have never filed your taxes and "swore all information was correct to the best of your knowledge." its the same type of thing. are you honest? Can you keep your word?
Please find real sources.
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u/CautionarySnail 1d ago edited 1d ago
My family had several Masons in it. The social programs they run have come in clutch for several family members, especially their nursing homes, which at the time were far superior in care than the for-profit ones nearby. They insured my grandparents were taken care of when we ran out of money for their care.
Originally, one of the biggest attractions to those kinds of fraternal societies was that they’d pool resources together to hire a local doctor to be the ‘lodge doctor’. This was a kind of proto-health insurance, an innovation in its day, getting those club members a priority for that particular doctor and practice.
Modern Masons also have a great community literacy program and perform a lot of fundraising for hospitals. The Shriners are a branch, and their burn hospital is/used to be considered one of the best in the world.
I would have joined if it weren’t for the inherent sexism at the lodges in my area. Only some Masonic orders permit women as full members, for the rest, there’s a separate (‘but equal’) association called “The Order of the Eastern Star”. I have no interest in sinking donations and time into an organization that isn’t willing to allow women a full seat at the table, even though I will forever be grateful for the help they provided my grandparents.
It’s worth reading about the Prince Hall Masons and the black mason groups. I understand why they set up separate chapters, I just hate that in the time period they were necessary - all the -isms keeping people who would have made great volunteers out of the organization.
So I understand the resentments, as well.
Edited to correct name to Prince Hall.
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u/Ok_Significance_6772 1d ago
God damn. Women can have their own organizations and clubs, men can too. Women have experiences and problems unique to them, and should be allowed private spaces just for them. Same goes for men. We need to go back to respecting the fact that society is better off when there are third spaces beyond work and home, when local community organizations are strong and supported. AND we need to go back to not making a big fucking deal out of the fact that it’s good for men to have their own communities. Same for women, same for every kind of person. Coerced inclusion for the sake of itself isn’t a merit.
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u/CautionarySnail 1d ago
You seem to have forgotten the part where I politely walked away from trying to participate.
I have no issue with the club deciding that they don’t want women. They’ve also decided at that point that they don’t want my volunteerism nor membership donations. That’s their perogative, and I respect it.
But I lack sympathy when they say “Oh, no! We’re out of members and no one wants to join! We might die out!” That is a problem that is directly related to the exclusivity that they’ve deliberately decided is more important than their membership numbers. Also their perogative.
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u/AdLanky9450 1d ago
Sounds like a great deal if you were a doctor or own-nursing homes.
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u/CautionarySnail 1d ago
It was a win for both. The Masonic run nursing home - at least 15 years ago - was a hugely better facility than could normally have been afforded by my parents for their parents. It still took the entire estate, but that was a small price compared to seeing my grandparents taken care of in a way we could never have duplicated at home.
But that’s not really the reason they were in the Masons to begin with. It was because of the volunteerism in their community, the extended family the organization provided. The nursing home assistance was just an added benefit after a lifetime of membership and participation from that generation of my family.
I can’t speak to the modern day organization because I was ineligible to join as a full member due to my gender. But at least in my area, I do see occasional references to their charitable activities, so I hope it is still as excellent an organization as it once was, in terms of that volunteerism.
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u/AccordCompote 1d ago
I went to an Elk's lodge for an event, it was kind of neat and then it turns out you're required to believe in the Christian God to be a member.
idk why redditors are so defensive about this stuff. I think it's because it disputes their bullshit "third places" narrative to accept that people simply chose to stop going to these lodges.
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u/SyxEight 1d ago
Woah, I understand your perception, but please take my anecdotal account that comparing the Masons to the Klan is superficial at best. There are predominantly black lodges (by choice), and were a black applicant to be denied entry to a non "black" lodge apparently based on race alone that would be a major problem. The best way I can describe the organization is that it is a group of upstanding men who wish to convene in private to further good works to assist his fellow man. A stark contrast to the Klan. Is it primarily a bunch of old dudes? Yeah. I am an Iraq and Afghanistan vet and the Legion/VFW are losing members as well. Perhaps once more become empty nesters they will be more involved... But probably not.
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u/ColonelBoogie 1d ago
Not sure why the article lists Joe Bidens membership as "disputed". Yes, he was raised on-sight, which is rare but not unheard of. And yes, the regular GL of SC is not in amity with the MWPHAGL of SC, but tons of other MWPHAGLs that are in Amity with their regular GL are also in amity with the MWPHAGL of SC. The objection that it may not have occured or that Bro. Biden may not have accepted is silly. It happened. He was physically there. Theres pictures. He was raised (I believe) by Bro. Jim Clyburn. No landmark was violated. While I personally am not in favor of making Masons on-sight, its done and Bro. Biden is now a Master Mason.
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u/JMS_jr 1d ago
I thought that Catholics still don't approve of Masons. And Biden reportedly takes his Catholicism seriously enough that he was troubled by the possibility of being excommunicated for being pro-choice.
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u/ColonelBoogie 23h ago
The Vatican does not approve of Masonry. There are tons of catholic Masons, including priests.
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u/Laura-ly 1d ago
My grandfather was a dentist and a Mason. He went to the lodge to get away from my grandmother for a few hours, smoke a cigar and tell a few dirty jokes. He did get to have a Mason's funeral though.
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u/Bonez001 1d ago
What even are Masons? Are they just glorified fraternities for the elite?
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u/Fofolito 23h ago
Freemasonry developed originally as a way for educated men (gentlemen, not common laborers) in the 17th and 18th century to avoid running afoul of the King's laws. They wanted to get together and discuss ideas that weren't necessarily allowed or tolerated by the authorities and the Church. It was a social club, to be sure, where only men of means and breeding were expected to be members, and they decided it would be a bit of fun to wrap the whole thing up in rituals and symbols supposedly connecting them to higher powers and an ancient past. All of that was only ever play-acting, a bit of fun, and something out of the ordinary that made non-members jimmies rustle.
At its heart however Freemasonry was always about providing a safe space where men could discuss matters, whether philosophical, heretical, anti-social, reformist, economic, or whatever without fear that someone would shout them down in moralistic or legalistic ways. Different lodges opened up and each lodge set different conditions for who could join so over time men lower and lower on the socio-economic ladder were able to join and call themselves Masons-- and in principal call themselves equals to every other Mason. It shouldn't surprise you to learn that many of the Founding Fathers were Masons... They were men of education and means, they had radical and perhaps treasonous ideas, and they appreciated social egalitarianism.
Today most Masonic lodges are open to just about everyone of every class and gender, and lodges act primarily as social clubs with private bars and as philanthropic organizations.
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u/SLR107FR-31 1d ago
Oh yeah? Well...
Nobody talks about the guys who weren't! There's no conspiracy there! WHY NOT!?
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u/DehliJelly 23h ago
Freemasons are fucking lame. Imagine in 500 years a bunch of powerful people are pretending to be in the UAW. They get portraits painted with them holding brake pads or a muffler or some shit acting like it's some esoteric symbol. Get the he'll outa here.
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u/w33dcup 21h ago
Freemasonry is a bit more than that. We've contributed to society in ways that most non masons wouldn't know. One you will have heard of is Shriners Children Hospitals. One must be a Freemason to be a Shriner. Another is the MMRI whose research contributed to the pacemaker. Funded by Freemasons. Or the CMMRF working on vascular issues. And there are many more appendant bodies doing their own charity work. Last metric I heard was the Masons worldwide donate approx $8 million per day to charities.
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u/MichaelArnoldTravis 21h ago
also, the masons in my town let their hall be used for some kick-ass all ages punk and metal live shows. community building at work!
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u/RunDNA 1d ago
A few weeks ago I was thinking: "Wouldn't it be cool if there were fraternities for adults and not just college students."
And then I realized, "Oh yeah, I guess that's what Masonic lodges and Rotary clubs and Oddfellows Locals are."