George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography - Get a Free Blog

Bush's A.U.V. had been humiliating students and teaching anti-Christian rituals since
1877. Fuess was himself a member of one of the Societies. What had happened, to
precipitate this drastic decision?
The great Society crisis at Andover was highly charged, because so many of the alumni
and parents of current students were leaders of government and finance. An ugly scandal
there would reverberate around the world. Whatever really prompted the close-down
decision was kept a tight secret, and remains wrapped in mystery today, a half-century
later.
Headmaster Fuess claimed that an event which happened nine years earlier had moved
him to the decision. This event was duly recorded in the Andover history book:
`` In 1934 one undergraduate had been killed during the course of a Society initiation. A
group of alumni had joined the undergraduates for part of the ceremonies that were held
in a barn on the outskirts of Andover. On the way back the initiate rode on the running
board of a car driven by one of the alumni. The roads were slippery, and the car crashed
into a telegraph pole, crushing the boy, who died in Dr. Fuess's presence in the hospital a
few hours later. ''@s2@s7
But this tragedy had been brushed off by the school administration, with no suggestion of
interfering with the satanic Societies. Was there another, significantly worse disaster, that
happened to Class of 1943 secret society recruits?
When the alumni heard about the decision, they exploded into action. They accused
Fuess of `` fascism '' and attacked his `` star-chamber proceedings. '' A Boston newspaper
headline proclaimed, `` 10,000 Andover Alumni Battle Trustees on Abolishing Secret
Societies. '' The headmaster, releasing no specifics to back up his proposal, said, `` the
purpose for which the secret societies were founded no longer seems apparent. '' His
allies said, quite vaguely, that the Societies `` promoted exclusiveness, '' operated `` on a
special privilege basis, '' and created `` social cleavage. ''@s2@s8
The stealthy shut-down decision, having now become loudly public, had to be squelched.
Andover's Board of Trustees president, Secretary of War Stimson, settled the matter and
kept a lid on things with his familiar refrain that the war effort should not be disturbed.
Whatever had pushed Fuess and the trustees to act, was never disclosed. The Societies
were quietly closed down in 1950.
Secretary of War Stimson made a famous speech in June 1942, to Poppy Bush and the
other graduating Andover boys. Stimson told them the war would be long, and they, the
elite, should go on to college.
But George Bush had some very complicated problems. The decision had already been
made that he would join the service and get quite far away from where he had been. For
reasons of family (which will be discussed in Chapter 7), there was a very special niche
waiting for him in naval aviation.