Ronald Reagan, one of the most
distinguished Presidents of the United States, is a part of the organization
known as Bohemian Grove. It is an elite society for rich and powerful men.
Reagan was pictured with others meeting in Bohemian Grove; he was the president
at one point in time, and he was a distinguished member of society (Flock 1).
This evidence backs up the statement because only the rich and powerful are
invited into the Bohemian Grove. There are many conspiracies about the Bohemian
Grove, but let's explore the one that includes Ronald Reagan and how they
decide the presidents ahead of time. He won both of his campaigns by winning at
least forty-four states electoral votes (1). He had a rough childhood his family
was poor, and they moved around several times. Ronald was the second son born
on February 6th, 1911 (1). He lived in Tampico, Ilinois, however, the
family moved to Dixon, Illinois when he turned nine. Reagan was a life guard
from 1926 to 1933, where he saved seventy-seven people (1). World Biography
describes his early career saying,
“Reagan eventually found a job in
Davenport, Iowa, as a sports announcer for a radio station. His skill soon
earned him a position at WHO in Des Moines, Iowa. At the station one of his
chief duties was to reconstruct Chicago Cubs baseball game broadcasts from
reports sent by telegraph (a communication device that uses coded signals to
send messages). In 1937 Reagan persuaded WHO to send him to cover the Cubs' spring
training games in California. However, his real motive was to try to launch an
acting career in Hollywood, and he was soon appearing in the movies” (World
Biography).
In Reagan’s acting career he
received okay reviews, but he did not receive good roles. However, in 1940 he
ended up landing a major role, which ended up making him famous, in Knute
Rockne-All American as George Gipp (Flock 1). In 1938 he became engaged with his
costar Jane Wyman, whom he married two years later (1). They had a daughter in 1941
and adopted a son in 1945 (1). However, the marriage was short lived seeing as
Reagan and Wyman divorced in 1948, making Ronald the first president to have
been divorced (1).
Ronald Reagan was one of our
nation’s most tenacious leaders. Throughout his life people described him as
many things (Flock 1). American Historama says:
The character traits of President Ronald Reagan can be
described as outgoing, friendly, confident, charming, cheerful and
superstitious. It has been speculated that the Myers-Briggs personality type
for Ronald Reagan is an ESFP (Extraversion, Sensing, Thinking, Judgment) with
the temperament of an idealist. An outgoing, fun, unconventional and attentive
character who excels in interpersonal interactions. Ronald Reagan Personality
type: Resourceful, enthusiastic, optimistic, gregarious and persuasive. ("Ronald Reagan")
However, this essay will only go
over Reagan’s charm. He won over the people of our fine country just because of
his charm and his friendliness towards those whom he barely knew.
Ronald Reagan used his charm to win
his elections. His acting career had help him to understand what influenced the
people best and what they wanted most. The people at that time wanted tax cuts.
According to Britannica Reagan was, “promising steep tax cuts, increased
defense spending, a balanced budget, and a constitutional amendment to ban abortion” ("Ronald Reagan"). He
went on to lower the top marginal tax rate from seventy percent all the way
down to fifty percent. He made promises before his election and he kept those
promises. This caused many to want him to be re-elected. This caused him to be
more trustworthy showing that he can keep a promise. This just added to his
charm. His trustworthiness work with his charm to make him somebody people
wanted to stay around.
One conspiracy about the Bohemian
Grove is that the members meet up once a year for seventeen days in July
(Hanson). Hanson wrote a book called Bohemian Grove: Cult of Conspiracy. In
his book he talks about how it is rumored that some members include former
president, astronauts, big corporate CEOs, and even some leaders of the CIA (1).
Hanson talks about how it is rumored that the members worship an owl which is
called the, “Great Owl of Bohemia” (1). He goes on to say that members
perform a human sacrifice to their god, this ritual is called, “The Cremation
of Care” (1). Things just get weirder though as Hanson says:
Stories have come out
of the Grove about wild homosexual orgies, male and female prostitutes being
engaged in what can only be described as extreme sexual games, young children
being exploited in unspeakable ways, up to and including cold-blooded ritual
murder. There are stories involving actual human sacrifice on the “altar” of
the owl God statue. Understandably, it’s all very hard to believe. (1)
It is believed that aside from this that they
are supposedly only male club who decides many matters some of which concerning
who is the next president or who becomes senator (1). They can decide who's in
charge wherever and whenever they want.
A second conspiracy
theory describes the experience of a man sneaking into the Bohemian Grove.
Philip Weis, a reporter, managed to get into contact with one of the most
powerful Bohemians, Mary Moore, and was able to get inside of the Grove during
one of their sessions. Weiss writes, “I came and went on 7 days during the 16-day encampment,
openly trespassing in what is regarded as an impermeable enclave and which the
press routinely refers to as a heavily guarded area” (Weiss). As Weiss talks
about his experience, he states, “I was able to enjoy most pleasures of the Grove”
(1). At first glance it seems his story completely contrasts the conspiracy
of Hanson. However, later he writes, “Then everyone hushed as a column of
hooded figures carrying torches emerged solemnly from the woods 100 yards away,
bearing a corpse down to the water” (1). Weiss starts to see the dark side
of this, at once, beautiful place. Like in what Hanson wrote, Weiss writes that
there are owl statues all around this encampment. An interesting part of the
story is when Weiss talks about what it feels like to be in the encampment. He
writes:
The sense that you are inside an
actual club is heightened by all the furnishings that could not survive a wet
season outdoors: the stuffed lion on top of Jungle camp; the red lanterns in
the trees behind Dragons camp at night, which add to the haunting atmosphere;
the paintings of camels, pelicans and naked women that are hung outside; the
soft couch in the doorway of Woof camp, and everywhere pianos that, when the
encampment is over, go back to the piano warehouse near the front gate. There's
a feeling of both great privilege and rusticity. Bohemians talk about roughing
it, but at a privy in the woods near the river, there is a constantly renewed
supply of paper toilet-seat covers. And the sand at the Russian River beach is
traversed by coconut-fiber mats and rich figured squares cut from the carpets
in the "City Club," the five-story brick Bohemian building in
downtown San Francisco (1).
Much like Hanson, Weiss describes
that there is a ritual named the Cremation of Care. He describes it as,
“intended to put the busy men of the club at ease and banish the stress of the
outside world, but it arouses critics of the encampment because they interpret
it to mean that Bohemians literally don't care about the outside world.
Cremation of Care, they fear, means the death of caring” (Weiss).
In conclusion Ronald Reagan’s charm
allowed him to secretly work with the Bohemian Grove. This is because he had
shown that he could be trusted and the people were charmed by his wonderful
efforts to cut taxes and make their country better than it was before he was
president. Was Reagan on of the countries strongest leaders or was he one of
the most deceptive?
Works Cited
Hanson, Mike. “A Book by Matt Hanson.” Bohemian Grove
Exposed, http://bohemiangroveexposed.com
“Ronald Reagan.” American Historama, 20 Nov. 2018,
http://www.american-historama.org/presidents-united-states/ronald-reagan.htm
“Ronal Reagan Biography.” Encyclopedia of World Biography,
21 Nov. 2018, https://www.notablebiographies.com/Pu-Ro/Reagan-Ronald.html
“Ronald Reagan.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 Nov.
2018, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ronald-Reagan#ref214227
Weiss, Philip. “Masters of the
Universe Go To Camp: Inside the Bohemian Grove.” Who Rules America, 23
Oct. 2018.https://whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/power/bohemian_grove_spy.html
