by Christopher Hodapp
On Sunday, January 19, 2025, MW Victor C. Major, Grand Master of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of South Carolina, made then-President Joe Biden a Master Mason "at sight" in a private ceremony in Washington, D.C., "in recognition of his outstanding service to the United States of America."
It would seem that this extraordinary action makes Joe Biden officially the 15th American President who has received the degrees of Freemasonry, as well as the first Prince Hall Affiliated U.S. President.
Online discussions among Masons have been heated all week over this story, and unfortunately, most have improperly revolved around diametrically opposed political opinions concerning Mr. Biden himself, rather than any possible Masonic jurisprudence discussions.
Making a Mason "at sight" (or "on sight" as it is sometimes expressed) is a right of grand masters dating to at least as early as the 1730s and was defended by Laurence Demott when the so-called 'Antients' grand lodge was formed in England in the 1770s. The details even then were undefined, but it is generally interpreted as a method of conferring the degrees of Freemasonry in an accelerated manner. In most cases, that means the candidate witnesses each of the three degrees, performed in full in a temporary or 'occasional' lodge, without having to demonstrate his proficiency before continuing on to the next. Interestingly, when Albert Mackey first baked up his list of so-called 'landmarks' that were never widely adopted in or outside of the U.S., he made 'making a Mason at sight' his 8th landmark. But because the actual practice itself has never been widely accepted, nor uniformly defined, there is obviously great leeway in what a grand master can and cannot do, based on the limitations of the laws within his own jurisdiction. The practice has been hotly debated in Masonic jurisprudence for almost three centuries, and is, at the very least, controversial.
Another question that arises is whether Joe Biden could even remotely be considered under the jurisdiction of South Carolina - mainstream, Prince Hall, or otherwise. He's never lived there in his life, certainly isn't currently a resident, and the conferral of membership took place in Washington D.C., not South Carolina.
With all of those Masonic qualifiers out of the way (and disregarding any possible partisan political objections to Mr. Biden by Masons among the rank and file members of the MWPHGL of South Carolina), this development presents a curious problem for Masonic chroniclers. Namely, the MWPHGL of South Carolina is not recognized as regular by any so-called mainstream U.S. grand lodge, the United Grand Lodge of England, or any other major regular, recognized Masonic jurisdiction. So, the semantic (and arguably technical) question is, does this really count as legitimate? (See recognition map below.)
The Conference of Grand Masters Prince Hall Masons (which does count the MWPHGL of South Carolina as a recognized member of their conference) posted this story on their website this past week. So as far as the Prince Hall Affiliated world is concerned, Mr. Biden is legitimately a Prince Hall Mason. But outside of their Conference, it's doubtful any regular Masons would accept this action and confidently list him as the 15th Masonic President of the United States. If nothing else, it will likely require an explanatory footnote.
Below is the official wording of the Resolution of Membership issued by MW Victor C. Major, Grand Master of the MWPHGL of South Carolina:
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