Smedley Butler Reveals Plot to Overthrow FDR

FDR’s New Deal Alarms Powerful Bankers and Businessmen

In 1933, newly elected president Franklin D. Roosevelt began implementing his New Deal programs to lift the country out of the Great Depression. However, many wealthy bankers and businessmen became worried about socialism and excessive government interference. Behind the scenes, they plotted a fascist coup to overthrow FDR and install a military dictatorship.

Smedley Butler: The “Fighting Quaker” Who Fought War Profiteers

The man they approached to lead the coup was Major General Smedley Butler. Smedley came from a prominent Quaker family in Pennsylvania and was born in 1881. Defying his pacifist upbringing, he lied about his age to join the Marines at age 16 during the Spanish-American War.

Nicknamed “Old Gimlet Eye,” Smedley fought in nearly every U.S. overseas war and military intervention between 1898 and 1931. As a dynamic commander, he led invasions and military expeditions across the Philippines, China, Central America, and the Caribbean to suppress rebellions and protect U.S. business interests. 

For leading Marines in several battles, Smedley earned two Medals of Honor, the Marine Corps Brevet Medal, and multiple Distinguished Service Medals. After high-profile leadership in World War I, he became, at age 48, the youngest Major General in Marine Corps history.

However, after retiring, Smedley became an outspoken critic of war profiteering, Wall Street influence in foreign policy, and emerging fascism in the U.S. He viewed his decades of service with cynicism.

“I spent 33 years as a racketeer for capitalism. I helped make Mexico safe for American oil interests. I helped make Haiti and Cuba decent places for the bankers to collect revenues.”

Smedley supported veterans’ causes like the “Bonus Army” and criticized capitalist excesses, leading to scrutiny from military superiors.

The Business Plot: A Fascist Coup Takes Shape

In 1933, Gerald MacGuire, a bond salesman employed by Grayson M.P. Murphy’s brokerage firm, approached Smedley. Murphy was a Morgan Banking executive who had worked with Smedley years earlier in the Dominican Republic.

MacGuire claimed to represent a cabal of powerful bankers and industrialists opposed to the New Deal. He asked Smedley to deliver a speech at an American Legion convention urging veterans to demand early payment of WW1 military bonds in gold. This would undermine FDR’s abandonment of the gold standard.

Suspicious of MacGuire’s motives, Smedley played along to uncover the plot. At a meeting in the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, MacGuire revealed the group could raise an army of 500,000 veterans to march on Washington D.C. They wished to install Smedley as “Secretary of General Affairs,” essentially a dictator. FDR would become a puppet ruler.

MacGuire told Smedley that wealthy capitalists including J.P. Morgan Jr, Irénée du Pont of DuPont Chemical, Remington Arms magnate Grayson M.P Murphy, and others were prepared to back the coup under the umbrella group, the American Liberty League.

Butler Exposes the Fascist Plot Before Congress

Smedley, believing the plot treasonous, blew the whistle. He told Congress about the scheme in 1934 and the McCormack-Dickstein Committee heard his testimony in secret. 

Though major media dismissed the plot as a “hoax,” the committee’s final report confirmed Smedley’s allegations as credible. However, with MacGuire as the only other witness, no prosecutions occurred due to lack of direct evidence. The names of implicated powerful figures were kept confidential. 

A Decorated Marine vs. Wall Street Fascism

Historians debate how close the businessmen got to executing this fascist takeover before Smedley spoke out. Nonetheless, Smedley Butler’s steadfast patriotism likely stopped a dangerous threat to democracy in Depression-era America.

After exposing the Business Plot, Smedley continued speaking out against war and fascism throughout the 1930s. In June 1940, at age 58, he was hospitalized and died several days later in Philadelphia. Smedley was buried in Oaklands Cemetery in West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania, not far from where he grew up outside Philadelphia. He remained devoted to democratic ideals until the very end of his storied career and life.

Recommended Reading:

1. FBI Records: The Vault – Smedley Butler Part 01 of 02. Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Government.
2. Infiltrating Corporate America: The Business Plot and the Butler Affair. Wesleyan University Digital Collections, Wesleyan University.