Have you ever heard the story about how a small cadre of America's wealthiest businessmen once conspired to overthrow an American president and install a pro-capitalist dictatorship? It's known as the "business plot" or sometimes the "Wall Street putsch."
And it all fell apart because these mighty captains of industry picked exactly the wrong man to ride in on a white horse as America's new fascist dictator: None other than Major General Smedley Butler.
He's the reason I'm doing this post. Butler also featured prominently in my most recent post - War is a Racket. These two stories belong together. Be sure to check that one out as well.
Also for a much more detailed version of this story, please look at Jonathan Katz's book Gangsters of Capitalism.
The year is 1933. Overseas Hitler and Mussolini are in power. The American economy lays in ruin. Just a few years past the great stock market crash, millions have lost their jobs, banks are failing, farms are failing, families are homeless. There was NO social safety net. No such thing as SNAP, unemployment benefits, Social Security, Medicare. The American people were suffering, starving, dying.
So here comes Franklin Roosevelt with his New Deal. Roosevelt was called a traitor to his class because even though he was a child of wealth and privilege he still believed that the government had a responsibility to help the American public, especially in times of extreme need like the Great Depression. Roosevelt believed that a civilized society was obligated to end poverty, support full employment, and use the nation's bounty to make sure the people of this country had what they needed to survive - also known as wealth redistribution.
Well rich people HATED that.
To the rich, this was socialism coming to steal all their wealth. In posh New York townhouses and Long Island mansions they were absolutely losing their minds. Worst of all, Roosevelt went and ended the gold standard in 1933, which the rich thought was going to spark inflation and shrink their fortunes down to nothing. One well-respected citizen was overheard to have said “What that fellow Roosevelt needs is a 38-caliber revolver right at the back of his head.”
It was around this time that Major General Smedley Butler was approached about maybe taking over the country on behalf of the rich to save capitalism.
Butler certainly had the resume for it. Jonathan Katz writes: "Butler blazed a path for U.S. empire, helping seize the Philippines and the land for the Panama Canal, and invading and helping plunder Honduras, Nicaragua, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and more." You see, during his service in the Marine Corps, it was part of Butler's job description to invade countries and impose capitalist-friendly dictatorships. Called “The Fighting Hell-Devil Marine” or “Old Gimlet Eye” by his troops, his sterling reputation and popularity with the public sweetened the deal even more.
The bond salesman who approached Butler was later quoted, “We need a fascist government in this country to save the Nation from the Communists who want to tear it down and wreck all that we have built in America. The only men who have patriotism to do it are the soldiers and Smedley Butler is the ideal leader. He could organize one million men over night.”
On paper he was perfect!
There was just one problem. The general had attained class consciousness. In fact, even before he retired from the Marine Corps he criticized how the military was mostly used to protect overseas US business investments. That got him in trouble with his bosses. A few years after the business plot Butler would go on to write a book called "War is a Racket," where he described his career working as a "gangster" for capitalism.
So here comes bullet-headed Navy veteran Gerald MacGuire with his pitch to Smedley Butler. The idea was that the General would make a speech to the American Legion against the ending the gold standard. Then he would lead an army of half a million armed veterans on the capitol. Katz writes, "Butler’s veteran army... would pressure the president to appoint a new secretary of state, or 'secretary of general affairs,' who would take on the executive powers of government. If Roosevelt went along, he would be allowed to remain as a figurehead, like the king of Italy. Otherwise, he would be forced to resign, placing the new super-secretary in the White House."
We're about halfway through this story so I'm going to stop here and save the rest for part 2... where you'll learn about some of the big names involved in the business plot - including a man who is directly related to two US presidents.
Let’s make them pay.
The Business Plot Part 1