Smedley d butler biography series
Smedley D. Butler
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Smedley D. Butler, USMC
About the Book
The practice of big business promoting war to profit materially was firmly in place by the time Major General Smedley D. Butler wrote about it in his anti-corporate pamphlets. This historical biography explores the life of Butler, a little-known American Marine who exposed an alleged fascist coup to remove President Franklin D. Roosevelt from office. This text is an exploration of the political issues of the first half of the twentieth century and an examination of a complicated, valiant man who shifted from Republican ideals to anti-corporate, left-wing populism.
About the Author(s)
Researcher Mark Strecker writes about current and historical events on his website, Mark Strecker’s Historical Perspective (markstrecker.com). He lives in Norwalk, Ohio.
Bibliographic Details
Mark Strecker
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 211
Bibliographic Info: 14 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2011
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4807-4
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8477-5
Imprint: McFarland
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vi
A Note on Names and Quotations ix
Preface 1
1. The Fighting Quaker 3
2. An Imperial Action 16
3. Coming of Age in the Marines 29
4. Uncle Sam’s Racketeer 42
5. Spy and Soldier 55
6. Général Butler 69
7. The War on Drinking 84
8. Standard Oil’s Man 98
9. The Mussolini Affair 112
10. An Unsettling Proposal 124
11. The Plot Unravels 136
12. Cassandra 144
Chapter Notes 159
Bibliography 183
Index 193
Smedley Butler
United States Marine Corps officer and writer (1881–1940)
Smedley Darlington Butler | |
|---|---|
Butler in uniform, c. 1929 | |
| Birth name | Smedley Darlington Butler |
| Nickname(s) | "Maverick Marine", "Old Gimlet Eye", "The Fighting Quaker", "Fighting Hell-Devil" |
| Born | (1881-07-30)July 30, 1881 West Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | June 21, 1940(1940-06-21) (aged 58) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service / branch | United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1898–1931 |
| Rank | Major general |
| Commands | |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | |
| Relations | |
| Other work | Activist, official, lecturer, writer |
| In office January 7, 1924 – December 23, 1925 | |
Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940) was a United States Marine Corps officer and writer. During his 34-year military career, he fought in the Philippine–American War, the Boxer Rebellion, the Mexican Revolution, World War I, and the Banana Wars. At the time of his death, Butler was the most decorated Marine in U.S. military history. By the end of his career, Butler had received sixteen medals, including five for heroism; he is the only Marine to be awarded the Marine Corps Brevet Medal as well as two Medals of Honor, all for separate actions.
In 1933, Butler became involved in a controversy known as the Business Plot, when he told a United States congressional committee that a group of wealthy American industrialists were planning a coup d'état to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Butler also claimed that the plotters of the alleged coup intended on using Butler, at the head of a group of veterans, to place the federal government under arrest. The individuals alleged to be involved in the coup all denied the existence of such a plot and the media ridiculed Butler's allegations, but a final report following an investigation by a special House of Representatives committee co .