THEPLOTTO SEIZETHEWHITE HOUSE
Jules Archer
FORWARD
This is the true story of a remarkable American who, during the early New Deal years,was sought by wealthy plotters in the United States to lead a putsch to overthrow thegovernment and establish an American Fascist dictatorship.According to retired Representative John W. McCormack, former Speaker of the House,if the late Major General Smedley Butler of the U.S. Marine Corps had not been astubborn devotee of democracy, Americans today could conceivably be living under anAmerican Mussolini, Hitler, or Franco.An ironic aspect of the conspiracy General Butler unmasked is that few Americans haveever heard about it, or even know anything about the general. As children all of us weretaught about the treason of Aaron Burr and Benedict Arnold, whose betrayals were safelycobwebbed by the distant past. But school texts that deal with the New Deal are uniquelysilent about the powerful Americans who plotted to seize the White House with a privatearmy, hold President Franklin D. Roosevelt prisoner, and get rid of him if he refused toserve as their puppet in a dictatorship they planned to impose and control.There is strong evidence to suggest that the conspirators may have been too important politically, socially, and economically to be brought to justice after their scheme had beenexposed before the McCormack-Dickstein Committee of the House of Representatives.The largely anti-Roosevelt press of the New Deal era scotched the story as expeditiouslyas possible by outright suppression, distortion, and attempts to ridicule General Butler'stestimony as capricious fantasy.Smedley Butler's whole life, however, was proof that he was a man of incorruptiblecharacter, integrity, and patriotism, with a deserved reputation for bluntly speaking thewhole truth at all times, regardless of the consequences. He was named by TheodoreRoosevelt "the outstanding American soldier." The official Marine Corps record callshim "one of the most colorful officers in the Marine Corps' long history" and "one of thetwo Marines who received two Medals of Honor for separate acts of outstandingheroism." He was decorated no fewer than twenty times.
Former Speaker McCormack told the author, "In peace or war he was one of theoutstanding Americans in our history. I can't emphasize too strongly the very important part he played in exposing the Fascist plot in the early 1930's backed by and planned by persons possessing tremendous wealth."The crucial events of the plot to seize the White House unfolded between July and November, 1933, with hearings before the McCormack-Dickstein Committee begun in New York City on November 20, 1934. On November 26 the committee released astatement detailing the testimony it had heard, and its preliminary findings. On February15, 1935, the committee submitted to the House of Representatives its final report,verifying completely the testimony of General Butler.This book may help break some of the seals of silence that have kept Americans fromknowing the truth about that conspiracy. As the first effort to tell the whole story of the plot in sequence and full detail, it may serve as a fresh reminder of Wendell Phillips'swarning about the price of liberty. No American was ever more dedicated to eternal vigilance in preserving our freedomunder the Bill of Rights that the remarkable war hero, pacifist, and Republican democrat-Smedley Darlington Butler.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSI am deeply indebted first and foremost to the immediate family of the lateMajor General Smedley D. Butler-daughter Mrs. Ethel Peters Wehle and sonsSmedley Butler, Jr. and Thomas Richard Butler-for their generous cooperation;for use of the general's private and military papers, scrapbooks, memorabilia,recordings, and photos; and for vivid personal recollections of their father.Sincere gratitude is also expressed to the following persons and institutions for their contributions to my research:Former Speaker of the House of Representatives John W. McCormack, whoheaded the McCormack-Dickstein Committee and who answered all myquestions about the hearings he held during which General Butler testifiedabout the conspiracy.General David M. Shoup, retired commandant of the United States MarineCorps, who served under General Butler in China and who shared some of hisreminiscences with me.George Seldes, whose newsletter In Fact and books 1000 Americans and Facts
and Fascism gave me my first inklings of the conspiracy many years ago andwho generously helped me with my research efforts.John L. Spivak, former foreign correspondent for International News Service,who rendered invaluable cooperation by answering all my questions andgenerously permitting me to quote from his own fascinating reminiscences, AMan in His Time, in which he relates how he was able to thwart efforts tosuppress important names involved in the conspiracy.Senator Job Javits and Representative Hamilton Fish, Jr., who assisted me inobtaining copies of the testimony at the conspiracy hearings of theMcCormack-Dickstein Committee.E. Z. Dimitman, former executive editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer and closefriend of General Butler's, who shared his reminiscences of the general.Jerry Doyle, Philadelphia Daily News staff artist, who helped me locate oldfriends of the general's.Jesse Laventhol, Philadelphia newsman, confidant, and press secretary for thegeneral's Senate campaign, now retired, who explained some of the behind-the-scenes political factors.Tom O'Neil, former city editor of the Philadelphia Record at the time of theconspiracy, who helped put some of the pieces of the puzzle together.William J. Stewart, Acting Director, National Archives and Records Service,Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, who guided me through the Roosevelt papers inlocating material pertaining to General Butler and helped me identify sources.Mary Schutz and Charlotte Wright, of the Mid-Hudson Library System,Poughkeepsie, New York, who obtained for me rare and hard-to-get researchon the conspiracy from universities and public libraries all over the East Coast;James Brock, Ethel Tornapore, and Jane McGarvey, of Adriance Library inPoughkeepsie; the Starr Institute Library, Rhinebeck, New York; Neda M.Westlake, Curator, Rare Book Collection, Charles Patterson Van Pelt Library,University of Pennsylvania; and Mary Lou Alm, of the Pine Plains, New York,Library.Colonel F. C. Caldwell, U.S. Marine Corps (retired), director of Marine CorpsHistory, Historical Division, who gave me valuable research leads and provided
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