Smedley Butler

About the Smedley Butler

Major General Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940), nicknamed the Maverick Marine, was a senior United States Marine Corps officer. During his 34-year 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 had become 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 Brevet Medal as well as two Medals of Honor, all for separate actions.

In 1933, he became involved in a controversy known as the Business Plot, when he told a congressional committee that a group of wealthy industrialists were planning a military coup to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt, with Butler selected to lead a march of combat veterans to place the legitimate government under arrest, similar to how fascist regimes were being founded at the time. The individuals involved all denied the existence of such a plot and the media ridiculed Gen. Butler’s allegations, but a final report following an investigation by a special House of Representatives Committee confirmed at least some of his testimony.

Butler later became an outspoken critic of American wars and their consequences. In 1935, Butler wrote the book War Is a Racket, where he alleged colonialist motivations for U.S. foreign policy and wars (including multiple wars in which he had fought). After retiring from the service, he became a populist advocate, speaking at meetings organized by veterans, pacifists, and church groups in the 1930s.