Business Plot

The plot planned to install retired Major General Smedley Butler as dictator of the United States.

The Business Plot, also called the Wall Street Putsch[1] and the White House Putsch, was a political conspiracy in 1933, in the United States, to overthrow the government of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and install Smedley Butler as dictator.[2][3] Butler, a retired Marine Corps major general, testified under oath that wealthy businessmen were plotting to create a fascist veterans' organization with him as its leader and use it in a coup d'état to overthrow Roosevelt. In 1934, Butler testified under oath before the United States House of Representatives Special Committee on Un-American Activities (the "McCormack–Dickstein Committee") on these revelations.[4] Although no one was prosecuted, the congressional committee final report said, "there is no question that these attempts were discussed, were planned, and might have been placed in execution when and if the financial backers deemed it expedient."

Early in the committee's gathering of testimony most major news media dismissed the plot, with a New York Times editorial characterizing it as a "gigantic hoax".[5] When the committee's final report was released, the Times said the committee "purported to report that a two-month investigation had convinced it that General Butler's story of a Fascist march on Washington was alarmingly true" and "... also alleged that definite proof had been found that the much publicized Fascist march on Washington, which was to have been led by Major Gen. Smedley D. Butler, retired, according to testimony at a hearing, was actually contemplated".[6] The individuals involved all denied the existence of a plot.

While historians have questioned whether a coup was actually close to execution, most agree that some sort of "wild scheme" was contemplated and discussed.[7][8][9][10]

  1. ^ "When The Bankers Plotted To Overthrow FDR". NPR. All Things Considered. 12 February 2012.
  2. ^ Denton, Sally (11 January 2022). "Why is so little known about the 1930s coup attempt against FDR?". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  3. ^ Brockell, Gillian (13 January 2021). "Wealthy bankers and businessmen plotted to overthrow FDR. A retired general foiled it". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  4. ^ Schlesinger, p. 85
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference nyt112234 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  9. ^ Fox (2007). The Clarks of Cooperstown. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-26347-6.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference schlesinger83 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).