The Business Plot

A retired Marine general testified under oath to Congress that wealthy businessmen tried to recruit him to lead a fascist coup against FDR — and a congressional committee said his account checked out.

In 1933, retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler testified before Congress that a group of wealthy businessmen had approached him to lead an armed veterans' organization intended to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt and install a fascist-style government. A congressional committee found evidence supporting parts of his account, though no one was ever prosecuted.

✓documented

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Quick facts

→Smedley Butler was one of the most decorated and popular military figures in America at the time, a two-time Medal of Honor recipient.
→Butler testified under oath before the House Un-American Activities Committee (then McCormack-Dickstein Committee) in 1934.
→The committee's official report stated it had confirmed evidence that such a plot had been discussed and "contemplated," though it declined to name most of the businessmen Butler had implicated.
→No individual was ever criminally prosecuted in connection with the alleged plot.

Entities on file

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Smedley Butler (person)

Decorated retired Marine Corps general who testified to Congress that businessmen approached him to lead a coup against FDR.

→ testified that plotters sought to overthrow → Franklin D. Roosevelt✓documented

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Franklin D. Roosevelt (person)

U.S. President who was allegedly the target of the 1933 Business Plot.

No outgoing connections on file.

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