“War Is A Racket”
“He Enforced the Law Impartially”
“He Defended It Courageously”
“He Proved Incorruptible”
General Smedley Butler. Plaque at City Hall, Philadelphia Pa.
General Smedley Butler, USMC, is probably best known for the phrase “War is a Racket”.
He is far less well know for his revelation of a planned coup against FDR:
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 Franklin D. Roosevelt, with Butler selected to lead a march of veterans to become dictator, similar to other Fascist regimes at that time. The individuals involved all denied the existence of a plot and the media ridiculed the allegations. A final report by a special House of Representatives Committee confirmed some of Butler’s testimony.
But, he is probably least well know as the head of the Philadelphia Police Department:
At the urging of Butler’s father, in 1924, the newly elected mayor of Philadelphia W. Freeland Kendrick asked him to leave the Marines to become the Director of Public Safety, the official in charge of running the city’s police and fire departments. Philadelphia’s municipal government was notoriously corrupt and Butler initially refused. Kendrick asked President Calvin Coolidge to intervene. Coolidge contacted Butler and authorized him to take the necessary leave from the Corps. At the request of the President, Butler served in the post from January 1924 until December 1925.[4] He began his new job by assembling all 4,000 of the city police into the Metropolitan Opera House in shifts to introduce himself and inform them that things would change while he was in charge. He replaced corrupt police officers and, in some cases, switched entire units from one part of the city to another, undermining local protection rackets and profiteering.[37][38]
Ironically – and of current relevance – he was fired for aggressive military style police tactics that violated civil rights:
Eventually Butler’s leadership style and the directness of actions undermined his support within the community. His departure seemed imminent. Mayor Kendrick reported to the press, “I had the guts to bring General Butler to Philadelphia and I have the guts to fire him.”[
Who was it that said that the past is never dead – it’s not even gone?