The practice of big business promoting war to profit materially was firmly in place by the time Major General Smedley D. Butler wrote about it in his anti-corporate pamphlets. This historical biography explores the life of Butler, a little-known American Marine who exposed an alleged fascist coup to remove President Franklin D. Roosevelt from office. This text is an exploration of the political issues of the first half of the twentieth century and an examination of a complicated, valiant man who shifted from Republican ideals to anti-corporate, left-wing populism.

Researcher Mark Strecker writes about current and historical events on his website, Mark Strecker’s Historical Perspective (markstrecker.com). He lives in Norwalk, Ohio.

Mark Strecker
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 211
Bibliographic Info: 14 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2011
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4807-4
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8477-5
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments vi

A Note on Names and Quotations ix

Preface 1

 1. The Fighting Quaker 3

 2. An Imperial Action 16

 3. Coming of Age in the Marines 29

 4. Uncle Sam’s Racketeer 42

 5. Spy and Soldier 55

 6. Général Butler 69

 7. The War on Drinking 84

 8. Standard Oil’s Man 98

 9. The Mussolini Affair 112

10. An Unsettling Proposal 124

11. The Plot Unravels 136

12. Cassandra 144

Chapter Notes 159

Bibliography 183

Index 193