About Smedley Butler
Major General Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940) was a United States Marine Corps officer and, later, an anti-war advocate. During his 34-year military 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 was 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 was awarded the Marine Corps Brevet Medal as well as two Medals of Honor, both for separate actions. In 1933, Butler claimed to have been approached to become involved in a controversy, the Business Plot, telling a United States congressional committee a group of wealthy American industrialists were planning a coup d'état to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Butler also claimed the plotters of the alleged coup intended to use him, at the head of a group of veterans, to place the federal government under arrest. The individuals alleged to be involved in the coup all denied the existence of such a plot and the media ridiculed Butler's allegations, but a final report following an investigation by a special House of Representatives committee confirmed at least some of his testimony. After retiring from the Marine Corps, Butler became an outspoken critic of American foreign policy and military interventions, which he saw being driven primarily by U.S. business interests. In 1935, Butler wrote the book War Is a Racket, where he argued that imperialist motivations had been the cause behind several American interventions, many of which he personally participated in, the "Banana Wars" in particular. Butler became an anti-war advocate, speaking at meetings organized by veterans, pacifists, and church groups until his death in 1940. By the end of his career, Butler had received sixteen medals, including five for heroism; he was awarded the Marine Corps Brevet Medal as well as two Medals of Honor, all for separate actions. Haverford awarded him his high school diploma, nevertheless, on June 6, 1898, before the end of his final year.
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