They Tried to Kill FDR

TRUE STORY: THE PLOT TO OVERTRHOW THE U.S. GOVERNMENT

OPEN

They tried to assassinate FDR before he was even President.

A month before his inauguration, FDR was in Miami, greeted by the largest crowd ever assembled in the city’s history. The President-elect was in a caravan of three cars, in the backseat of a green Buick convertible. Over twenty-five thousand people cheered as the caravan slowly navigated the chaos. There was music blaring, and bright lights as the cars approached the stage where FDR was to speak. The Secret Service was getting unnerved by the sheer amount of people in every direction.

One of those people was a short latino man pushing his way to the front of the crowd. In his pocket was a five-shot, .32 caliber, pearl-handed, nickel-plated revolver he bought at a downtown pawnshop for eight dollars a few days earlier. The man was an unemployed bricklayer. He considered himself an anarchist. And that day he proved it by firing all five bullets at FDR.

By sheer luck - and fast work of the Secret Service - FDR was not hit.

1200 miles away in a Wall Street conference room, a group of bankers realized if they wanted FDR gone, they’d have to do it themselves.

MY BIG FAT DEPRESSION

Franklin Delanor Roosevelt became President of the United States in the middle of a shit show.

Just four years earlier the Stock Market had its worst crash in history. Billions of dollars in market value disappeared in a matter of hours. It’s known as Black Tuesday. Millions of ordinary investors lost their life savings. One day their lives were all set. The next, they had nothing. People panicked. They no longer trusted financial institutions. They lined up at banks to get their money out. Seemed safer to have it in their hands, under a mattress, anywhere but a bank. But Americans quickly learned a frightening fact about banks. They don’t have your money.

Banks only hold onto a small fraction of anybody’s deposits in cash. After all, it’s not like every single customer is suddenly going to ask for all their money. Except suddenly, they did. It’s called a Bank Run. Banks couldn’t meet the demand for withdrawals and thousands of them failed. They shut down. All that money disappeared.

“Isn’t it insured?” you might wonder. The answer is yes, it’s insured — today. Because of FDR. In 1933, when he became President, he established the FDIC - the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. This guarantees the safety of bank deposits. All those folks lined up to get their deposits before FDR took office? They had no insurance. Their money was gone.

The result was devastating.

People stopped buying anything. Which meant industry stopped making anything. And businesses had serious cash problems. All of this lead to widespread job losses and an economic crisis so bad, it’s got it’s own name for the ages: the Great Depression.

The unemployment rate when FDR took office was just over 24%. It’s the highest ever in the United States: a quarter of all adults with no job, no way to support their families, no way to buy lunch. This was the year a song was released called “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime”. And all too often, the answer was no.

This was the America FDR signed up to lead:

People were afraid of what just happened, and what might happen next.

And in his first address to the country, FDR had a message for them: “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

He went on to talk about getting the Government involved in making things better. He talked about Government helping people get jobs. Government helping to use America’s land better. Government helping people in danger of losing their homes or farms. To the average worker, this was a welcome idea.

But if FDR was allaying fear in the average American, he was stoking it in a powerful, elite group. Behind the granite walls of Wall Street. Wealthy men whose last names are also the names of global corporations. Chase, JP Morgan, DuPont. Men accustomed to controlling the economy. FDR was about to take that control out of their hands. And that gave them a new priority: stop FDR.

THE GOLDEN BOYS

The powerful Wall Street cabal focused on one key issue: the Gold Standard. Before FDR, the value of American Currency was tied directly to gold. As in actual, mined-from-the-ground, refined into heavy bars, gold. Why did these bankers and corporate owners like the Gold Standard? It meant their wealth was stable. Government couldn’t screw with the value of the dollar. It was based on gold. The government couldn’t print more money and drive inflation up. The government couldn’t borrow as much as it wanted anytime it wanted. Because there was only so much gold. And the Gold Standard gave this powerful Wall Street group a safe way to invest internationally. The risk in exchange rates were minimized when the currency was based on, well, you guessed it - gold.

But FDR wanted government to help the average worker. Which meant he needed more flexibility in borrowing and spending and printing currency. Bottom line, FDR wanted the United States off the Gold Standard.

This group of powerful men was not going to let that happen.

They included JP Morgan, Irénée du Pont, and Richard Clark who inherited the Singer Sewing Machine fortune. The roster also included significant investors in Goodyear Tire, Bethleham Steel, and General Motors.

With this near limitless financial power, they launched the American Liberty League to fight Roosevelt.

Problem was, events of the time were all favoring FDR’s grand plans. Back when he was nominated as the Democratic choice for President he promised a “New Deal” for the country. Which meant aggressive government action. Some would call it communism. Call it whatever you want, when FDR started his first 100 days in office, the New deal was popular.

He immediately declared a banking holiday to stabilize the financial system. This was followed by the Emergency Banking Act which allowed the government to reorganize and reopen banks with stricter regulations. Congress was behind FDR’s moves, Republican and Democrats alike. A nightmare scenario for the Capitalists behind the American Liberty League. And FDR was just getting started.

So a dramatic decision was made in a secret meeting of the A.L.L. More than dramatic - it was a dangerous risk. If it failed and was traced back to them, they could be put to death. But they had generational fortunes at stake.

The decision? They would overthrow the government.

FASCISM WAS AN OPTION

For the American Liberty League, a socialist democracy was not the preferred form of government. Anything resembling communism meant the end of private property, of making unlimited money.

They wanted control. And there was a form of government gaining ground at this time that was all about centralized control. It was called fascism. In 1933, Hitler had just come to power. Mussolini had been running Italy for a decade. These were strong leaders who promoted national pride and - in the eyes of Wall Street - protected law and order and corporate interests.

The idea that fascism might take hold in America was actually gaining some traction.

You could tell by all the colored shirts.

See, the hot trend in fascist regimes of the day was having all followers wear the same color shirt. Followers of Benito Mussolini were known as “Camicie Nere”, or Blackshirts. Members of the early Nazi paramilitary organization in Germany were called Brownshirts, for the obvious reason their surplus military uniforms were brown.

And America was no exception to this disturbing trend. Plenty of fascist supporters played soldier and preached forced government takeovers while wearing color coordinated tops.

We had the White Shirts. They were a Christian extremist military organization in Chattanooga Tennessee. They wore white shirts with the Crusaders cross and flag on their left breast. Their stated mission was to take control of the government.

The KKK in Georgia were known as the Black Shirts. Yes, they were named after Mussolini’s paramilitary forces. Georgia’s version were white supremacists and self-proclaimed “friends of Germany”.

There were even Gray Shirts. These were led by a New York stock broker and School superintendent bent on killing communist college professors.

The point is, this was before World War II when fascism gained a horrific reputation. In 1933, fascism seemed like an option. Maybe not Hitler’s version. But the American Liberty League preferred a dictator who answered to their interests over FDR’s socialist destruction of all they held dear.

Their first step was finding a dictator who could lead a military force. DuPont’s preference was Douglas MacArthur.

He was a well-known and highly respected military officer. In fact, he was Chief of Staff of the Army. And he proved able to lead troops in protest against the government. In 1932, MacArthur led a group of World War I veterans on a march on Washington DC to demand bonus payments owed to them. He would later become a legendary four star general in World War II and Korea. Clearly a formidable choice to push FDR aside.

But another member of the Wall Street Conspirators had a suggestion. Grayson Murphy was what you call a Morgan Man. That meant he was under the control of JP Morgan. Murphy was Director of two New York banks, both with Morgan partners on their boards. And he was in deep with the nefarious plotting of the American Liberty League.

His suggestion for America’s new dictator?

Smedley Butler.

Okay, that name doesn’t immediately sound intimidating. But General Butler was actually well known and highly respected - an actual American hero.

In fact, by 1933, Butler was one of the most decorated Marines in U.S. History. He’d received two Medals of Honor for his actions in the Mexican-American war and the Haitian campaign. And he’d fought in the Spanish-American war, the Philippine-American War, the Boxer Rebellion, not to mention battles in Central America and the Caribbean. If America was in a military conflict in the past three decades, Butler was there.

But would an American hero entertain a plot to overthrow the U.S. Government?

Murphy insisted there was real potential with Butler. Because the General was an outspoken critic of U.S. Policy. He gave speeches warning of the bad reasons we got into war. This was a man who might be willing to take up a cause against a socialist regime. And unlike MacArthur, Butler had no current position in the government.

The Wall Street Cabal agreed to give General Butler a try. But they could not go to him directly. This could not be traced back to the group of powerful bankers and captains of industry. Certainly not until Butler was fully on board. Murphy would need someone as a go-between, someone who could be smart about approaching General Butler with this bold plan.

Murphy said he had the perfect man for the job.

Turns out, the man he chose was about the worst choice he could have made.

JERRY MACGUIRE

His name was Gerry MacGuire. No, not that one. He wasn’t a sports agent. And he looked nothing like Tom Cruise.

This was 36 year old Gerald C. MacGuire, a $100-a-week bond salesman working in New York for Grayson Murphy.

MacGuire was pudgy, with a young face and a bowler hat. He was born in Rhode Island, served in the War, then ended up at a big time Wall Street brokerage house. He worked near power brokers, but never was one. Until now.

Suddenly his powerful boss was bringing him inside a tremendous secret. Suddenly MacGuire was the key to a historic plan.

He was to recruit General Butler to lead the overthrow of FDR.

But there was a catch.

Murphy made one thing clear: This was no game. It was dangerous work. They were talking about treason. The penalty was nothing less than death.

It had a “mission impossible” ring to it - if anyone found out about the plan, the powerful men behind it would disavow any knowledge. MacGuire would be on his own.

If it worked, well, he’d be part of history. And MacGuire couldn’t help but imagine how rich he’d become.

So he accepted the mission.

And on July 1st, 1933, Gerry MacGuire called the legendary General Smedley Butler and asked for a meeting.

YOU HAD ME AT “HELLO”

MacGuire was told to slow walk Butler’s involvement. Murphy and the Wall Street cabal figured it was a bad idea to ask the general out of the gate to help oust FDR. No way he’d say yes. Instead, MacGuire was directed to make an easier request. He would get Butler to become a candidate to command the American Legion. This was the veterans group that served all the veterans of World War I. As commander, Butler would instantly have thousands of troops at his direction. It was a necessary first step in the bigger plot.

To that end, MacGuire brought along the current National Commander of the National Legion whose term was ending. And together, they met Butler in his Pennsylvania home.

MacGuire said they were there to get Butler to run for commander of the American Legion. They had a speech written. Butler would give it at the convention in Chicago that October.

MacGuire made it clear they were against the present administration’s treatment of the soldiers. He hoped this would spark Butler’s interest.

But Butler’s interest was not sparked. He was only confused by the proposal. He didn’t want to go to the convention, and pointed out he hadn’t been invited.

Not the reaction MacGuire was hoping for. So he added a story that might ignite Butler’s anger toward FDR:

MacGuire lied and said he was chairman of the “distinguished guest committee of the American Legion” and had put Butler’s name down on the list of people invited to the Chicago convention. The list was always run by the White House for approval. Just a standard part of the process. Only this time, MacGuire said something unexpected happened. When FDR saw Butler’s name, the President crossed it off, saying the General was not to be invited.

MacGuire waited for Butler to react. But Butler saw right through the lie. He would later tell a Congressional Committee, “I thought I smelled a rat, right away — that they were trying to get me mad —to get my goat. I said nothing.”

MacGuire pressed on with his pitch. He told Butler, “We represent the plain soldiers, and we want you to come to this convention. We want you to come there and stampede the convention in a speech and help us in our fight”.

This only confused Butler more. Stampede the convention?

He couldn’t decipher what MacGuire was up to. How exactly were they serving the ordinary soldier? It sounded like they were just trying to embarrass FDR. It just wasn’t clear what their goal was.

Butler asked the obvious question: “if FDR is supposedly banning my invitation, how would I even go?”

MacGuire said they arranged a way. Butler would be a delegate from Hawaii. This would be justified because General Butler was Commanding General of the Marines at Pearl Harbor. According to MacGuire, the American Legion would welcome him as the Hawaiian delegate.

Butler made another obvious point: "I don’t live in Hawaii."

MacGuire brushed that aside. “It doesn’t make any difference. There’s no delegate from the American Legion post in Honolulu, and we’ve arranged to have you appointed by cable, by radio, to represent them at the convention. You will be a delegate."

It was all confusing and desperate and strange. Butler said, “I will not go in the back door."

MacGuire pleaded for Butler to reconsider. The whole meeting was going downhill fast.

Then Butler said something simple that rocked MacGuire’s world:

"No.”

YOU COMPLETE ME

MacGuire couldn’t come back to his boss with a “no”. The secret cabal - the American Liberty League - they had other options to lead their coup. But if MacGuire couldn’t recruit General Butler, MacGuire’s part in it was over. It was back to the $100 a week grind. MacGuire wasn’t going to let that happen.

So he went back to the General.

This time, he said all Butler had to do was make a speech urging the convention to support the Gold Standard.

Butler admitted, "I don't know a damn thing about gold."

Again, not the response MacGuire was looking for.

MacGuire figured Butler might be motivated by the huge sums of money behind the effort.

Before MacGuire joined the nefarious plot, he had a couple hundred bucks in his account at any given time. But now he was well funded. In July alone he was depositing between 40 and 70 grand into his account each week. He suddenly had the power to do anything, fly anywhere, buy whatever he needed.

MacGuire wasn’t subtle about it. He opened his bank book and showed Butler page after page of deposits, $40,000, $50,000, some even higher.

He promised Butler he’d be well paid for his speech. Then he urged the General to gather 200 or 300 men. MacGuire would pay their expenses to the Chicago convention. At a pre-determined moment in the convention, these men would demand Butler make the speech.

MacGuire handed Butler a draft of the speech supporting the Gold Standard.

Butler asked where all this money was coming from.

MacGuire just gave a vague answer, that they had plenty of good-sized contributions.

Again, Butler’s answer was a simple “no”.

That was an answer MacGuire could not accept. His future being rich and powerful depended on it.

SHOW ME THE MONEY

MacGuire was getting nervous. He played out the scenario in his head: If he tells his boss the General won’t do it, then what? MacGuire knew too much. Bunch of millionaires planning to commit treason? MacGuire realized he’d be a loose end in a larger plot. They’d have to get rid of him. He didn’t like where that led.

He had to get Butler.

In September of 1933, the General attended a Marine reunion for the 29th Division. One night, Butler left the festivities and retired to his hotel room. And he had a surprise waiting. MacGuire was sitting in the room. The guy would not take no for an answer.

This time, flashing bank statements wasn’t enough. MacGuire threw a bunch of $1,000 bills on the bed.

$18,000 dollars in total.

MacGuire lied and said the money came from contributions the night before and he just didn’t have the chance to deposit it yet.

Butler could have it all if he’d help out.

Butler told MacGuire to “put that money away before somebody walks in here and sees it - I do not want to be tied up with it at all. I told you distinctly I am not going to take these men to Chicago."

MacGuire asked if Butler was going to the convention at all.

Butler admitted he hadn’t decided - so there was a slight shift there. But then the General said, “I know one thing. Somebody is using you. You are a wounded man. You are a bluejacket. You have got a silver plate in your head. I looked you up. You were wounded.”

It was true - MacGuire was wounded in the war. The General did his homework. But he wasn’t done talking:

“You are being used by somebody, and I want to know the fellows who are using you. I am not going to talk to you any more. You are only an agent. I want some of the principals."

MacGuire’s whole plan was falling apart.

He put on his best confident face and promised to send a principal.

HELP ME HELP YOU

Murphy was not happy with MacGuire’s progress. They were still at square one. Worse than that. Now Butler was demanding to meet a principal, before he agreed to the plan. This was just not acceptable. Murphy could not go back to the powerful backers of the operation and ask one of them to reveal themselves to Butler.

MacGuire pleaded. He insisted Butler was shifting in their direction. The General even indicated he might go to the convention.

Murphy thought about all the “principals” involved, and who might be willing to show their face. Then he smiled. Because he remembered something about one of the richest men in the Country, and one of the biggest backers of their plot. Robert Sterling Clark, heir to the Singer Sewing Fortune, had served in the Boxer Rebellion. And so had General Butler. They probably knew each other.

MacGuire asked why Murphy was suddenly smiling.

Murphy said, “we’re sending Clark.”

* * *

General Butler recognized him immediately when he stepped off the train. Turns out, Clark and Butler did cross paths 34 years ago. Before Clark was a wealthy heir, he was a West Point Graduate. And he did a brief stint as an Army officer in China, during the Boxer Rebellion. Of course, the legendary Butler was busy winning the Brevet Medal for his bravery as a soldier in the same campaign. They had an instant bond. Butler invited Clark to his home for lunch. They reminisced about their time in the military. Clark said nothing of any plots or conventions. Not until after lunch, when they sat on the front porch. Then Clark talked about the two of them going to the convention. They could take a private train car and stay in a suite of rooms at the fancy Palmer House. Clark would make sure Butler had a chance to speak.

There it was. It all seemed so simple.

Clark asked if Butler had the speech. Butler said MacGuire gave it to him, and that the kid wrote a great speech.

Clark laughed and admitted MacGuire hadn’t written it. Clark said he paid “a lot of money” for the speech. Turns out, the speech supporting the Gold Standard was written by John W. Davis.

Suddenly, Butler was back in suspicious mode. He knew who John W. Davis was. Everybody did. He was a diplomat and lawyer. And a prominent critic of FDR. He even argued cases in front of the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the New Deal. This was not just some speech. This was tied to a movement against the administration. And Butler was being asked to give it with soldiers backing him.

Something was not right here.

Sensing Butler’s change in mood, Clark wanted to comfort him. He said, "You understand just how we are fixed. I have got $30,000,000 invested in this. I do not want to lose it. I am willing to spend half of the $30,000,000 to save the other half. If you go out and make this speech in Chicago, I am certain that they will adopt the resolution and that will be one step toward the return to gold, to have the soldiers stand up for it. We can get the soldiers to go out in great bodies to stand up for it."

But Butler returned to his familiar position, telling Clark, “I do not want to be mixed up in this thing at all.”

Then Butler revealed he was truly onto them:

“I tell you very frankly, Mr. Clark, I have got one interest and that is the maintenance of a democracy. That is the only thing. I took an oath to sustain the democracy, and that is what I am going to do and nothing else. I am not going to get these soldiers marching around and stirred up over the gold standard. What the hell does a soldier know about the gold standard? You are just working them, using them, just as they have been used right along, and I am going to be one of those to see that they do not use them any more except to maintain a democracy. And then I will go out with them any time to do that."

Apparently, the plot to overthrow FDR chose the wrong candidate to be dictator.

After the lunch, Clark called MacGuire and gave him the bad news: “General Butler is not coming to the convention.”

Clark said he wasn’t going either, and that MacGuire needed to send telegrams to inform all the interested parties.

MacGuire could feel his world closing in.

His name would be in print saying he failed his mission.

MacGuire told his boss he wasn’t giving up.

He would convince Butler to join them yet.

And he became a borderline stalker.

THE STALKER

Months later, Butler made a speech in New York for a fellow Marine running for office. On the train back to his hotel, there was MacGuire. Unexpected and out of nowhere. He said he wanted to go wherever Butler was going. MacGuire made attempts to get Butler to change his mind. Nothing worked.

Later Butler returned home to Philadelphia. MacGuire showed up at his front door. This time he tried to get Butler go to Boston for a dinner for veterans. Butler would attend with former Governor Al Smith.

Butler knew Al Smith was another critic of FDR and the New Deal. Again MacGuire was trying to get him linked with forces against the administration. Again Butler wanted nothing to do with it.

MacGuire was truly afraid his world would come to an end if he couldn’t bring Butler into the plot.

He started talking in more desperate terms.

He told the General, “I want to go around with you, around the country. I want to go around and talk to the soldiers in the background and see if we cannot get them to join a great big super organization to maintain the democracy."

Butler always wanted to help soldiers. But he wanted no part of a “super organization”.

He told MacGuire, “There is something funny about all this that you are doing and I do not want any more to do with it.”

Time was running out on MacGuire: his boss Murphy got in touch with news from the Wall Street cabal. Time to put up or shut up. Get Butler or they will stop funding MacGuire’s adventures.

That’s when MacGuire got in way over his head.

SCENE - ALL IN

MacGuire lied to his boss. He told Murphy and the Wall Street Cabal, Butler was getting interested in their plan. They should keep funding his operations. For a time, his lies actually worked.

Clark kept the funds coming. MacGuire thought about disappearing in Europe. But he kept sending notes to General Butler, staying in touch, still holding out hope. If Butler would jump on board, all of MacGuire’s dreams could still come true.

MacGuire decided, when he returned to the States, he would take a final big swing to convince Butler.

As Butler would later tell the Congressional Committee, they met at the Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia.

MacGuire said he was on his way to the Veterans convention in Miami. He asked if Butler was going.

Butler said no, he wasn’t.

That’s when MacGuire spoke with urgency: “The time has come now to get the soldiers together.”

Butler thought he was talking about organizing veterans around various causes, like a pay bonus or health benefits. So he agreed. But MacGuire went on to explain what he meant - and there was a much darker vision at work.

He said, “I went abroad to study the part the veteran plays in various governments. I discovered they are in the background of Mussolini’s government. He keeps veterans on the payroll; they are his real backbone, the force on which he may depend, in case of trouble, to sustain him.”

Butler couldn’t believe what he was hearing. But he kept a neutral expression. He wanted to hear it all.

MacGuire continued: “Mussolini’s set-up would not suit us at all. The soldiers of America would not like that. I then went to Germany to see what Hitler was doing, and his whole strength lies in organizations of soldiers, too. But that would not do. I looked into the Russian business. I found that the use of the Soldiers over there would never appeal to our men. Then I went to France, and I found just exactly the organization we are going to have. It is an organization of Super Soldiers."

These soldiers were 500,000 strong.

Butler thought this sounded insane. Then MacGuire doubled down on the insane part:

He said, "Now, that is our idea here in America— to get up an organization of that kind."

MacGuire insisted the American Super Soldiers would be there to support the President.

Butler asked another obvious question: “Since when did you become a supporter of the President?”

MacGuire lied and said “Well he’s going to go along with us now.”

Butler could tell MacGuire was scrambling.

Butler pressed him: “What are you going to do with these 500,000 men in America?”

MacGuire said “They will support the President.” Then he finally told Butler the real plan:

FDR was not in good health. He needed help. Butler, backed by half a million Super Soldiers, would be that help. He’d serve as a Secretary of General Affairs. Call it a Super Secretary. The President would have a lot off his shoulders. The next step: they’d use their control of the newspapers to start a campaign the President’s health was failing.

The fact was, FDR was wheel chair bound already due to polio he contracted at age 39. Having a powerful second in command would make sense. MacGuire asked Butler directly: would you be interested in being this Super Secretary?

Butler said he would be interested. But he quickly added his goal would be maintaining democracy. He said, “If you gut these 500,000 soldiers advocating anything smelling of Fascism, lam going to get 500,000 more and lick the hell out of you, and we will have a real war right at home. You know that."

MacGuire insisted they were on the same page. But soon the conversation got around to the rule of succession. In other words, who took over if the President’s health declined so far he had to resign.

MacGuire said the current Vice President wouldn’t want the job. And next in line was the Secretary of State. But this new Super Secretary could take the role of Secretary of State. Along with his army of soldiers.

There it was. Whoever accepted the role of Super Secretary would become President.

MacGuire again asked if Butler would be that person.

Now that Butler saw the whole picture, he said “No.” He was interested in the general plan, but not in heading it up.

MacGuire brought up competitors to make Butler jealous and draw him in. These were real names the Wall Street group was considering to head the coup. Douglas MacArthur was one. Butler wasn’t impressed. He didn’t think the soldiers would follow MacArthur. Then there was Hanford MacNider. He was another notable military officer and diplomat. Butler said he wouldn’t work either - soldiers didn’t like MacNider because he opposed the pay bonus for veterans.

MacGuire ended the meeting by saying he was going to keep up his fight for the gold standard and organize around this super soldier concept.

Then MacGuire left the hotel.

And General Butler was convinced he just learned about a fascist plot to overthrow the government he loved.

His next call was to a journalist. Then to Congress.

He was about to tell the whole world.

THINGS WE THINK AND DO NOT SAY

MacGuire knew he was fucked.

It wasn’t what was in the testimony. It was what they left out. None of the plotters but MacGuire was brought in to testify.

General Butler was a highly respected military hero. So when he told the world there was a plot to overthrow FDR, people listened.

The House Committee on UnAmerican Activities held hearings on the fascist plot to takeover the government. They brought in General Butler and heard his entire story. And they brought in MacGuire to hear his testimony. But that was basically it.

None of the key power brokers behind the plot were called in. Strings had been pulled. Influence worked. The richest men in America were spared any questioning. The whole plot disappeared. And Butler’s own testimony had been sanitized, leaving out key names and details.

MacGuire was cut off from the powerful world of Wall Street. Cut off from the funding. His boss, Murphy, broke contact, clearly upset - MacGuire was the reason their plot had to be abandoned. Clearly, he was being left out in the cold, no one protecting him from what might happen next.

The committee released its eight-thousand-word “Public Statement on Preliminary Findings” on November 24, 1934. It stated, “this committee has had no evidence before it that would in the slightest degree warrant calling before it such men as John W. Davis and others named by Butler as accomplices.”

Clearly Congress wasn’t going to anger the nation’s wealthiest men, not over some crazy story.

It wasn’t for lack of believing Butler. The head of the Committee, Congressman Samuel Dickstein, told the New York Times he “still intends to get to the bottom of a Wall Street plot to put Major Gen. Smedley D. Butler at the head of a Fascist army here.” But with only Butler and MacGuire testifying, the whole thing had no weight to it. Everyone Butler named denied the charges. Nothing had really happened yet in the planned takeover. It was easy for the public to dismiss the whole thing.

In fact, the New York Times did just that. “What can we believe?” asked the paper. “Apparently anything, to judge by the number of people who lend a credulous ear to the story of General Butler’s 500,00 fascists marching to Washington to seize the Government. Details are lacking to lend verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative. The whole story sounds like a gigantic hoax. It does not merit serious discussion.”

But the committee actually concluded a treasonous plot had been confirmed. They stated, “Evidence was obtained showing that certain persons had made an attempt to establish a fascist organization in this country. There is no question but that these attempts were discussed, were planned, and might have been placed in execution when and if the financial backers deemed it expedient.” But no further action was taken. Not a single participant was prosecuted under the Federal Conspiracy act. The Committee’s authority to subpoena witnesses expired at the end of 1934. The U.S. Justice Department launched no criminal investigation. Finally, when the committee asked the House of Representatives to extend its term, so it could continue investigating, the House refused.

The DuPonts and Morgans behind those granite walls on Wall Street would never be questioned. The whole plan just vanished.

A few journalists were not satisfied with the initial findings of the committee and demanded to see the transcripts. They got “extracts” - parts of the transcripts.

Deleted from the official report were all references to the American Liberty League - the very organization launched to run the takeover. Also deleted - the identities of nearly all the alleged plotters.

The only conspirator publicly identified was the low-level Gerald MacGuire.

And he was the only witness who might have testified against the powerful plotters.

The Committee shut down in 1935.

That same year Gerald MacGuire was found dead of mysterious causes. He was only thirty-seven years old.

THE END

One reporter did dig deeper. John Spivak got the government to release the full transcripts of the hearings. But he was only able to publish them in a communist magazine called New Masses. No major newspapers ever published the full details of the hearings. The public would not know of the cabal of banks and investment firms that planned to organize an army.

In fact, there would have been no congressional hearings at all if General Butler hadn’t called the newspapers. It was only when the New York Post and the Philadelphia Record were about to publish stories on the fascist takeover that Congress called Butler to get his story.

If you read the full testimony, you’ll find it’s entirely from General Butler’s perspective. So we really don’t know MacGuire’s personal story - his testimony actually denies much of what happened. He was trying to stay out of jail, so that’s understandable. Our descriptions of MacGuire’s plans and state of mind are assumed based on Butler’s account. The details behind the decision to launch the plot are all based on this testimony as well.

In the end, FDR was never overthrown. Quite the opposite - he served longer than any other President, nearly four full terms in office. After FDR, they changed the rules, so a President could only have two terms before he’d have to move on.

And so far, no dictator has taken over the office.