The 1933 “Wall Street Putsch. JP Morgan's and other oligarchs' coup against FDR

Sound familiar?

TAT readers,

Okay my friends, here’s an oldie but goodie from our history books, that reads much the same as Trump’s and the GOP’s today. It’s a wild story and as you learn more, will better understand why this doesn’t get discussed in history classes. This is another story that validates the old saying, “truth is stranger than fiction.”

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Story background

America post WW I, was full of optimism and prosperity for most Americans. Manufacturing, just coming out of the post war and Robber Baron’s exposure by muckrakers was operating at full-speed. The oligarchs of their day or Robber Barons, were still obscenely wealthy and making more money, hand-over-foot, which greatly expanded the disparity between them and working classes on the farm, manufacturing or otherwise. A mostly unregulated stock market was doing great until it wasn’t, and then it all came crashing down in October of 1929, sending the US and the world into a Great Depression, exacerbated greatly by the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act.

The new money crowd of the 1920s were still attempting to rise to elite levels, but like today, were still hampered by the American caste system, still celebrating Gilded Age old money families as if they were royalty. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is centered around the difference between old and new money. The three straight Republican administration’s of Harding, Coolidge and Hoover, were fairly hands-off with how this oligarchical upper crust of society was managing the economy. They failed to acknowledge any of the warning signs of the imminent depression and this more than anything else, led to the first FDR administration. Americans legitimately placed most blame on the GOP and felt them out-of-touch with working classes. FDR, part of the old money crowd, was attentive to the plight of Americans waiting in soup lines and began the New Deal, creating the social safety nets we have today, like Social Security, unemployment insurance and an endless array of government work programs.

FDR though was molded by family tradition and his excellent, mostly private education, until Harvard. The most influential of his family to mold his political views was none other than a distant cousin, Teddy Roosevelt an avowed progressive and champion of the working men and women in America. His Trust-busting, National Parks, protective acts in support of working Americans, rubbed those in his old-money world, the wrong way. His presidential policies led his high-born critics to say he’d “sold out his class.” He didn’t care and went on to ably navigate the nation through the depression and WW II, until his death early in his fourth term, kept him from seeing the victory over fascism, he’d done so much to make possible.

With this scant background behind us, we can see much the same in modern America, including the ongoing coup by Trump and the Republican Party. In the 1930s though, the old-money oligarchs, quietly hatched a plan for a coup against FDR, allegedly financed by JP Morgan, Irénée du Pont, Robert Sterling Clark, Grayson M.P. Murphy, and Prescott Bush, among other oligarchs. Entering the picture now, is a highly respected, charismatic, Quaker, retired Marine Corps Major General named Smedley Butler. This is where this background part of the story ends, and the coup that Butler shutdown begins.

Onward

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Butler, who at the time of his death in 1940 was the most decorated Marine in history and among several other prestigious awards, also had been awarded two Medals of Honor. His family that had been in America since the 1600s was like most Quaker families, steeped in public service. His father and paternal grandfather had been congressmen, along with other positions in service to the nation. Young Butler would follow in the family tradition of service in extraordinary ways, often to the dismay of senior officers and especially politicians who were deeply in bed with establishment oligarchy. His plain-spoken popularity with his troops and his heroic efforts in support of the VFW, were always about supporting troops and veterans of all services.

Had he not been so popular and highly decorated, it is doubtful that his outspokenness would have seen him acquire high rank. His stubborn outspoken nature would eventually lead to his place in the story of the “Wall Street Putsch.”

"Donald Trump’s elaborate plot to overthrow the democratically elected president was neither impulsive nor uncoordinated, but straight out of the playbook of another American coup attempt – the 1933 “Wall Street putsch” against newly elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt."

- Why is so little known about the 1930s coup attempt against FDR?
- The Guardian
- Sally Denton
- January 2022

Sally Denton of the Guardian from the link in the quote above, does a fine job of telling the entire story and it’s a recommended read. I will for the time and space for this essay, just hit the highlights enough to make the point about oligarchs, fascists and coups.

Butler had been selected by the oligarchical financiers to lead their coup, and especially because how veterans respected and liked him. He was soldier’s soldier and one of them. During the era of the Great Depression between world wars, America was not terribly different from today. Far-right fascist movements like the Klan and the German Bund, a NAZI organization, were popular and opposed those on the opposite side of the aisle, aligned with similar priorities to today’s Democratic Party. Then there was a surge in independents towards socialism. The socialists were not powered so much by ideology as they were motivated for workers rights during the worst depression in our nation’s history. Support for treating workers far better than being offered by greedy and selfish owners of most manufacturing, made FDR’s social safety net policies extremely popular.

Oligarchs who had only twenty five or so years prior had their monopolies and cruel business practices curtailed by Teddy Roosevelt were not happy with workers or FDR and his administration. Those oligarchs that opposed FDR’s policies were not about to allow another Roosevelt, to again get in their way of acquiring more wealth for themselves and their dynasties. They saw FDR as a direct threat to their power. They decided to act.

The elite businessmen selected Gerald C. MacGuire and Bob Doyle to reach out to Butler under the false pretense of giving a speech to the American Legion, a rival from Butler’s work with the VFW, Veterans of Foreign Wars. MacGuire and Doyle over a series of meetings slowly unraveled what they really wanted from Butler. Butler had sensed early on that something was askew with MacGuirre’s and Doyle’s cover story. His suspicions would soon been validated.

“The putsch called for him to lead a massive army of veterans – funded by $30m from Wall Street titans and with weapons supplied by Remington Arms – to march on Washington, oust Roosevelt and the entire line of succession, and establish a fascist dictatorship backed by a private army of 500,000 former soldiers.”

- Why is so little known about the 1930s coup attempt against FDR?
- The Guardian
- Sally Denton
- January 2022

"Astonished by MacGuire’s plans, Butler knew he would need someone to corroborate his story if he was going to stop the intended coup. Having previously worked as the police captain of Philadelphia, Butler reached out to Philadelphia Record writer Paul Comly French, who agreed to meet with MacGuire as well. During this meeting, MacGuire told French that he believed a fascist state was the only answer for America, and that Smedley was the “ideal leader” because he “could organize one million men overnight.”

Armed with French’s mutual testimony, Butler appeared before the McCormack-Dickstein congressional committee, also known as the Special Committee on Un-American Activities, to reveal what he knew about the plot to seize the presidency in November 1934. The committee at first discounted a large part of Butler’s testimony (even writing in their initial report that they saw no reason to subpoena men like John W. Davis, a former presidential hopeful, or Thomas W. Lamont, a partner with J.P. Morgan & Company).

However, with the testimony of French, and the erratic testimony of MacGuire, the committee began to further investigate the plot. The final reports of the committee sang a different tune, finding that all of Butler’s claims could be corroborated as factual."

-  Smedley Butler and the 1930s Plot to Overthrow the President

The final actions to this widely covered up part of US history, is the proverbial, “good news/ bad news” story. FDR became involved in dealing with the elite accused, soon after the final congressional investigative report was completed and outside of official records. The entire affair was downplayed to the point of extinction, as it had been nearly ignored by the oligarchs of the mainstream press. There are many plausible reasons for this based on the situation in America at the time.

First, FDR, brand new in his first term and with crisis surrounding him, there was little time for chasing down the wealthiest men in the country and those who would be opposed to his New Deal policies required to get our economy back up and running. Those Captains of Industry also had an agenda too. Butler had first gone to the FBI and like today, Seditious Conspiracy, treason and insurrection were grave charges that could put them in prison or should they be accused of treason, even executed. Don’t forget, MacGuire had been in Germany and France investigating how WW I veterans were building veteran paramilitary forces to support movements prepare for their own fascist coups. After all, Hitler had come to power in Germany, only a couple of months prior and via the assistance of his Brownshirts, a fascist paramilitary organization at Hitler’s personal command.

No prominent men would be tried, outed or penalized, which also rubbed Butler the wrong way. In his retirement, Butler had become quite displeased with the incestuous relationship between Wall Street, our government and the wars we fought. The great irony is that the man who was the most decorated Marine at that time, became an avid anti-war activist and perpetual advocate for Veterans. He did not oppose war if it was required for national security but was legitimately disgusted of wars for the benefit of Wall Street. One of his most famous quotes of the period, speaks volumes in one short paragraph.

“I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for big business, for Wall Street and for bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism.”

- Smedley Butler, USMC MG (R)

Never one to allow grass to grow under his feet, Butler in retirement was a whirlwind of activism in support of his beloved Marine Corps and all veterans. He also became a powerful anti-war voice except in dire circumstances. He grew ill at the end of his life with cancer and passed on June 21st, 1940, before the US had entered WW II. He well understood, what was happening in Europe and undoubtedly drew the unmistakable parallels between what the Captains of Industry had attempted to use him for, seven years prior. Had he survived, there is no doubt that he would again wear the uniform of his beloved Marine Corps and serving in another war.

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Epilogue

There are several lessons to this story but only time to clearly express a couple of them. Every one of them apply to all of us today.

First and foremost, we must protect our true history. History treats us to an education that will benefit us so long as we are willing to learn the lessons. Today’s Republicans are putting their best effort towards historical revisionism. They have created their own false narrative about what US patriotism is and will be under their dominance. Here in Texas where book banning in support of historical revisionism, is a sick trait of Greg Abbott and his Texas Taliban GOP. They are actively and systematically removing books that conflict with their radical and violent far-right extremist ideology. The rest of the country where Republicans are in control, is no different.

Secondly, If this one man can make such a significant impact on our history, we should be able to collectively put down this Republican coup too. MG Butler, a true patriot who demonstrated his dedication to our founding values, on and off of the battlefield, fought and won against the same kind of threats we face today, and which I have labeled, The four horsemen of the MAGA Apocalypse: Autocracy, Oligarchy, Christian Nationalism and Political Violence. If this one man can make such a significant impact on our history, we should be able to collectively put down this Republican coup too. Believe it or not, right-wing violent extremism was a powerful force in pre-WW II America. The German Bund, a US Nazi organization held rallies across the nation and even had a major event at Madison Square Garden. The Klan marched in massive numbers as far north as my original hometown, of Springfield, Ohio before retreating back behind the Mason Dixon line. They held massive marches around the nation and in Washington D.C., complete with their white sheets and pointed hats.

Third: America’s quietly hiding oligarchs, invested in the Wall Street Putsch the same way today’s selfish, power-mongering oligarchs invest in today’s Republican Party. Media oligarchs support such fascism because most are owned and run by another flavor of oligarch, those who propagandize our media. SCOTUS endorses all of this with their shameful decisions in favor of Trump’s fascism. Apparently we are all no longer equal before the law and dark money billionaires pay to put oligarchy over the rights of citizens. FDR did not risk taking the 1933 coup attempt that far, so as to keep his New Deal on track. He did this for all Americans while today’s Republican Party does nothing for anyone but themselves. The proof is in their actions.

Fourth, all of the ills woven into the early human fabric of our republic, are still present and have become far more dangerous. There is little difference between the fascist ideology today and that of our civil war, that was defined by ideology and actions no different than the modern GOP. We might as well just stick them in grey uniforms, so that we always know who the enemy is. The Confederacy was based on oligarchy, primarily large plantations of elite wealth and slave traders and their shipping colleagues. White Christian Nationalism is little different from Southern Christianity during the civil war era. Autocracy, was made up of mostly high-born family dynasties to whom, rules and laws other than those of high society, did not apply. Of course, the ultimate threat now is that we will end up again, in a civil war with these fake patriots.

Finally, if we learn and act on the lessons of history, we can put our republic back onto the tracks our founders laid for us with our constitution. Those tracks can take America anywhere it chooses, if and when we rid ourselves of those who would take us back to a pre-civil war southern way of life. Our founders, despite their own flaws, knew that our nation could not endure with slavery. They as scholars of the Scottish Enlightenment, saw the potential for liberty as human beings in a society of equality. Sure, we failed the equality part for a century and a half by law and now still, in the hearts of the Trumpian base. That’s not what’s in the hearts of most Americans. Most of us are loyal patriots and this evidenced by the ongoing massive demonstrations in our streets.

American patriotism is not just a bunch of words on paper. We honor it and live it every day because our true American identity, beats deep in the breast of every patriot. MG Butler, embodied that spirit in uniform and out. His life story is mostly a roadmap for moving our principles forward and protecting them from those who would destroy what 250 years of true patriots have fought and died to protect. We may not all be warriors on a battlefield but every American resisting this assault on our very identity, is walking in a true patriot’s footsteps.

We can win this and all it takes, is to have the courage to walk in our founder’s footsteps. If we take this walk together, we will not fail.

Back later in the week,

Paul