Smedley Butler Smedley Darlington Butler ( July 30 , 1881 – June 21 , 1940 ) was a Major General in the U . S . Marine Corps , the highest rank authorized at that time , and at the time of his death the most decorated Marine in U . S . history . During his 34 - year career as a Marine , he participated in military actions in the Philippines , China , in Central America and the Caribbean during the Banana Wars , and France in World War I . Butler is well known for having later become an outspoken critic of U . S . wars and their consequences , as well as exposing the Business Plot , a purported plan to overthrow the U . S . government . By the end of his career , Butler had received 16 medals , five for heroism . He is one of 19 men to twice receive the Medal of Honor , one of three to be awarded both the Marine Corps Brevet Medal and the Medal of Honor , and the only Marine to be awarded the Brevet Medal and two Medals of Honor , all for separate actions . 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 . In 1935 , Butler wrote a book titled " War Is a Racket " , where he described and criticized the workings of the United States in its foreign actions and wars , such as those he was a part of , including the American corporations and other imperialist motivations behind them . After retiring from service , he became a popular activist , speaking at meetings organized by veterans , pacifists and church groups in the 1930s . Early life . Smedley Butler was born July 30 , 1881 , in West Chester , Pennsylvania , the eldest of three sons . His parents , Thomas and Maud ( née Darlington ) Butler , were descended from local Quaker families . His father was a lawyer , a judge and , for 31 years , a Congressman and chair of the House Naval Affairs Committee during the Harding and Coolidge administrations . His maternal grandfather was Smedley Darlington , a Republican Congressman from 1887 to 1891 . Butler attended the West Chester Friends Graded High School , followed by The Haverford School , a secondary school popular with sons of upper - class Philadelphia families . A Haverford athlete , he became captain of its baseball team and quarterback of its football team . Against the wishes of his father , he left school 38 days before his seventeenth birthday to enlist in the Marine Corps during the Spanish – American War . Nevertheless , Haverford awarded him his high school diploma on June 6 , 1898 , before the end of his final year ; his transcript stated he completed the Scientific Course " with Credit " . Military career . In the anti - Spanish war fever of 1898 , Butler lied about his age to receive a direct commission as a Marine second lieutenant . He trained in Washington D . C . at the Marine Barracks on the corner of 8th and I Streets . In July 1898 , he went to Guantánamo Bay , Cuba , arriving shortly after its invasion and capture . His company soon returned to the U . S . and after a short break , he was assigned to the armored cruiser for four months . He came home to be mustered out of service in February 1899 , but in April 1899 , he accepted a commission as a first lieutenant in the Marine Corps . Philippine – American War . The Marine Corps now sent him to the Manila , Philippines . On garrison duty with little to do , he turned to alcohol to relieve the boredom . He once became drunk and was temporarily relieved of command after an unspecified incident in his room . In October 1899 , he saw his first combat action when he led 300 Marines to take the town of Noveleta , from Filipino rebels known as " Insurrectos " . In the initial moments of the assault , his first sergeant was wounded . Butler briefly panicked , but quickly regained his composure and led his Marines in pursuit of the fleeing enemy . By noon the Marines had dispersed the rebels and taken the town . One Marine had been killed and ten were wounded . Another 50 Marines had been incapacitated by the humid tropical heat . After the excitement of this combat , garrison duty again became routine . Butler had a very large Eagle , Globe , and Anchor tattoo made which started at his throat and extended to his waist . He also met Littleton Waller a fellow Marine with whom he maintained a lifelong friendship . When Waller received command of a company in Guam , he was allowed to select five officers to take with him ; he chose Butler . Before they had departed , their orders were changed and they were sent to China aboard the to help put down the Boxer Rebellion . Boxer Rebellion . Once in China , Butler was initially deployed at Tientsin . He took part in the Battle of Tientsin on July 13 , 1900 . When he saw another Marine officer fall wounded , he climbed out of a trench to rescue him . Butler was then himself shot in the thigh . Another Marine helped him get to safety , but also was shot . Despite his leg wound , Butler assisted the wounded officer to the rear . Four enlisted men would receive the Medal of Honor in the battle . Butler ' s commanding officer , Major Littleton W . T . Waller , personally commended him and wrote that " for such reward as you may deem proper the following officers : Lieutenant Smedley D . Butler , for the admirable control of his men in all the fights of the week , for saving a wounded man at the risk of his own life , and under a very severe fire . " Commissioned officers were not then eligible to receive the Medal of Honor , and Butler instead received a promotion to captain by brevet while he recovered in the hospital , two weeks before his nineteenth birthday . Butler was wounded in the chest at Battle of San Tan Pating during the Gaselee Expedition , the bullet reportedly clipping part of Central America out of his tattoo . Because of his record in China , Butler became eligible for the Marine Corps Brevet Medal when it was created in 1921 , and was one of only 20 Marines to receive it . His citation reads : The Banana Wars . Butler participated in a series of occupations , police actions , and interventions by the United States in Central America and the Caribbean , commonly called the Banana Wars because their goal was to protect American commercial interests in the region , particularly those of the United Fruit Company . This company had significant financial stakes in the production of bananas , tobacco , sugar cane , and other products throughout the Caribbean , Central America and the northern portions of South America . The U . S . was also trying to advance its own political interests by maintaining its influence in the region and especially its control of the Panama Canal . These interventions started with the Spanish – American War in 1898 and ended with the withdrawal of troops from Haiti and President Franklin D . Roosevelt ' s Good Neighbor Policy in 1934 . After his retirement , Butler became an outspoken critic of the business interests in the Caribbean , criticizing the ways in which U . S . businesses and Wall Street bankers imposed their agenda on United States foreign policy during this period . Honduras . In 1903 Butler was stationed in Puerto Rico on Culebra Island , Puerto . Hearing rumors of a Honduran revolt , the United States government ordered his unit and a supporting naval detachment to sail to Honduras , to the west , to defend the U . S . Consulate in Honduras . Using a converted banana boat renamed the " Panther " , Butler and several hundred Marines landed at the port town of Puerto Cortés . In a letter home , he described the action : they were " prepared to land and shoot everybody and everything that was breaking the peace " , but instead found a quiet town . The Marines re - boarded the " Panther " and continued up the coast line looking for rebels at several towns , but found none . When they arrived at Trujillo , however , they heard gunfire , and came upon a battle in progress that had been waged for 55 hours between rebels called " Bonillista " and Honduran government soldiers at a local fort . At the sight of the Marines , the fighting ceased and Butler led a detachment of Marines to the American consulate , where he found the consul , wrapped in an American flag , hiding among the floor beams . As soon as the Marines left the area with the shaken consul , the battle resumed and the Bonillistas soon controlled the government . During this expedition Butler earned the first of his nicknames , " Old Gimlet Eye " . It was attributed to his feverish , bloodshot eyes — he was suffering from some unnamed tropic fever at the time — which enhanced his penetrating and bellicose stare . Marriage and business . After the Honduran campaign , Butler returned to Philadelphia . He married Ethel Conway Peters of Philadelphia in Bay Head , New Jersey on June 30 , 1905 . His best man at the wedding was his former commanding officer in China , Lieutenant Colonel Littleton W . T . Waller . The couple eventually had three children : a daughter , Ethel Peters Butler ( Mrs . John Wehle ) , and two sons , Smedley Darlington , Jr . and Thomas Richard . Butler was next assigned to garrison duty in the Philippines , where he once launched a resupply mission across the stormy waters of Subic Bay after his isolated outpost ran out of rations . In 1908 , he was diagnosed as having a nervous breakdown and received nine months sick leave which he spent at home . He successfully managed a coal mine in West Virginia , but returned to active duty in the Marine Corps at the first opportunity . Central America . From 1909 to 1912 , Butler served in Nicaragua , enforcing U . S . policy , and once again led his battalion to the relief of a rebel - besieged city , this time Granada , Nicaragua , and again , with a 104 - degree fever . In December 1909 , he commanded the 3d Battalion , 1st Marine Regiment , on the Isthmus of Panama . On August 11 , 1912 , he was temporarily detached to command an expeditionary battalion with which he participated in the bombardment , assault and capture of Coyotepe Hill , Nicaragua in October 1912 . He remained in Nicaragua until November 1912 , when he rejoined the Marines of 3d Battalion , 1st Marine Regiment , at Camp Elliott , Panama . Veracruz , Mexico , and first Medal of Honor . Butler and his family were living in Panama in January 1914 when he was ordered to report as the Marine officer of a battleship squadron massing off the coast of Mexico , near Veracruz , to monitor a revolutionary movement . He did not like leaving his family and the home they had established in Panama and he intended to request orders home as soon as he determined he was not needed . On March 1 , 1914 , Butler and Navy Lieutenant ( later Admiral ) Frank Fletcher went ashore in Veracruz and made their way to Jalapa , Mexico and back . A purpose of the trip was to allow Butler and Fletcher to discuss the details of a future expedition into Mexico . Fletcher ' s plan required Butler to make his way into the country and develop a more detailed invasion plan while inside its borders . It was a spy mission and Butler was enthusiastic to get started . When Admiral Fletcher explained the plan to the commanders in Washington , D . C . , they agreed to it . Butler was given the go - ahead . He entered Mexico and made his way to the U . S . Consulate in Mexico City , posing as a railroad official named " Mr . Johnson " . He and the chief railroad inspector scoured the city , saying they were searching for a lost railroad employee ; there was no lost employee , and in fact the employee they said was lost never existed . The ruse gave Butler access to various areas of the city . In the process of the so - called search , they located weapons in use by the Mexican army , and determined the sizes of units and states of readiness . They updated maps and verified the railroad lines for use in an impending US invasion . On March 7 , 1914 , he returned to Veracruz with the information he had gathered and presented it to his commanders . The invasion plan was eventually scrapped when authorities loyal to Victoriano Huerta detained a small American naval landing party in Tampico , Mexico , which became known as the Tampico Affair . When President Woodrow Wilson discovered that an arms shipment was about to arrive in Mexico , he sent a contingent of Marines and sailors to Veracruz to intercept it on April 21 , 1914 . Over the next few days , street fighting and sniper fire posed a threat to Butler ' s force , but a door - to - door search routed out most of the resistance . By April 26 , the landing force of 5 , 800 Marines and sailors secured the city , which they held for the next six months . By the end of the conflict , the Americans reported 17 dead and 63 wounded and the Mexican forces had 126 dead and 195 wounded . After the actions at Veracruz , the United States decided to minimize the bloodshed and changed their plans from a full invasion of Mexico to simply maintaining the city of Veracruz . For his actions on April 22 , Butler was awarded his first Medal of Honor . The citation reads : After the occupation of Veracruz , many military personnel received the Medal of Honor , an unusually high number that diminished somewhat the prestige of the award . The Army presented one , nine went to Marines and 46 were bestowed upon Navy personnel . During World War I , Butler , then a major , attempted to return his Medal , explaining he had done nothing to deserve it . The medal was returned with orders to keep it and to wear it as well . Haiti and second Medal of Honor . In 1915 , members of the populace killed the Haitian president Vilbrun Guillaume Sam . In response , the United States ordered the to Haiti with Major Butler and a group of Marines on board . On October 24 , 1915 , an estimated 400 " Cacos " ambushed Butler ' s patrol of 44 mounted Marines when they approached Fort Dipitie . Surrounded by " Cacos " the Marines maintained their perimeter throughout the night . The next morning , they charged the much larger enemy force by breaking out in three directions . The startled Haitians fled . In early November Butler and a force of 700 Marines and sailors returned to the mountains to clear the area . At their temporary headquarters base at Le Trou they fought off an attack by about 100 " Cacos " . After the Americans took several other forts and ramparts during the following days , only Fort Rivière , an old French - built stronghold atop Montagne Noire , was left . For the operation , Butler was given three companies of Marines and some sailors from the USS " Connecticut " , about 100 men . They encircled the fort , and gradually closed in on it . Butler reached the fort from the southern side with the 15th Company and found a small opening in the wall . The Marines entered through the opening and engaged the " Cacos " in hand - to - hand combat . Butler and the Marines took the rebel stronghold on November 17 , 1915 , an action for which he received his second Medal of Honor , as well as the Haitian Medal of Honor . The entire battle lasted less than twenty minutes . Only one Marine was injured in the assault when he was struck by a rock and lost two teeth . All 51 Haitians in the Fort were killed . Butler ' s exploits impressed then Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D . Roosevelt , who recommended the award based upon Butler ' s performance during the engagement . Once the medal was approved and presented in 1917 , Butler achieved the distinction , shared with Dan Daly , of being the only Marines to receive the Medal of Honor twice for separate actions . The citation reads : Subsequently , as the initial organizer and commanding officer of the Haitian Gendarmerie , the native police force , Butler established a record as a capable administrator . Under his supervision , social order , administered by the dictatorship , was largely restored and many vital public works projects were successfully completed . He recalled later that , during his time in Haiti , he and his troops " hunted the " Cacos " like pigs . " World War I . During World War I , to his disappointment , Butler was not assigned to a combat command on the Western Front . He made several requests for a posting in France , writing letters to his personal friend , Wendell Cushing Neville . While Butler ' s superiors considered him brave and brilliant , they described him as " unreliable . " In October 1918 , he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general at the age of 37 and placed in command of Camp Pontanezen at Brest , France , a debarkation depot that funneled troops of the American Expeditionary Force to the battlefields . The camp had been plagued by horribly unsanitary , overcrowded and disorganized conditions . U . S . Secretary of War Newton Baker sent novelist Mary Roberts Rinehart to report on the camp . She later described how Butler tackled the sanitation issues . Butler began by solving the mud problem : " [ T ] he ground under the tents was nothing but mud , [ so ] he had raided the wharf at Brest of the duckboards no longer needed for the trenches , carted the first one himself up that four - mile hill to the camp , and thus provided something in the way of protection for the men to sleep on . " General John J . Pershing authorized a duckboard shoulder patch for the units . This earned Butler another nickname , " Old Duckboard . " For his exemplary service he was awarded both the Army Distinguished Service Medal and Navy Distinguished Service Medal and the French Order of the Black Star . The citation for the Army Distinguished Service Medal states : The citation for the Navy Distinguished Service Medal states : Following the war , he became Commanding General of the Marine Barracks at Marine Corps Base Quantico , Virginia . At Quantico , he transformed the wartime training camp into a permanent Marine post . During a training exercise in western Virginia in 1921 , he was told by a local farmer that Stonewall Jackson ' s arm was buried nearby , to which he replied , " Bosh ! I will take a squad of Marines and dig up that spot to prove you wrong ! " Butler found the arm in a box . He later replaced the wooden box with a metal one , and reburied the arm . He left a plaque on the granite monument marking the burial place of Jackson ' s arm ; the plaque is no longer on the marker but can be viewed at the Chancellorsville Battlefield visitor ' s center . China and stateside service . From 1927 to 1929 , Butler was commander of the Marine Expeditionary Force in China and , while there , cleverly parlayed his influence among various generals and warlords to the protection of U . S . interests , ultimately winning the public acclaim of contending Chinese leaders . When Butler returned to the United States in 1929 he was promoted to major general , becoming , at age 48 , the youngest major general of the Marine Corps . He directed the Quantico camp ' s growth until it became the " showplace " of the Corps . Butler won national attention by taking thousands of his men on long field marches , many of which he led from the front , to Gettysburg and other Civil War battle sites , where they conducted large - scale re - enactments before crowds of distinguished spectators . In 1931 , Butler violated diplomatic norms by publicly recounting gossip about Benito Mussolini in which the dictator allegedly struck and killed a child with his speeding automobile in a hit - and - run accident . The Italian government protested and President Hoover , who strongly disliked Butler , forced Secretary of the Navy Charles Francis Adams III to court - martial him . Butler became the first general officer to be placed under arrest since the Civil War . He apologized to Secretary Adams and the court martial was canceled with only a reprimand . Director of Public Safety . 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 . 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 . Within 48 hours of taking over , Butler organized raids on more than 900 speakeasies , ordering them padlocked and , in many cases , destroyed . In addition to raiding the speakeasies , he also attempted to eliminate other illegal activities : bootlegging , prostitution , gambling and police corruption . More zealous than he was political , he ordered crackdowns on the social elite ' s favorite hangouts , such as the Ritz - Carlton and the Union League , as well as on drinking establishments that served the working class . Although he was effective in reducing crime and police corruption , he was a controversial leader . In one instance he made a statement that he would promote the first officer to kill a bandit and stated , " I don ' t believe there is a single bandit notch on a policeman ' s guns in this city , go out and get some . " Although many of the local citizens and police felt that the raids were just a show , the raids continued for several weeks . He implemented programs to improve city safety and security . He established policies and guidelines of administration , and developed a Philadelphia police uniform that resembled that of the Marine Corps . Other changes included military - style checkpoints into the city , bandit chasing squads armed with sawed - off shotgun s , and armored police cars . The press began reporting on the good and the bad aspects of Butler ' s personal war on crime . The reports praised the new uniforms , the new programs and the reductions in crime but they also reflected the public ' s negative opinion of their new Public Safety director . Many felt that he was being too aggressive in his tactics and resented the reductions in their civil rights , such as the stopping of citizens at the city checkpoints . Butler frequently swore in his radio addresses , causing many citizens to suggest his behavior , particularly his language , was inappropriate for someone of his rank and stature . Some even suggested Butler acted like a military dictator , even charging that he inappropriately used active - duty Marines in some of his raids . Major R . A . Haynes , the federal Prohibition commissioner , visited the city in 1924 , six months after Butler was appointed . He announced that " great progress " had been made in the city and attributed that success to Butler . 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 . " Feeling that his duties in Philadelphia were coming to an end , Butler contacted General Lejeune to prepare for his return to the Marine Corps . Not all of the city felt he was doing a bad job though and when the news started to break that he would be leaving , people began to gather at the Academy of Music . A group of 4 , 000 supporters assembled and negotiated a truce between him and the mayor to keep him in Philadelphia for a while longer , and the President authorized a one year extension for him . His second year focused on executing arrest warrants , cracking down on crooked police and enforcing prohibition . On January 1 , 1926 , his leave from the Marine Corps ended and the President declined a request for a second extension . Butler received orders to report to San Diego and he prepared his family and his belongings for the new assignment . In light of his pending departure , Butler began to defy the Mayor and other key city officials . On the eve of his departure , he had an article printed in the paper stating his intention to stay and " finish the job " . The mayor was surprised and furious when he read the press release the next morning and demanded his resignation . After almost two years in office , Butler resigned under pressure , stating later that " cleaning up Philadelphia was worse than any battle I was ever in . " Military retirement . In the old Marine tradition , when a Commandant retired or died , it was customary for the senior Marine Corps general to assume the position of Commandant while a new one was chosen . However , when Marine Corps commandant Major General Wendell C . Neville died July 8 , 1930 , Butler , at that time the senior major general in the Corps , was not appointed . Although he had significant support from many inside and outside the Corps , including John Lejeune and Josephus Daniels , two other Marine Corps generals were seriously considered for the post , Ben H . Fuller and John H . Russell . General Lejeune and others petitioned President Hoover , garnered support in the Senate and flooded Secretary of the Navy Charles Adams ' s desk with more than 2 , 500 letters of support . With the recent death of his influential father , however , Butler had lost much of his protection from his civilian superiors . The outspokenness that characterized his run - ins with the Mayor of Philadelphia , the " unreliability " mentioned by his superiors when opposing a posting to the Western Front , and his comments about Benito Mussolini resurfaced . In the end , the position of Commandant went to Major General Ben H . Fuller and , at his own request , Butler retired from active duty on October 1 , 1931 . Later years . Even before retiring from the Corps , Butler began developing his post - Corps career . In May 1931 , he took part in a commission established by Oregon Governor Julius L . Meier . The commission laid the foundations for the Oregon State Police . He began lecturing at events and conferences and after his retirement from the Marines in 1931 , he took this up full - time . He donated much of his earnings from his lucrative lecture circuits to the Philadelphia unemployment relief . He toured the western United States , making 60 speeches before returning for his daughter ' s marriage to Marine aviator Lieutenant John Wehle . Her wedding was the only time that he wore his dress blue uniform after he left the Marines . Senate campaign . He announced his candidacy for the U . S . Senate in the Republican primary in Pennsylvania in March 1932 as a proponent of Prohibition , known as a " dry " . He allied with Gifford Pinchot , but they were defeated by Senator James J . Davis . Bonus Army . During his Senate campaign , Butler spoke out forcefully about the veterans bonus . Veterans of World War I , many of whom had been out of work since the beginning of the Great Depression , sought immediate cash payment of Service Certificates granted to them eight years earlier via the World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924 . Each Service Certificate , issued to a qualified veteran soldier , bore a face value equal to the soldier ' s promised payment , plus compound interest . The problem was that the certificates ( like bonds ) , matured 20 years from the date of original issuance , thus , under extant law , the Service Certificates could not be redeemed until 1945 . In June 1932 , approximately 43 , 000 marchers — 17 , 000 of whom were World War I veterans , their families , and affiliated groups — protested in Washington , D . C . The Bonus Expeditionary Force , also known as the " Bonus Army " , marched on Washington to advocate the passage of the " soldier ' s bonus " for service during World War I . After Congress adjourned , bonus marchers remained in the city and became unruly . On July 28 , 1932 , two bonus marchers were shot by police , causing the entire mob to become hostile and riotous . The FBI , then known as the United States Bureau of Investigation , checked its fingerprint records to obtain the police records of individuals who had been arrested during the riots or who had participated in the bonus march . The veterans made camp in the Anacostia flats while they awaited the congressional decision on whether or not to pay the bonus . The motion , known as the Patnum bill , was decisively defeated , but the veterans stayed in their camp . Butler arrived with his young son Thomas , in mid - July the day before the official eviction by the Hoover administration . He walked through the camp and spoke to the veterans ; he told them that they were fine soldiers and they had a right to lobby Congress just as much as any corporation . He and his son spent the night and ate with the men , and in the morning Butler gave a speech to the camping veterans . He instructed them to keep their sense of humor and cautioned them not to do anything that would cost public sympathy . On July 28 , army cavalry units led by General Douglas MacArthur dispersed the Bonus Army by riding through it and using gas . During the conflict several veterans were killed or injured and Butler declared himself a " Hoover - for - Ex - President - Republican " . Lectures . He became widely known for his outspoken lectures against war profiteer ing , U . S . military adventurism , and what he viewed as nascent fascism in the United States . In December 1933 , Butler toured the country with James E . Van Zandt to recruit members for the Veterans of Foreign Wars ( VFW ) . He described their effort as " trying to educate the soldiers out of the sucker class . " In his speeches he denounced the Economy Act of 1933 , called on veterans to organize politically to win their benefits , and condemned the FDR administration for its ties to big business . The VFW reprinted one of his speeches with the title " You Got to Get Mad " in its magazine " Foreign Service " . He said : " I believe in . . . taking Wall St . by the throat and shaking it up . " He believed the rival veterans ' group the American Legion was controlled by banking interests . On December 8 , 1933 , he said : " I have never known one leader of the American Legion who had never sold them out — and I mean it . " In addition to his speeches to pacifist groups , he served from 1935 to 1937 as a spokesman for the American League Against War and Fascism . In 1935 , he wrote the exposé " War Is a Racket " , a trenchant condemnation of the profit motive behind warfare . His views on the subject are summarized in the following passage from a 1935 issue of the socialist magazine " Common Sense " : The Business Plot . In November 1934 , Butler claimed the existence of a political conspiracy by business leaders to overthrow President Roosevelt , a series of allegations that came to be known in the media as the Business Plot . A special committee of the House of Representatives headed by Representatives John W . McCormack of Massachusetts and Samuel Dickstein of New York , who was later alleged to have been a paid agent of the NKVD , heard his testimony in secret . The McCormack - Dickstein committee was a precursor to the House Committee on Un - American Activities . In November 1934 , Butler told the committee that one Gerald P . MacGuire told him that a group of businessmen , supposedly backed by a private army of 500 , 000 ex - soldiers and others , intended to establish a fascist dictatorship . Butler had been asked to lead it , he said , by MacGuire , who was a bond salesman with Grayson M – P Murphy & Co . The " New York Times " reported that Butler had told friends that General Hugh S . Johnson , a former official with the National Recovery Administration , was to be installed as dictator , and that the J . P . Morgan banking firm was behind the plot . Butler told Congress that MacGuire had told him the attempted " coup " was backed by three million dollars , and that the 500 , 000 men were probably to be assembled in Washington , D . C . the following year . All the parties alleged to be involved publicly said there was no truth in the story , calling it a joke and a fantasy . In its report , the committee stated that it was unable to confirm Butler ' s statements other than the conversations with MacGuire . No prosecutions or further investigations followed , and historians have questioned whether or not a " coup " was actually contemplated . Historians have not reported any independent evidence apart from Butler ' s report on what MacGuire told him . Schmidt says Maguire was an " inconsequential trickster . " The news media dismissed the plot , with a " New York Times " editorial characterizing it as a " gigantic hoax " . When the committee ' s final report was released , the " Times " said the committee " purported to report that a two - month investigation had convinced it that General Butler ' s story of a Fascist march on Washington was alarmingly true " and " . . . also alleged that definite proof had been found that the much publicized Fascist march on Washington , which was to have been led by Major . Gen . Smedley D . Butler , retired , according to testimony at a hearing , was actually contemplated " . The individuals involved all denied the existence of a plot , despite evidence to the contrary . The media ridiculed the allegations , although a final report by a special House of Representatives Committee confirmed some of Butler ' s accusations The McCormack - Dickstein Committee confirmed some of Butler ' s accusations in its final report . " In the last few weeks of the committee ' s official life it received evidence showing that certain persons had made an attempt to establish a fascist organization in this country . . . There is no question that these attempts were discussed , were planned , and might have been placed in execution when and if the financial backers deemed it expedient . " Death . Upon his retirement , Butler bought a home in Newtown Square , Pennsylvania , where he lived with his wife . In June 1940 , he checked himself into the hospital after becoming sick a few weeks earlier . His doctor described his illness as an incurable condition of the upper gastro - intestinal tract that was probably cancer . His family remained by his side , even bringing his new car so he could see it from the window . He never had a chance to drive it . On June 21 , 1940 , Smedley Butler died in the Naval Hospital in Philadelphia . The funeral was held at his home , attended by friends and family as well as several politicians , members of the Philadelphia police force and officers of the Marine Corps . He was buried at Oaklands Cemetery near West Chester , Pennsylvania . Since his death in 1940 , his family has maintained his home as it was when he died , including a large amount of memorabilia he had collected throughout his varied career . Honors and awards . Military awards . In addition to the Medal of Honor and his other American military decorations , Butler received several awards from other countries including the Haitian Medal of Honor and the French Order of the Black Star .