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still_one

(91,937 posts)
Thu Feb 25, 2021, 11:30 AM Feb 2021

In 1933 there was a plot to overthrow FDR

The Business Plot (also called The White House Putsch)[1][2] was a political conspiracy in 1933 in the United States to overthrow the government of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and install a dictator.[1] Retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler asserted that wealthy businessmen were plotting to create a fascist veterans' organization with Butler as its leader and use it in a coup d'état to overthrow Roosevelt. In 1934, Butler testified under oath before the United States House of Representatives Special Committee on Un-American Activities (the "McCormack–Dickstein Committee&quot on these revelations.[3] No one was prosecuted.

At the time of the incidents, most major news media dismissed the plot, with a New York Times editorial characterizing it as a "gigantic hoax".[4] While historians have questioned whether or not a coup was actually close to execution, most agree that some sort of "wild scheme" was contemplated and discussed.[5][6][7][8]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot

https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Navigation/Community/Arcadia-and-THP-Blog/September-2018/Smedley-Butler-and-the-1930s-Plot-to-Overthrow-the

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In 1933 there was a plot to overthrow FDR (Original Post) still_one Feb 2021 OP
A good reminder. Haven't before seen the Arcadia piece. TY. empedocles Feb 2021 #1
I was comprised of a group of wealthy industrialist in conjunction with groups like the KKK still_one Feb 2021 #2
Prescott Bush, father of George H.W, allegedly one of them. n/t whathehell Feb 2021 #4
Not just allegedly-- evolves Feb 2021 #7
I thought so, but whathehell Feb 2021 #8
Same with me, evolves Feb 2021 #16
Okay, great. whathehell Feb 2021 #17
The business men (grand daddy Bush was in on it) really liked what Hitler was doing for business mitch96 Feb 2021 #13
Also, known as the businessman's revolt. It is in the Congressional record and you can read Demsrule86 Feb 2021 #3
Big names included Birdseye and DuPont. empedocles Feb 2021 #5
He made sure all the details survived in the Congressional record...in his day it would not have Demsrule86 Feb 2021 #12
An early example of 'too big to fail', eh? sboatcar Feb 2021 #9
Indeed...too big to fail. Roosevelt the economy would be plunged into a death spiral should Demsrule86 Feb 2021 #10
My understanding was that Roosevelt agreed not to whathehell Feb 2021 #18
And what a surprise to find that Prescott Bush dugog55 Feb 2021 #6
Prescott Bush was a piece of crap. Demsrule86 Feb 2021 #11
and trump's father took part in a KKK March still_one Feb 2021 #15
In addition, FDR Survived a Near Assassination Attempt in Miami Just Days before Inauguration Stallion Feb 2021 #14
The Mayor of Chicago was killed, not Miami. former9thward Feb 2021 #19
BBC aired a nice program on this buried history. Kid Berwyn Feb 2021 #20
Thanks still_one Feb 2021 #21
You are welcome, still one! This topic shows DU's importance. Kid Berwyn Feb 2021 #22

still_one

(91,937 posts)
2. I was comprised of a group of wealthy industrialist in conjunction with groups like the KKK
Thu Feb 25, 2021, 11:46 AM
Feb 2021

and American Liberty league to overthrow the U.S. government

The parallels are obvious

whathehell

(28,968 posts)
17. Okay, great.
Thu Feb 25, 2021, 07:56 PM
Feb 2021

Really do appreciate your links -- I'd heard the Plot.Against FDR story for tears, but wasn't even sure it could be documented. It's amazing, in my view, how little mainstream exposure it's received -- We certainly never heard about it in the history books.

mitch96

(13,816 posts)
13. The business men (grand daddy Bush was in on it) really liked what Hitler was doing for business
Thu Feb 25, 2021, 02:35 PM
Feb 2021

in Germany and they wanted the same here... But FDR was the problem
Thank god for General Smedly Butler blowing the whistle and telling FDR. Some say that's how FDR got a lot of his bills thru (social security etc). He told the "businessmen" that he would put them up against the wall and have them shot for treason if they did not play ball.
I heard about this plot on a BBC radio program.. It's even in the Library of Congress records..
m

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
3. Also, known as the businessman's revolt. It is in the Congressional record and you can read
Thu Feb 25, 2021, 11:58 AM
Feb 2021

the original documents...big names involved too. They wanted to impose a fascist dictator like Hitler and end our Republic. They planned to either force Roosevelt out or kill him if need be. General Butler who was a Marine General (trust the Marines) ratted the conspirators out to Congress which held hearings...shocking stuff. But Roosevelt wanted the banks and business to survive and feared this would undermine confidence and destroy the recovery...so no charges were filed. But I have no doubt Roosevelt held it over their heads for years to force their compliance with his proposals and plans.

empedocles

(15,751 posts)
5. Big names included Birdseye and DuPont.
Thu Feb 25, 2021, 12:03 PM
Feb 2021

Years ago I calculated that over $60,000,000 [then current dollars, not 1933 dollars] for initial funding.

[Have always been very curious that the ever shrewd FDR, seems to have left no record of his own of this major coup effort].

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
12. He made sure all the details survived in the Congressional record...in his day it would not have
Thu Feb 25, 2021, 12:59 PM
Feb 2021

been widely known as the papers like the New York Times would likely not have carried the story. Thus most Americans remained ignorant of the attempted coup...and things did get better.

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
10. Indeed...too big to fail. Roosevelt the economy would be plunged into a death spiral should
Thu Feb 25, 2021, 12:56 PM
Feb 2021

ordinary Americans lose faith in it...I suspect Obama made the same decision.

whathehell

(28,968 posts)
18. My understanding was that Roosevelt agreed not to
Thu Feb 25, 2021, 08:02 PM
Feb 2021

press charges if they stopped fighting him on implementing Social Security.

dugog55

(296 posts)
6. And what a surprise to find that Prescott Bush
Thu Feb 25, 2021, 12:10 PM
Feb 2021

grandfather of G. W. Bush was involved. What a family of crooks and liars. Prescott was also a Nazi sympathizer and got rich off of petroleum deals with the Germans. And let us not forget that G. W. H. Bush was in the CIA and a key figure in training Cuban exiles in Miami to help the US invade Cuba. He also just happened to be somewhere in Texas ( he does not remember where though, hah) when Kennedy was assassinated. That family is rotten to the core and has skeletons buried everywhere.

Stallion

(6,473 posts)
14. In addition, FDR Survived a Near Assassination Attempt in Miami Just Days before Inauguration
Thu Feb 25, 2021, 02:47 PM
Feb 2021

...in fact, the Mayor of Miami who sitting next to FDR in the car with him died by gunshot. 6 shots and 5 injuries. The assassin was just few away from FDR. Imagine how that could have changed the course of history

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/11/13/fdr-assassination-attempt-transition-president-elect/

former9thward

(31,800 posts)
19. The Mayor of Chicago was killed, not Miami.
Thu Feb 25, 2021, 08:24 PM
Feb 2021

Anton Cermak. And many historians believe the target was Cermak not Roosevelt. Three months before Cermak had put out a contract to kill Capone's enforcer Frank Nitti. Many believe Nitti hired the assassin Zangara, who was an anti-capitalist crank, to kill Cermak in retaliation. Zangara was only a few feet away from both Roosevelt and Cermak so it is hard to see why he missed Roosevelt if that was his real target.

Kid Berwyn

(14,642 posts)
20. BBC aired a nice program on this buried history.
Thu Feb 25, 2021, 09:22 PM
Feb 2021

...

The coup was aimed at toppling President Franklin D Roosevelt with the help of half-a-million war veterans. The plotters, who were alleged to involve some of the most famous families in America, (owners of Heinz, Birds Eye, Goodtea, Maxwell Hse & George Bush’s Grandfather, Prescott) believed that their country should adopt the policies of Hitler and Mussolini to beat the great depression.

Mike Thomson investigates why so little is known about this biggest ever peacetime threat to American democracy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/document/document_20070723.shtml

Kid Berwyn

(14,642 posts)
22. You are welcome, still one! This topic shows DU's importance.
Thu Feb 25, 2021, 09:49 PM
Feb 2021
...DUer’s observations on Prescott Bush's role in the fascist Wall Street Coup Against FDR...

Bush Fulfills His Grandfather's Dream

by David Swanson | Jul 28 2007 - 2:01pm |

It's remarkably common for a grandson to take up his grandfather's major project. This occurred to me when I read recently of Thor Heyerdahl's grandson taking up his mission to cross the Pacific on a raft. But what really struck me was the BBC story aired on July 23rd documenting President George W. Bush's grandfather's involvement in a 1933 plot to overthrow the U.S. government and install a fascist dictatorship. I knew the story, but had not considered the possibility that the grandson was trying to accomplish what his grandfather had failed to achieve.

Prescott Sheldon Bush (1895 to 1972) attended Yale University and joined the secret society known as Skull and Bones. Prescott is widely reported to have stolen the skull of Native American leader Geronimo. As far as I know, this has not actually been confirmed. In fact, Prescott seems to have had a habit of making things up. He sent letters home from World War I claiming he'd received medals for heroism. After the letters were printed in newspapers, he had to retract his claims.

If this does not yet sound like the life of a George W. Bush ancestor, try this on for size: Prescott Bush's early business efforts tended to fail. He married the daughter of a very rich man named George Herbert Walker (the guy with the compound at Kennebunkport, Maine, that now belongs to the Bush family, and the origin of Dubya's middle initial). Walker installed Prescott Bush as an executive in Thyssen and Flick. From then on, Prescott's business dealings went better, and he entered politics.

Now, the name Thyssen comes from a German named Fritz Thyssen, major financial backer of the rise of Adolph Hitler. Thyssen was referred to in the New York Herald-Tribune as "Hitler's Angel." During the 1930s and early 1940s, and even as late as 1951, Prescott Bush was involved in business dealings with Thyssen, and was inevitably aware of both Thyssen's political activities and the fact that the companies involved were financially benefiting the nation of Germany. In addition, the companies Prescott Bush profited from included one engaged in mining operations in Poland using slave labor from Auschwitz. Two former slave laborers have sued the U.S. government and the heirs of Prescott Bush for $40 billion.

DETAILS: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1468311


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