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The '''Business Plot''' (also called '''The White House Putsch''')<ref name="WP-20210113">{{cite news|last=Brockell|first=Gillian|title=Wealthy bankers and businessmen plotted to overthrow FDR. A retired general foiled it.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/01/13/fdr-roosevelt-coup-business-plot/|date=January 13, 2021|work=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=January 14, 2021}}</ref><ref>[https://www.npr.org/2012/02/12/145472726/when-the-bankers-plotted-to-overthrow-fdr NPR interview with Sally Denton, author of the book: ''When The Bankers Plotted To Overthrow FDR'']</ref> was a political conspiracy in 1933 in the [[United States]] to [[Coup d'état|overthrow]] the center-left [[Social democracy|social-democratic]] government of President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and install a right-wing fascist dictator.<ref name="WP-20210113" /> Retired Marine Corps Major General [[Smedley Butler]] asserted that wealthy businessmen were plotting to create a [[Fascism|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]] [[House Un-American Activities Committee#McCormack%E2%80%93Dickstein%20Committee%20(1934%E2%80%931937)|Special Committee on Un-American Activities]] (the "[[John William McCormack|McCormack]]–[[Samuel Dickstein (congressman)|Dickstein]] Committee") on these revelations.<ref name="Schlesinger, p. 85">Schlesinger, p. 85</ref> Interestingly enough, no one was prosecuted.
The '''Business Plot''' (also called '''The White House Putsch''')<ref name="WP-20210113">{{cite news|last=Brockell|first=Gillian|title=Wealthy bankers and businessmen plotted to overthrow FDR. A retired general foiled it.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/01/13/fdr-roosevelt-coup-business-plot/|date=January 13, 2021|work=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=January 14, 2021}}</ref><ref>[https://www.npr.org/2012/02/12/145472726/when-the-bankers-plotted-to-overthrow-fdr NPR interview with Sally Denton, author of the book: ''When The Bankers Plotted To Overthrow FDR'']</ref> was a political conspiracy in 1933 in the [[United States]] to [[Coup d'état|overthrow]] the center-left [[Social democracy|social-democratic]] government of President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and install a right-wing fascist dictator.<ref name="WP-20210113" /> Retired Marine Corps Major General [[Smedley Butler]] asserted that wealthy businessmen were plotting to create a [[Fascism|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]] [[House Un-American Activities Committee#McCormack%E2%80%93Dickstein%20Committee%20(1934%E2%80%931937)|Special Committee on Un-American Activities]] (the "[[John William McCormack|McCormack]]–[[Samuel Dickstein (congressman)|Dickstein]] Committee") on these revelations.<ref name="Schlesinger, p. 85">Schlesinger, p. 85</ref> Interestingly enough, no one was prosecuted.


At the time of the incidents, most major news media dismissed the plot, with a ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' editorial characterizing it as a "gigantic hoax".<ref name="nyt112234">{{cite news|title=Credulity Unlimited|date=November 22, 1934|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/11/22/archives/credulity-unlimited.html|work=[[The New York Times]]<!--|access-date=2009-03-03-->}}</ref> 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.<ref name="burk">{{cite book|last=Burk|first=Robert F.|title=The Corporate State and the Broker State: The Du Ponts and American National Politics, 1925–1940|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1990|isbn=0-674-17272-8|url=https://archive.org/details/corporatestatet00burk}}</ref><ref name="schmidt226">Schmidt p. 226, 228, 229, 230</ref><ref name="Fox">{{cite book|last1=Fox|title=The Clarks of Cooperstown|publisher=Knopf|year=2007|isbn=978-0-307-26347-6|url=https://archive.org/details/clarksofcooperst00webe}}</ref><ref name="schlesinger83">Schlesinger, p. 83</ref>
At the time of the incidents, most major news media dismissed the plot, with a ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' editorial characterizing it as a "gigantic hoax."<ref name="nyt112234">{{cite news|title=Credulity Unlimited|date=November 22, 1934|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/11/22/archives/credulity-unlimited.html|work=[[The New York Times]]<!--|access-date=2009-03-03-->}}</ref> 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.<ref name="burk">{{cite book|last=Burk|first=Robert F.|title=The Corporate State and the Broker State: The Du Ponts and American National Politics, 1925–1940|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1990|isbn=0-674-17272-8|url=https://archive.org/details/corporatestatet00burk}}</ref><ref name="schmidt226">Schmidt p. 226, 228, 229, 230</ref><ref name="Fox">{{cite book|last1=Fox|title=The Clarks of Cooperstown|publisher=Knopf|year=2007|isbn=978-0-307-26347-6|url=https://archive.org/details/clarksofcooperst00webe}}</ref><ref name="schlesinger83">Schlesinger, p. 83</ref>
 
The conspiracy was organized by the [[American Liberty League]], [[American Legion]], and a private army of 500,000, including former soldiers. Several bourgeois families were involved, including the Morgans and Rockefellers, as well as [[George H. W. Bush]]'s father [[Prescott Bush]].<ref>{{News citation|author=Gabriel Rockhill|newspaper=[[Liberation School]]|title=Fascist plots in the U.S.: Contemporary lessons from the 1934 “Business Plot”|date=2021-06-06|url=https://www.liberationschool.org/fascist-plots-in-the-u-s-contemporary-lessons-from-the-1934-business-plot/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218103637/https://www.liberationschool.org/fascist-plots-in-the-u-s-contemporary-lessons-from-the-1934-business-plot/|archive-date=2022-02-18|retrieved=2022-06-20}}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==
<references />
<references />
[[Category:Coup attempts]]
[[Category:Coup attempts]]

Latest revision as of 21:52, 20 June 2022

Some parts of this article were copied from external sources and may contain errors or lack of appropriate formatting. You can help improve this article by editing it and cleaning it up. (November 2021)

The Business Plot (also called The White House Putsch)[1][2] was a political conspiracy in 1933 in the United States to overthrow the center-left social-democratic government of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and install a right-wing fascist 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 "McCormackDickstein Committee") on these revelations.[3] Interestingly enough, 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]

The conspiracy was organized by the American Liberty League, American Legion, and a private army of 500,000, including former soldiers. Several bourgeois families were involved, including the Morgans and Rockefellers, as well as George H. W. Bush's father Prescott Bush.[9]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1
  2. NPR interview with Sally Denton, author of the book: When The Bankers Plotted To Overthrow FDR
  3. Schlesinger, p. 85
  4. Schmidt p. 226, 228, 229, 230
  5. Schlesinger, p. 83
  6. Gabriel Rockhill (2021-06-06). "Fascist plots in the U.S.: Contemporary lessons from the 1934 “Business Plot”" Liberation School. Archived from the original on 2022-02-18. Retrieved 2022-06-20.