In 1933, a group of wealthy American businessmen allegedly recruited the most decorated Marine in U.S. history to lead a fascist coup against FDR. He reported them to Congress. None were charged.
Smedley Butler was the most decorated Marine in American history — a two-time Medal of Honor recipient who had fought in nearly every U.S. military campaign from Cuba to China. In 1933, he claimed that a Wall Street broker named Gerald MacGuire approached him with an extraordinary proposal: lead a 500,000-man veterans' army to Washington and install himself as dictator while Roosevelt remained as a figurehead.
According to Butler's testimony, the plotters intended to model the coup on the fascist movements then taking power in Italy and Germany. They promised him funding, veterans' organizations, and public legitimacy. Butler played along to gather information — then went directly to Congress.
The McCormack-Dickstein Committee investigated Butler's claims in 1934. MacGuire testified and denied everything. Other accused businessmen — including executives from DuPont and J.P. Morgan's bank — refused to appear or denied involvement. MacGuire was the only figure brought before the committee.
The committee's final report was careful but not dismissive: it concluded that 'these attempts were discussed, were planned, and might have been placed in execution when and if the financial backers deemed it expedient.' The New York Times initially called the story a 'gigantic hoax' — then quietly walked it back after the report.
No one was prosecuted. No one was charged. MacGuire died of pneumonia in 1935, shortly after testifying. The accused businessmen returned to their lives and companies.
Historians still disagree about how serious the plot was. Some argue it was a genuine fascist conspiracy that Butler's intervention neutralized. Others suggest it was aspirational loose talk that Butler, already famously anti-war and anti-banker, inflated. Butler himself said: 'I was a racketeer for capitalism.' The full truth has never been established.