The Forgotten Treason: The Plot to Overthrow FDR

In the fall of 1934, a Congressional Committee set up to investigate fascist activities within the United States heard a dramatic story. Major General Smedley D. Butler told them that he had been approached by men requesting that he lead a 500,000 man army against President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Some of these men, Butler testified, belonged to the highest castes of the Wall Street elite and had become so frustrated with FDR?s New Deal reforms that a full-fledged coup d?etat seemed their only recourse. My thesis investigates the context, evidence, press response, and general failure of modern historians to adequately address this fascinating story.