Major General Smedley D. Butlet, USMC, twice Medal of Honor Winner, on Interventionism

There are only two things we should fight for.
One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights.
War for any other reason is simply a racket.


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-- Excerpt from a speech delivered in 1933, by Major General Smedley Butler, USMC.

War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.

I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight.

The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag.

I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers.

There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.

There isn't a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its "finger men" to point out enemies, its "muscle men" to destroy enemies, its "brain men" to plan war preparations, and a "Big Boss" Super-Nationalistic-Capitalism.

It may seem odd for me, a military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps.

I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers.

In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.

I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long.

I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.

During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket*.

Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.

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Described in more detail in his book: War is a Racket

More information on this greatest of military mavericks (founder of VFW, always a fighter for the rights of enlisted men, and a man who REFUSED to ride down on the Bonus Army, leaving Dugout Doug MacArthur to volunteer -- as he did to be part of the takeover of the government) can be found in this book: The Plot to Seize the White House by Jules Archer (Excerpts here)


Other books on or by General Butler listed and available here

(Maverick Marine: General Smedley D. Butler and the Contradictions of American Military History by Hans Schmidt (Excerpt here )

General Smedley Darlington Butler: The Letters of a Leatherneck, 1898-1931 By Smedley Darlington Butler, Edited by Anne Cipriano (Excerpts here)

Chinese American Relations Smedley Butler

The United States Occupation of Haiti,1915 - 1934 Hans Schmidt (General Butler received his second Medal of Honor for his service there) (Excerpt here)

Old Gimlet Eye: Adventures of Smedley D. ButlerSmedley Butler as told to Lowell Thomas (Available here)

A Few Good Men William Overgard -- (A novel featuring Smedley Butler and "Chesty" Puller vs Sandino in Nicaragua in the '30's ) -- If Smedley Butler wasn't the greatest Marine ever, his main competition would have been Sgt. Chesty Puller (Review here)

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