Hooverville, Bonus Marchers, General Smedley Butler
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"We were heroes in 1917," said one veteran bitterly, "but we're bums now."
Hard economic times always incur a certain amount of social dislocation and consequently create opportunities for politically extreme movements.
There were many instances of labor unrest and strikes that turned violent, incidents that prompted temporary mobilizations of state National Guards.
There were also instances where regular Army troops were called out in aid of the civil power. The worst incident of this type was the Bonus Army March in Washington in the summer of 1932.
At the end of World War One, as the American Expeditionary Force was being demobilized, a grateful U.S. government passed legislation that authorized the payment of cash bonuses to war veterans, adjusted for length of service; a bond that matured 20 years later, in 1945.
However, the Crash of 1929 wiped out many veterans' savings and jobs, forcing them out into the streets. Groups of veterans began to organize and petition the government to pay them their cash bonus immediately.
In the spring of 1932, during the worst part of Depression, a group of 300 veterans in Portland, Oregon organized by an ex-Sergeant named Walter W. Walters named itself the 'Bonus Expeditionary Force' or 'Bonus Army', and began travelling across the country to Washington to lobby the government personally.
By the end of May over 3,000 veterans and their families had made their way to Washington, D.C. Most of them lived in a collection of makeshift huts and tents on the mud flats by the Anacostia River outside the city limits. Similar encampments could be found sheltering the migrant unemployed and poor outside any large city in the United States and were called 'Hoovervilles'. By July, almost 25,000 people lived in Anacostia, making it the largest one in the country.
In June, the Patman Bonus Bill, which proposed immediate payment of the veterans' cash bonuses, was debated in the House of Representatives. There was stiff resistance from Republicans loyal to President Hoover, as the estimated cost of the bill was over $2 billion and the Hoover Administration was adamant about maintaining a balanced budget. The bill passed in the Congress on June 15, but was defeated in the Senate only two days later. In response, almost 20,000 veterans slowly shuffled up and down Pennsylvania Avenue for three days in a protest local newspapers titled the 'Death March.'
As the weather and the rhetoric grew hotter, concern grew that the Bonus Army Marchers could cause widespread civil disorder and violence. There were scuffles with the police and some Senators' cars were stoned by unruly crowds of veterans.
Retired Marine General Smedley Butler*, an immensely popular figure among veterans and who had become a vocal opponent of the Hoover Administration, participated in Bonus Army demonstrations and made inflammatory speeches.
He would be approached in 1933 by Fascist sympathizers in the American Legion**, who would try to involve him in an actual plot to seize power in a coup d'etat. It was alleged at the time that the March was directed by the Communist Party of the USA in pursuit of a genuine revolution, but it has since been established that the Party's only actual involvement was sending a small number of agitators and speakers.
Nevertheless, President Hoover considered the Bonus Army Marchers a threat to public order and his personal safety. After the closing ceremonies for that session of Congress on July 16, many members left the Capitol building through underground tunnels to avoid facing the demonstrators outside.
Many of the Marchers left Washington then, but there were still over 10,000 angry, restless veterans in the streets. On July 28, 1932, two veterans were shot and killed by panicked policemen in a riot at the bottom of Capitol Hill.
Hoover told Ralph Furley, the Secretary of War, to tell General Douglas MacArthur, then the Army Chief of Staff, that he wished the Bonus Army Marchers evicted from Washington. Troops from nearby Forts Myer and Washington were ordered in to remove the Bonus Army Marchers from the streets by force.
One battalion from the 12th Infantry Regiment and two squadrons of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, under the command of Major George S. Patton, who had taken over as second in command of the Regiment less than three weeks earlier, concentrated at the Ellipse just west of the White House. At 4:00 p.m. the infantrymen donned gas masks and fixed bayonets, the cavalry drew sabers, and the whole force, followed by several light tanks, moved down Pennsylvania Avenue to clear it of people.
Against the advice of his assistant, Major Dwight D. Eisenhower, MacArthur had taken personal command of the operation. President Hoover had ordered MacArthur to clear Pennsylvania Avenue only, but MacArthur immediately began to clear all of downtown Washington, herding the Marchers out and torching their huts and tents. Tear gas was used liberally and many bricks were thrown, but no shots were fired during the entire operation. By 8:00 p.m. the downtown area had been cleared and the bridge across the Anacostia River, leading to the Hooverville where most of the Marchers lived, was blocked by several tanks.
That evening Hoover sent duplicate orders via two officers to MacArthur forbidding him to cross the Anacostia to clear the Marchers' camp, but MacArthur flatly ignored the President's orders, saying that he was 'too busy' and could not be 'bothered by people coming down and pretending to bring orders'.
MacArthur crossed the Anacostia at 11:00 p.m., routed the marchers along with 600 of their wives and children out of the camp, and burned it to the ground. Then, incredibly, he called a press conference at midnight where he praised Hoover for taking the responsibility for giving the order to clear the camp.
He said,"Had the President not acted within 24 hours, he would have been faced with a very grave situation, which would have caused a real battle. Had he waited another week, I believe the institutions of our government would have been threatened."
Secretary of War Furley was present at this conference and praised MacArthur for his action in clearing the camp, even though he too was aware that Hoover had given directly contrary orders.
The last of the Bonus Army Marchers left Washington by the end of the following day.
Hoover could not publicly disagree with his Chief of Staff and Secretary of War, and ended up paying the political cost of this incident. The possibility of widespread civil unrest growing into a popular revolution had been averted, but the forceful eviction of the Bonus Army Marchers, even though not one shot had been fired by the Army, and only four people killed (the two demonstrators who had been shot by the police and two infants asphyxiated by tear gas), helped to tilt public opinion against Hoover and certainly contributed to his defeat in the 1932 election.
In the end, some money was paid to veterans but not without further difficulties - the Economy Act of 1933 cut veterans disability allowances in an effort to cut federal expensesbut pressure from veterans' groups continued until a lump-sum bonus law was passed over Roosevelt's veto in 1936. Eventually $2.5 billion was awarded to veterans of World War One.
by Brian R. Train - History 151, UMASS
General Smedley Darlington Butler
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On Interventionism - 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 (where have I heard that name before?). 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."
Who was General Smedley Butler?
Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, one of the most colorful officers in the Marine Corps' long history, was one of the two Marines who received two Medals of Honor for separate acts of outstanding heroism.
General Butler, later known to thousands of Marines as "Ol' Gimlet Eye," was born 30 July 1881. He was still in his teens when he was appointed a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps for the War with Spain.
In April 1899, Lieutenant Butler was assigned to duty with the Marine Battalion at Manila, Philippine Islands. From 14 June 1900 to October 1900, he served with distinction in China, and was promoted to captain by brevet for distinguished conduct and public service in the presence of the enemy near Tientsin, China. He was wounded in that battle on 13 July 1900.
Returning to the United States in January 1901, he served at various posts within the continental limits and on several ships. He also served ashore in Puerto Rico and the Isthmus of Panama for short periods. In December 1909, he commanded the 3d Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment on the Isthmus of Panama. He was temporarily detached to command an expeditionary battalion organized for service in Nicaragua, 11 August 1912, in which capacity he participated in the bombardment, assault and capture of Coyotepe, 12 to 31 October. He remained on duty in Nicaragua until November 1912, when he rejoined the Marines at Camp Elliott, Panama.
His first Medal of Honor was presented following action at Vera Cruz, Mexico, in April 1914, where he commanded the Marines who landed and occupied the city. General Butler (then a major) "was eminent and conspicuous in command of his Battalion. He exhibited courage and skill in leading his men through the action of the 22d and in the final occupation of the city."
The following year, he was awarded the second Medal of Honor for bravery and forceful leadership as Commanding Officer of detachments of Marines and seamen of the USS Connecticut in repulsing Caco resistance on Fort Riviere, Haiti, 17 November 1915.
During World War I, he commanded the 13th Regiment of Marines in France. For exceptionally meritorious service, he was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and the French Order of the Black Star. When he returned to the United States in 1919, he became Commanding General of the Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia, and served in this capacity until January 1924.
He was granted leave of absence to accept the post of Director of Public Safety of the City of Philadelphia. In February 1926, he assumed command of the Marine Corps Base at San Diego, California. In March 1927, he returned to China for duty with the 3d Marine Brigade. From April to October 31, he again commanded the Marine Barracks at Quantico. On 1 October 1931, he was retired upon his own application after completion of 33 years' service in the Marine Corps.
General Butler died at the Naval Hospital, Philadelphia, on 21 June 1940.
General Butler was descendant of two old and distinguished families of Quakers. His father was Thomas S. Butler, for over thirty years a Representative in Congress from the Delaware-Chester County district of Pennsylvania, and a longtime chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee. The general's mother was a Darlington and a Hicksite Friend.
** Big Business plots to overthrow Roosevelt
In the summer of 1933, shortly after Roosevelt's "First 100 Days," America's
richest businessmen were in a panic. It was clear that Roosevelt intended to conduct a
massive redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor. Roosevelt had to be stopped at
all costs.
The answer was a military coup. It was to be secretly financed and organized by leading
officers of the Morgan and Du Pont empires. This included some of America's richest and
most famous names of the time:
*In later decades, Raskob would become a "Knight of Malta," a Roman Catholic Religious Order with a high percentage of CIA spies, including CIA Directors William Casey, William Colby and John McCone.
The plotters attempted to recruit General Smedley Butler to lead the coup.
They selected him because he was a war hero who was popular with the troops. The plotters felt his good reputation was important to make the troops feel confident that they were doing the right thing by overthrowing a democratically elected president.
However, this was a mistake: Butler was popular with the troops because he identified with them. That is, he was a man of the people, not the elite.
When the plotters approached General Butler with their proposal
to lead the coup, he pretended to go along with the plan at first, secretly deciding to
betray it to Congress at the right moment.
What the businessmen proposed was dramatic. They wanted General Butler to deliver an
ultimatum to Roosevelt. Roosevelt would pretend to become sick and incapacitated from his
polio, and allow a newly created cabinet officer, a "Secretary of General
Affairs," to run things in his stead. The secretary, of course, would be carrying out
the orders of Wall Street. If Roosevelt refused, then General Butler would force him out
with an army of 500,000 war veterans from the American Legion.
But MacGuire assured Butler the cover story would work: "You know the American people will swallow that. We have got the newspapers. We will start a campaign that the President's health is failing. Everyone can tell that by looking at him, and the dumb American people will fall for it in a second."
The businessmen also promised that money was no object: Clark
told Butler that he would spend half his $60 million fortune to save the other half.
And what type of government would replace Roosevelt's New Deal?
MacGuire was perfectly candid to Paul French, a reporter friend of General Butler's: "We need a fascist government in this country… to save the nation from the communists who want to tear it down and wreck all that we have built in America. The only men who have the patriotism to do it are the soldiers, and Smedley Butler is the ideal leader. He could organize a million men overnight."
Indeed, it turns out that MacGuire travelled to Italy to study
Mussolini's fascist state, and came away mightily impressed. He wrote glowing reports back
to his boss, Robert Clark, suggesting that they implement the same thing.
If this sounds too fantastic to believe, we should remember that by 1933, the crimes of
fascism were still mostly in the future, and its dangers were largely unknown, even to its
supporters. But in the early days, many businessmen openly admired Mussolini because he
had used a strong hand to deal with labor unions, put out social unrest, and get the
economy working again, if only at the point of a gun.
Americans today would be appalled to learn of the many famous
millionaires back then who initially admired Hitler and Mussolini: Henry Ford, John D.
Rockefeller, John and Allen Dulles, who, besides being millionaires, would later become
Eisenhower's Secretary of State and CIA Director, respectively, and, of course, everyone
on the above list. They disavowed Hitler and Mussolini only after their atrocities grew to
indefensible levels.
The plot fell apart when Butler went public.
The general revealed the details of the coup before the McCormack-Dickstein Committee, which would later become the notorious House Un-American Activities Committee. The Committee heard the testimony of Butler and French, but failed to call in any of the coup plotters for questioning, other than MacGuire. In fact, the Committee whitewashed the public version of its final report, deleting the names of powerful businessmen whose reputations they sought to protect. The most likely reason for this response is that Wall Street had undue influence in Congress also.
Even more alarming, the elite controlled media failed to pick up on the story, and even today the incident remains little known. The elite managed to spin the story as nothing more than the rumors and hearsay of Butler and French, even though Butler was a Quaker of unimpeachable honesty and integrity. Butler, appalled by the cover-up, went on national radio to denounce it, but with little success. Butler was finally vindicated in 1967, when journalist John Spivak uncovered the Committee's internal, secret report.
MacGuire denied [Butler's] allegations under oath, but your committee was able to verify all the pertinent statements made to General Butler, with the exception of the direct statement suggesting the creation of the organization. This, however, was corroborated in the correspondence of MacGuire with his principle, Robert Sterling Clark, of New York City, while MacGuire was abroad studying the various form of veterans' organizations of Fascist character.
