1 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: This is an I heeart original. Imagine a smoke filled room, 2 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:20,440 Speaker 1: like just any smoke filled room. No, no, the smoke 3 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 1: filled room. Ah, the smoke filled room, that mythical place 4 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:29,280 Speaker 1: where nefarious plans are laid in, conspiracies are hatched. It's 5 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:33,040 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty three, and the smoke filled room is occupied 6 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:36,760 Speaker 1: by disgruntled masters of the universe. We're talking really rich, 7 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: really powerful, really white guys, historical dudes. Yeah, and they 8 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:46,840 Speaker 1: all really disliked the President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They joke 9 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: about getting rid of him all the time. I can 10 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,520 Speaker 1: almost picture them now. Yeah, yes, I hate that guy. 11 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: A traito to his class. Now, at some point the 12 00:00:55,920 --> 00:01:00,080 Speaker 1: conversation about getting rid of FDR gets real. He must go, 13 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: I concur we must plan to the smoke filled rooms. 14 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: Us already here. Ah, so we are looks different. Someone 15 00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 1: paint from I Heart Originals and School of Humans. This 16 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: is let's start a coup. I'm your host, Ben Buller, 17 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: and I'm your other host, Alex French, to bring you 18 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: the story. You've done all the research, read the books, 19 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: interviewed historians, but still there are some big gaps in 20 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 1: the historical record. And we'll never know exactly what happened. 21 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: So in those gaps we've had some fun. No, no, 22 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: it else makes it fun. They oh mam episode, what 23 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 1: a basket full of fascists. A proper coup requires three ingredients. 24 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 1: The first thing you need is a leader, but not 25 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: just any kind of leader. You need a dictator, one 26 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: who's actually a puppet so that we can call the shots, 27 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: but nonetheless a strong man who commands respect, the man 28 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: on the white horse, if you will. I like where 29 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: you're going with that, quite as god, not so loud. 30 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: The second ingredient you need muscle, and by muscle we 31 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: mean enough to march on the palace and overwhelm the 32 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: guards and the Capitol police and then any remaining pitchfork 33 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: wielding loyalists. I know some fabulous ruffians from a terrible neighborhood. No, no, 34 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 1: think classia. Columns of jack booted thugs, Oh fabulous, a 35 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: black uniform shirts with those wildly exciting arm biound. The 36 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 1: mind reels with the sartorial options. And you need a 37 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,640 Speaker 1: loyal commander to lead that pack of lunatics. Yes, that's right, Alex. 38 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:49,960 Speaker 1: That person might be the most important piece of the puzzle. 39 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: You better make sure your top general is on your side, 40 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: that their loyalty is in the right place. This is 41 00:02:56,240 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 1: a huge deal. Who do washing genitals? No good? Noted say, 42 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 1: you know, this reminds me of a story, an episode 43 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 1: from American history that nobody really knows or talks about 44 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,600 Speaker 1: too much these days. It's a story about a plot 45 00:03:11,640 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: to overthrow a sitting American president and the general who 46 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 1: claimed that he was recruited to lead the coup. Oh, 47 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: it's a total banger. It's got everything, the seat, betrayal, 48 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,800 Speaker 1: dark comedy. I guess it is kind of dark in here. Well, 49 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 1: then turn on a lamp, dummy, Oh there you are. 50 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: Our story takes place during a time in American history 51 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: when fascism still had that new car smell smack, in 52 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: the middle of what's called the interwar period, those years 53 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: between the First and Second World Wars, the time of 54 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 1: social strife and political upheaval, toxicity courses through our political discourse. 55 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: It felt back then a little bit like it does today. 56 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: And here to tell us more about it is none 57 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 1: other than a man so loathsome so despicable that the 58 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: musical Annie has an entire song about what a tool 59 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: he is that's a true story. I don't know why 60 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,640 Speaker 1: everyone's calling it a great depression. I can't remember when 61 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:16,920 Speaker 1: I last had such a swell time. It's President Herbert Hoover, 62 00:04:17,280 --> 00:04:21,280 Speaker 1: who Well, I'm just gonna let him sink his own ship, America. 63 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: Cool it. There's only twenty five percent unemployment. That means 64 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: seventy five percent of you are lucky enough to have 65 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,360 Speaker 1: jobs you hate. And so what if ninety percent of 66 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:35,920 Speaker 1: West Virginia and Kentucky residents suffer from malnutrushan? I say, 67 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: who'd want to live there? Anyway, mister Hoover. Point is, 68 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: nobody is actually starving. The hoboes are better fad than 69 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: they have ever been. My producers giving me a look? 70 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 1: Was that bad? Should I not have thought that? Yeah? 71 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: Empathy was never your strong suit, mister Hoover. They know, 72 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:55,480 Speaker 1: but look at the actual suit I'm wearing. It's fierce right. 73 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: While homeowners are losing their houses at a rate of 74 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,840 Speaker 1: one thousand a day, you refuse to freeze foreclosures, and 75 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:02,840 Speaker 1: I bad I'd have gotten no way with it if 76 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,720 Speaker 1: it hadn't been for that meddling electorate. Sorry, herbs, that's 77 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: just the way it goes in November nineteen thirty two, 78 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:15,040 Speaker 1: Franklin Delano Roosevelt wins the presidential election in a landslide. 79 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: While it's heads funeralll this top Fox after his inauguration, Roosevelt, 80 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: Are you saying it right? Or am I? Is it 81 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: Roosevelt or is it Roosevelt? I think they're both actually correct. 82 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:31,600 Speaker 1: I mean I pronounce a guad Delano faith used to 83 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: be President man Alex go ahead. So after his inauguration, 84 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: Roosevelt calls an emergency session of Congress, during which the 85 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: legislative branch rubber stamps New Deal legislation aimed at jump 86 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 1: starting the economy, one remaining instrument. It's kind of hard 87 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: to understand what Roosevelt is saying, but he's essentially asking 88 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 1: for broad executive power to fight the depression. He says, 89 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 1: quote as great as the power that would be given 90 00:06:03,840 --> 00:06:06,720 Speaker 1: to me if we were in fact invaded by a 91 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 1: were in foe. Well, if that's what you want to do, 92 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:15,400 Speaker 1: go for it. I gas. Throughout this entire period, the 93 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: idea that democracy has failed is everywhere, and there are 94 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: some very powerful voices advocating for dictatorship in the United States. 95 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 1: Some of these people own newspapers and motion picture companies. 96 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:30,920 Speaker 1: They held government office owned banks and huge corporations. Ideas 97 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:33,720 Speaker 1: about the brokenness of democracy were on the front pages 98 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: of the paper and in the movies. These powerful people 99 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: believed there had to be a better way, a new 100 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:44,520 Speaker 1: path that protected the status quo, while at the same 101 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:56,960 Speaker 1: time giving them even more power. That way was well fascism. 102 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: Case in point. In nineteen thirty three, MGM released a 103 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: remarkable photo drama that's a Depression era speak for movie. 104 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: It's called Gabriel Over the White House. This film was 105 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 1: financed by media magnate William Randolph Hurst, also known as 106 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 1: the inspiration for the classic film Citizen Kane. But like 107 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 1: in a bad way anyway. Hurst media holdings made him 108 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: one of the most powerful men in the world, and 109 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,120 Speaker 1: he made a movie that has been mostly forgotten, but 110 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: it reveals the American elites fascistic fantasy of a strong 111 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 1: man who could just get stuff done. Democracy be damned. 112 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:42,400 Speaker 1: In Gabriel, Walter Houston plays Judd Hammond, an American politician 113 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:45,320 Speaker 1: who has just been inaugurated as President of the United States. 114 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: The film is set in nineteen thirties America. The country's 115 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 1: in peril, poverty, hunger, distrust of institutions. Here's audio of 116 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 1: a disgruntled reporter describing the climate at a press conference 117 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: early in the film. My paper's indictment against the government 118 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: is a staggering one. Millions of dollars are portant to 119 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 1: new Battleship farm as brent corn and wheat is thrown 120 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 1: away into the sea while men and women are begging 121 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 1: for bread. What does the new administration to say to this? Now? 122 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:19,160 Speaker 1: From the get go, it's abundantly obvious that Hammond is 123 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:22,160 Speaker 1: not cut out for the job. He's just one. He's 124 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 1: part of this corrupt political machine that has led the 125 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: American people into a horrific depression. Early in the film, 126 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: Hammond takes a presidential limo on a high speed joy 127 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 1: ride for some reason, and he gets into a catastrophic 128 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: cratch cut two the Presidential ICEU, where Hammond is comatose. 129 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 1: The prognosis is grim. Doctor, what is your opinion, I'm 130 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: afraid he's beyond any human health. But then we see 131 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 1: a tight shot of the hospital room's window curtain fluttering 132 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:59,840 Speaker 1: in the breeze, and there is flooded with light. It's 133 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: a sign that the archangel Gabriel has entered the chamber 134 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:05,720 Speaker 1: to take possession of the President's body. When President Hammond 135 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 1: comes to he is a changed man. He sits silently 136 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 1: in his hospital bed, reading and thinking. He's no longer 137 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:17,680 Speaker 1: so slick. His hair is all messed up. It's a 138 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:20,840 Speaker 1: little bit like Bernie Sanders. Honestly, do not bring me 139 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: into this, my bad Bernie. It's a nice impression. Do 140 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:27,840 Speaker 1: you think the point is Suddenly? The fictional President Hammond 141 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 1: is a man of principle, careful thought, and deliberate action. 142 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:33,360 Speaker 1: He makes promises that sound a lot like some of 143 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:37,320 Speaker 1: FDR's New Deal initiatives. I propose, therefore, to create an 144 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 1: army to be known as the Army of Construction. You'll 145 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 1: be enlisted subjectuminentary disc Later that night, at his State 146 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:48,240 Speaker 1: of the Union address, President Hammond fires his entire cabinet, 147 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 1: and then he forces Congress to adjourn. He declares, and 148 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:53,640 Speaker 1: of what I plan to do in the name of 149 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:56,360 Speaker 1: the people makes me a dictator. Then it is a 150 00:09:56,480 --> 00:10:01,480 Speaker 1: dictatorship based on Jefferson's definition of democracy, a government for 151 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:06,040 Speaker 1: the greatest good of the greatest number. He broadcast his plans. 152 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: He's going to stop foreclosures he's going to protect people's 153 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:14,080 Speaker 1: money in banks. I propose immediately to give direct aid 154 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:17,920 Speaker 1: to the fifty five million American people who depend entirely 155 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 1: upon agriculture, without whose prosperity there can be no real 156 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 1: prosperity in the United States. And all of these things 157 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:30,640 Speaker 1: that President Hammond decrees, he makes them happen to hell 158 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:33,920 Speaker 1: with checks and balances. He's here to cut past the 159 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:38,520 Speaker 1: red tape. He's getting stuff done. He's become an FDR 160 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:42,400 Speaker 1: flavored dictator, but a dictator who does some good things 161 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: is still a dictator. He's consolidated power. But in the 162 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:49,600 Speaker 1: movie you don't see the nasty business that goes along 163 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: with taking complete control of the nation. It's Hollywood selling 164 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 1: softcore fascism. Boom love it. But what does that mean exactly? Fascism? 165 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:01,640 Speaker 1: I mean, more importantly, what did fascism mean during the 166 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:05,480 Speaker 1: interwar period. It's a cottage industry to answer this question. 167 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:09,560 Speaker 1: Whole books have been written and vibrantly disagreed with by 168 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:12,320 Speaker 1: other scholars of fascism just to get to the question 169 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:16,000 Speaker 1: of a definition. That's Richard Stiegman Gaul. He's a writer 170 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:19,360 Speaker 1: and associate history professor at Kent State He's written a 171 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:24,320 Speaker 1: bunch and spectacularly on this topic. Stigman Gaul defines fascism 172 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:29,960 Speaker 1: as a hypernationalist, violent movement committed to the restoration of 173 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:35,880 Speaker 1: national greatness and the belief that extra legal means are 174 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:41,440 Speaker 1: required to restore that national greatness. Let's break that down 175 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:45,320 Speaker 1: a bit. Stegman Goals as fascists are hypernationalists. They believe 176 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:48,520 Speaker 1: their nation is superior, and they must stop at nothing 177 00:11:48,560 --> 00:11:52,120 Speaker 1: to advance and protect their version of it. They welcome violence. 178 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: They're also importantly anti communist, and the last thing fascism 179 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:03,480 Speaker 1: insists that the legal state has been seized by people 180 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:07,840 Speaker 1: who don't belong there. In fact, Stigman Goals says, there's 181 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:11,280 Speaker 1: a good argument to be made that fascism is an 182 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:15,480 Speaker 1: American creation, that it first took shape right after the 183 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:19,160 Speaker 1: Civil War, when a bunch of Confederate soldiers established a 184 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:23,920 Speaker 1: little something called the ku Klux Klan. The KKK believe 185 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 1: that the triumph of the Union over the Confederacy and 186 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:32,440 Speaker 1: the triumph of electoral equality for newly freed African Americans 187 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 1: is a destruction of the real America right, and so 188 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:42,360 Speaker 1: they're willing to go to extra legal lengths murder, terror 189 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:47,320 Speaker 1: to regain their own supremacy. In other words, the government 190 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:50,360 Speaker 1: isn't serving my interests, so I'm going to force it 191 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:54,880 Speaker 1: to by any means necessary, you know, drain the swamp. 192 00:12:56,680 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 1: The interwar period was a time when thousands of Americans, 193 00:13:00,680 --> 00:13:05,320 Speaker 1: dozens of extremist groups, media personalities, and politicians. They all 194 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:09,440 Speaker 1: believe that democracy had failed. They felt like things had 195 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 1: gotten so bad that the time had come to try 196 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:18,520 Speaker 1: something different. They wanted a dictator. After the break, we 197 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:21,880 Speaker 1: join a robing mob of disgruntled soldiers as they occupied 198 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: the nation's capital, and we meet the General Leasi, a 199 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:29,320 Speaker 1: hard eyed, awesome named Jarhead who's traveled the world and 200 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:32,840 Speaker 1: is exactly no tolerance for tom foolery, a legend in 201 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:52,840 Speaker 1: his time, a bigots biggot Major General Smedley Darlington Butler. Okay, 202 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 1: so I know we said we'd introduce you to Smedley, 203 00:13:56,880 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 1: but not quite yet. First we have to set this stage. 204 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 1: We'll go back one year to nineteen thirty two, before 205 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:07,920 Speaker 1: FDR gets elected. A lot of in the US are 206 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:12,560 Speaker 1: flirting with fascism. One group in particular, veterans of the 207 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:17,520 Speaker 1: First World War. They're broke, they're angry, and they hold 208 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:21,920 Speaker 1: Uncle Sam responsible. Three hundred veterans of the Great War 209 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:26,120 Speaker 1: from Portland, Oregon mobilized to march on Washington and lobby 210 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:29,680 Speaker 1: for immediate payment of their war bonuses, the money the 211 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:33,640 Speaker 1: US government promised for their service during World War One. 212 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:37,080 Speaker 1: There's greedy vats. It's always more and more and more 213 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:40,920 Speaker 1: with them. Oh wowur smoke filled room dwelling plutocrats are back. 214 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:44,280 Speaker 1: Do you guys have any advice for the veterans. Yeah, 215 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:48,840 Speaker 1: here's one, be born rich, good advice. These veterans piled 216 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:53,840 Speaker 1: onto eastbound free trains, vacant cattle cars, still stinking of manure, 217 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:59,080 Speaker 1: packing everything they needed in those little broomstick hung hobo's suitcase. 218 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:01,560 Speaker 1: You know what I'm talking about. They're they're called bindles 219 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:04,440 Speaker 1: in case you know you ever need to impress a hobo. Oh, 220 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 1: I promise you I won't. Yes. Along with ante and taxes, 221 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:11,600 Speaker 1: that's a word we do not need to know. High five. 222 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:17,720 Speaker 1: They call themselves the Bonus Expeditionary Force the BEEF, a 223 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 1: callback to the American Expeditionary Force that landed in France. 224 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:25,200 Speaker 1: As word of the BF spreads veterans from every corner 225 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,120 Speaker 1: of the country, pack up their families and head for 226 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:32,880 Speaker 1: the capital. Two hundred from San Francisco, three hundred from Cleveland, 227 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:36,800 Speaker 1: five hundred from Chicago, and exactly none from my compound 228 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 1: and East Egg because me and the b Accoontms have 229 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 1: got better things will do. Look, honestly, these veterans got 230 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:47,320 Speaker 1: a raw deal. They're converging on the nation's capital because 231 00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 1: their military service paid them virtually nothing, leaving them badly 232 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:55,120 Speaker 1: in the hole when they got home. During this time 233 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:58,520 Speaker 1: of poverty and misery, these veterans are amongst the most 234 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:02,880 Speaker 1: vulnerable people in the entire country. After the war, the 235 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: government promised money in the form of bonus certificates that 236 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:09,600 Speaker 1: weren't payable until nineteen forty five. Now that may not 237 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 1: seem like a big deal, but ask yourself, how much 238 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:15,480 Speaker 1: value would you place on your paycheck if you couldn't 239 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:19,000 Speaker 1: redeem it until twenty thirty six. The vets called these 240 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 1: certificates the two Stone Bonus because most everybody would be 241 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: dead before they could collect them. The first wave of 242 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:31,640 Speaker 1: BF soldiers arrives in DC in late May. Hundreds take 243 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,680 Speaker 1: shelter in the ruins of demolished buildings along Pennsylvania. In 244 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:38,880 Speaker 1: Constitution Avenue, not too far from the White House. Thousands 245 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:43,160 Speaker 1: of others built a camp on the Anacostia Flats. Mobile 246 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:45,320 Speaker 1: food carts provided by the War College find them and 247 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:48,680 Speaker 1: stew and coffee. They also got their hands on lumber, 248 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 1: nails and tin, empty bedsacks, and tons of hay for filling. 249 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:57,080 Speaker 1: A vast encampment of tents and shanties take shape, stretching 250 00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:00,240 Speaker 1: across the skyline, and the Salvation Army sets up a 251 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: library near the entrance of the camp. Sounds dusty. Newspapermen 252 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:09,440 Speaker 1: remarked that the occupying crowd is governed by the military's 253 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:13,240 Speaker 1: code of discipline. Walter Waters, the leader of the Beef, 254 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:18,720 Speaker 1: gave his men three rules. No panhandling, no liquor, and 255 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:26,880 Speaker 1: no radical talk. Waters also led the Khaki Shirts, which 256 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:31,920 Speaker 1: was often described as a closely knit semi military organization. 257 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:36,640 Speaker 1: The Khaki Shirts called themselves one hundred percent American, and 258 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:40,560 Speaker 1: they would pounce on any suspected Commies. They would haul 259 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:43,800 Speaker 1: the accused before a kangaroo court and sentenced them to 260 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:48,520 Speaker 1: belt lashings and expulsion from the camps. So what you're saying, Ben, 261 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:52,120 Speaker 1: is that if Walter Waters wasn't an actual fascist, he 262 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: was like fascist adjacent. Yeah, you know, alex I maybe 263 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:59,960 Speaker 1: relatively new at this coup planning business, but I sniffed 264 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:04,520 Speaker 1: some real potential in this massive gathering of disenchanted veterans. Well, 265 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:08,200 Speaker 1: that might be the stew The vets had really gone 266 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 1: through it. They were deeply disillusioned by the grinding misery 267 00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:14,440 Speaker 1: of trench warfare in Europe, and then they come home 268 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 1: to a country sinking into crisis, and they're being disrespected 269 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,800 Speaker 1: by political leaders who refused to pay their war bonuses. 270 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:26,120 Speaker 1: Who was overwhelming and traumatic, and that lasted for decades, 271 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:29,160 Speaker 1: even in the thirties. It's still the long tale of 272 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:31,760 Speaker 1: World War One, and not just the United States, but 273 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 1: in Europe particularly for example, Italian veterans of the war 274 00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 1: came home with the same disillusionment, but instead of being disrespected, 275 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:43,680 Speaker 1: Italian vets were lifted up by their political leaders. Historian 276 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:47,160 Speaker 1: Katie Holt told us about it. What Americans sur in 277 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:50,520 Speaker 1: Italy and the rise of fascism was kind of against 278 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:54,720 Speaker 1: all arts, the fascists having a very different response to 279 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:59,440 Speaker 1: the wartime experience, wearing the veteran status those who were 280 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:04,440 Speaker 1: veterans on their sleeves, retaining the values of patriotism and 281 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:08,720 Speaker 1: apparently retaining values of service. That whole experience in Italy 282 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:12,600 Speaker 1: that American observerst sorce seemed like a perfect counter to 283 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:16,720 Speaker 1: the disillusionment the Americans had fell amongst themselves after the 284 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:21,000 Speaker 1: First Tweld War. In just a few years, the FASCISTI 285 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:24,840 Speaker 1: as they were known, formed an ascendant political movement, the 286 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: National Fascist Party. Benito Mussolini, the organization's head hauncho, called 287 00:19:31,120 --> 00:19:35,120 Speaker 1: for a strong man to revive Italy. All over the country, 288 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:39,720 Speaker 1: armed vigilante squads known as black Shirts organized to keep 289 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:46,320 Speaker 1: the streets clear of socialist, labor, radicals and anarchist Mussolini 290 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:50,040 Speaker 1: used the black Shirts to knock off potential rivals, and 291 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:54,880 Speaker 1: they became known for extreme violets. The FASCISTI sound fashitty, 292 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 1: well language, alex We're a family show. In October nineteen 293 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:04,200 Speaker 1: twenty two, flanked by some thirty thousand black Shirts, Mussolini 294 00:20:04,360 --> 00:20:08,320 Speaker 1: marched on Rome, all but seizing control of the government. 295 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 1: At least according to the propaganda and two Americans. For 296 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 1: fifteen years or so, fascism doesn't seem like such a 297 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:22,360 Speaker 1: bad thing. The new National Fascist Party was really getting 298 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:26,040 Speaker 1: stuff done, and so what you start to see that 299 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 1: many people look to fascist Italy and say, look what 300 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:35,800 Speaker 1: Missleini's doing. In fascist Italy. He's creating philips, he's doing 301 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:40,480 Speaker 1: public works, he's producing a welfare state that enables great 302 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:46,880 Speaker 1: maternal aid, infants care for working mothers, and he's appearing 303 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:49,960 Speaker 1: to create a very functional social safety net and a 304 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:54,560 Speaker 1: welfare state. Americans, on the other hand, still felt hoodwinked 305 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:57,560 Speaker 1: into joining the war. Then the stock market crashed and 306 00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:00,800 Speaker 1: the Great Depression set in. In present Hoover did basically 307 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:04,680 Speaker 1: nothing to help Americans weather the storm. Against that batchup, 308 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:10,600 Speaker 1: you have many Americans who almost provocatively say, what we 309 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:14,400 Speaker 1: mean right now is the dictator. And it's really their 310 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:18,360 Speaker 1: way of saying that democracy isn't serving us. Democracy hasn't 311 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:20,800 Speaker 1: been doing anything. People haven't been really going to the 312 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:22,720 Speaker 1: polls or haven't been going to the post for the 313 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:25,400 Speaker 1: right reason for the best part of the decade, and 314 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:29,760 Speaker 1: so we might as well have a dictator in the 315 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:34,400 Speaker 1: United States. I'll Duche's Squadristi, the Black Shirts, and later 316 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 1: Hitler's Brown Shirts all became a model for American prutal 317 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:44,360 Speaker 1: fascist organizations. The White Shirt Crusaders, the Khaki Shirts, the 318 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,720 Speaker 1: Gray Shirts, the Silver Legion. At this point, they're going 319 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:50,480 Speaker 1: to run out of colors. Bat yeah. The Defenders of 320 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:56,000 Speaker 1: the Christian Faith, the American Nationalist Confederation, the National Gentile League. 321 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:01,120 Speaker 1: They popped up everywhere. They were nativist, populist. Some held 322 00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 1: aspirations greater than garden variety terror and violence, like holding 323 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:11,160 Speaker 1: public office and transforming their world views into actual legislation. 324 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:15,720 Speaker 1: They wanted to force Jewish people into ghettos. They wanted 325 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:20,320 Speaker 1: to limit citizenship and find ways to exclude large numbers 326 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:25,360 Speaker 1: of what they called undesirables from voting. For example, the 327 00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 1: Black Legion, a night riding terror organization, emerged from the Midwest, 328 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:35,800 Speaker 1: spinning out of a KKK security force. They attracted members 329 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:40,800 Speaker 1: who didn't believe the clan's methods were extreme enough. What yeah, 330 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:44,480 Speaker 1: I know, right. And these weren't just civilians. This group 331 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 1: was rumored to include veterans, police chiefs, a city councilman, 332 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:52,920 Speaker 1: even officials from the Department of Justice. In short, the 333 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,680 Speaker 1: people who were supposed to keep the peace conspired to 334 00:22:56,760 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 1: sow chaos. The Black Legion murdered and kidnapped with impunity. 335 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:06,080 Speaker 1: They even had a dedicated arson squad. And then there 336 00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:10,560 Speaker 1: was the American Legion. By American Legion, Alex, do you 337 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 1: mean the old guys with the wood paneled clubhouses who 338 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:17,120 Speaker 1: sometimes sponsor Little League? Yeah, yeah, very different organization back then. 339 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:20,800 Speaker 1: No discussion of American fascism in the Inner War period 340 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:24,400 Speaker 1: is complete without a discussion of the American Legion. Most 341 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:27,400 Speaker 1: of the historians we spoke with about fascism pointed to 342 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:29,880 Speaker 1: the American Legion as being a close cousin of Italy's 343 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:35,160 Speaker 1: Black Shirts. Here's historian Richard Steigmanoligan. The idea is, you know, 344 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,560 Speaker 1: so many men have sacrificed for the nation, we should 345 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:42,160 Speaker 1: found an organization that is designed to represent their interests. 346 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:46,960 Speaker 1: And the American Legions various flirtations with fascism already are 347 00:23:47,120 --> 00:23:50,240 Speaker 1: a huge instance in which soldiers, or perhaps more accurately, 348 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:53,520 Speaker 1: ex soldiers, find themselves drawn to fascism. I mean, you've 349 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:58,120 Speaker 1: got very explicit and open proclamations by the American Legion 350 00:23:58,120 --> 00:24:01,600 Speaker 1: itself that quote unquote, we are the American SQUADRISKI, named, 351 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:06,400 Speaker 1: of course after Mussolini's black shirted vigilantes. The American Legion 352 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:08,880 Speaker 1: were such fans of Mussolini that they invited him to 353 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:13,920 Speaker 1: speak at their convention in nineteen twenty three. He declined, Now, 354 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:18,160 Speaker 1: these American Legion guys weren't all talk either. The Legion 355 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 1: practiced in aggressive anti communist vigilantism. In nineteen nineteen and Centralia, Washington, 356 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:28,680 Speaker 1: there was this notorious street battle between the American Legion 357 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:32,720 Speaker 1: and members of a far left labor activism group called 358 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:36,920 Speaker 1: the Industrial Workers of the World, also known as the Wobblis. 359 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:40,360 Speaker 1: A major fracas broke out at an Armistice Day parade. 360 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:44,360 Speaker 1: It culminated in the death of several legionnaires and the 361 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:48,920 Speaker 1: kidnapping of a Wobbling named Wesley Everest from the local jail. 362 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:52,600 Speaker 1: They lynched it and hanged his body from a bridge. 363 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:57,360 Speaker 1: This was gruesome, gruesome stuff. So remember that massive disenchanted 364 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:00,360 Speaker 1: vets converging on the nation's capitol in mid June nineteen 365 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:03,800 Speaker 1: thirty two. There's no doubt that some portion of the 366 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:07,760 Speaker 1: crowd carries a membership for the American Legion, the Black Legion, 367 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,880 Speaker 1: or the Silver Legion. Pick your proto fascist mob. It's 368 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:14,120 Speaker 1: starting to make the hairs on the back of my neck. 369 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:18,680 Speaker 1: Stand up picture in a blazing hot day, humid with 370 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:23,280 Speaker 1: the scorching sun. The Bonus army is gathered in Washington, DC. 371 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:27,240 Speaker 1: All of these guys packed together in close quarters on 372 00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:33,040 Speaker 1: that blistering concrete. There's palpable tension in the air. They're 373 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:36,720 Speaker 1: waiting for news from Capitol Hill because Congress has finally 374 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:40,160 Speaker 1: begun voting on the war Bonus Bill. They've been waiting 375 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:43,760 Speaker 1: years to be paid for their service, and if Congress 376 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:47,400 Speaker 1: passes the bill, tens of thousands of vets could finally 377 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,840 Speaker 1: be on a path out of hunger and poverty. The 378 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:53,760 Speaker 1: New York Times reports a really visible sag in the 379 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:57,440 Speaker 1: mood the veterans. No defeat is all but certain, and 380 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:00,280 Speaker 1: if by some miracle, the Senate decides it's a good 381 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,120 Speaker 1: idea to write war veterans a two point four billion 382 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:08,200 Speaker 1: dollar check. President Hoover is absolutely gonna Vito. The discussion 383 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:11,720 Speaker 1: on the floor of the Senate Chamber lasts all day. Inside, 384 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:19,080 Speaker 1: the senators can hear the crowd surrounding the building. At 385 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:23,720 Speaker 1: nine thirty pm, Walter Waters, the leader of the gathered veterans, 386 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:27,240 Speaker 1: comes onto the steps of the Capitol and announces that 387 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:32,760 Speaker 1: the bill has been defeated, sixty two to eighteen. These 388 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:37,400 Speaker 1: are hopeless men with hopeless families, They've traveled hundreds of 389 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:40,800 Speaker 1: miles to lobby for a life changing sum of cash 390 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:44,920 Speaker 1: that they believe they rightly deserve, and their futures are 391 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:48,960 Speaker 1: being decided by a bunch of rich senators. So what 392 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,880 Speaker 1: do you think happens next? Oh? I know these homeless 393 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:55,840 Speaker 1: fellows are going to burn down the Capitol. Wait no, 394 00:26:56,320 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: it looks like they're gonna sing America the beautiful Furber 395 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:13,000 Speaker 1: Waves orperble mounds. Man. You know, as singers, they sure 396 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:19,680 Speaker 1: do make wonderful hobos. A month passes, sixteen thousand plus 397 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:24,640 Speaker 1: veterans remain in DC. By mid July, the bonus Marcher's 398 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 1: desperation grows acute. On the last day Congress is in session, 399 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:34,640 Speaker 1: thousands of angry veterans returned to the hill surrounding the Capitol, 400 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:40,120 Speaker 1: forcing terrified legislators to escape through underground tunnels. So is 401 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:43,760 Speaker 1: this the pot where they stormed the Capitol? Not quite. Instead, 402 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:47,720 Speaker 1: President Hoover, true to his name, is going to evict 403 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:54,640 Speaker 1: the beef from Washington, DC begone. Dms by, Now you're 404 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:59,280 Speaker 1: wondering why has Ben Bolin dragged me into this fitted Hooverville. 405 00:27:59,960 --> 00:28:02,040 Speaker 1: I thought this was supposed to be a podcast about 406 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:05,440 Speaker 1: a plot hatched by a cabal of megawealthy industrialists to 407 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:09,560 Speaker 1: overthrow an American president. Right, Okay, perfect timing, Alex. Here 408 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:14,840 Speaker 1: it comes the reason we're here. He's about to trudge 409 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:18,960 Speaker 1: through the ankle deep muck of Anacostia Flats and straight 410 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:22,760 Speaker 1: into our story. A two time Medal of Honor recipient 411 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:25,760 Speaker 1: and the holder of the Marine corps highest honor, the 412 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:30,080 Speaker 1: Brevett Medal, the most decorated marine and the history of 413 00:28:30,120 --> 00:28:33,760 Speaker 1: the service at the time, he is a legit celeb 414 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:39,840 Speaker 1: Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, and yes, that is his 415 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:43,960 Speaker 1: full and very fancy name. He climbs onto a stage 416 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:52,400 Speaker 1: in front of a growing crowd of bonus army vets hi. 417 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:56,600 Speaker 1: He's a wiry five foot eight with ramrod plusture, and 418 00:28:56,640 --> 00:28:59,960 Speaker 1: his nickname is Old Gimlet Eye because in those days, 419 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:03,240 Speaker 1: gimlet eye was an expression to signify a piercing stare. 420 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:07,280 Speaker 1: He sports a massive tattoo of the Marine Corps Loban 421 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:09,520 Speaker 1: anchor on his chest and goes from my throat to 422 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 1: my gun. Yeah, filthy animal. What Smedley Butler is truly 423 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:17,720 Speaker 1: famous for, however, is the care he takes of other Marines. 424 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,680 Speaker 1: Here I clipped out the latest dick placing for you. 425 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:24,040 Speaker 1: It's a real nail binder. Enjoy but he was passed 426 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:27,120 Speaker 1: up for the role of Marine Corps Commandants, the top 427 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:31,440 Speaker 1: job shortly after he retired from the Corps. Now at 428 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:35,440 Speaker 1: fifty years old, Smedley Butler finds himself in the midst 429 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,960 Speaker 1: of an existential reckoning. Who am I when I'm not 430 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:44,320 Speaker 1: doing nice things for vets like clipping comic strips. He 431 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:47,120 Speaker 1: stays out on the road for months at a time, 432 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:50,480 Speaker 1: giving speeches to veteran groups for two hundred and fifty 433 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:53,080 Speaker 1: bucks a pop. He gives a big cut of every 434 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:57,320 Speaker 1: paycheck to the veteran's unemployment fund. You see to him, 435 00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:01,480 Speaker 1: the men in this bonus army crowd, these are his men, 436 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:05,240 Speaker 1: and they feel the same way about him. There's a 437 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:09,120 Speaker 1: loyalty here, one that cannot be bought. There are four 438 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:13,880 Speaker 1: and a half million veterans in the United States. Smedley 439 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:16,680 Speaker 1: thinks they could be a powerful voting block if only 440 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:20,560 Speaker 1: they banded together. When Smedley Butler has introduced, the crowd 441 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:23,760 Speaker 1: greets him with a quote enthusiastic roar of a claim 442 00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:27,280 Speaker 1: that echoes through Washington like thunder. Take it from me. 443 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:34,480 Speaker 1: This is the greatest demonstration of the excuse me, actor 444 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:37,160 Speaker 1: who's playing Smedley Butler? Why do you want? We have 445 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:39,960 Speaker 1: an actual recording of Smedley's voice to play here go 446 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:42,720 Speaker 1: all right, then I'm gonna go take five. Okay, So 447 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:46,440 Speaker 1: here's the clip. Take it from me. This is the 448 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:53,480 Speaker 1: greatest demonstration of Americanism we've ever had, pure Americans willing 449 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:57,520 Speaker 1: to take this beating as you've taken it. Stand right, steady, 450 00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:02,000 Speaker 1: You keep every law, and why the hell shouldn't the 451 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:04,760 Speaker 1: hell yeah, I've done all the bleeding for this country 452 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:10,600 Speaker 1: and for this law and this constitution. It's over. The 453 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:13,960 Speaker 1: beef soldiers won't be getting their money, but the Bonus 454 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:16,520 Speaker 1: Army hangs in DC for another week and a half. 455 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:19,960 Speaker 1: On the morning of July twenty eighth, the cops begin 456 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:22,840 Speaker 1: to yank men from the ruined buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue, 457 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:26,640 Speaker 1: the greatest concentration of fighting troops in Washington since eighteen 458 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:30,360 Speaker 1: sixty five, to rout the Bonus Army from government property, 459 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 1: which they have been occupying without permission. Walter Waters, their leader, 460 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:39,080 Speaker 1: urges the men to cooperate and go peacefully, but some 461 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:44,200 Speaker 1: veterans start throwing rocks at the police. Soon two veterans 462 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:48,520 Speaker 1: are shot dead near the White House. General Douglas MacArthur 463 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:50,840 Speaker 1: shows up in an olive green field coat and ten 464 00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:55,360 Speaker 1: knickers and wears his hat jauntily askewed. That's right, that 465 00:31:55,560 --> 00:32:00,200 Speaker 1: General MacArthur, one of the country's most recognized military leaders today, 466 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:03,760 Speaker 1: though he's her to crack some American skulls. He's got 467 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:09,320 Speaker 1: six hundred armed soldiers and six tanks, and Macarthurs say so. 468 00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:12,840 Speaker 1: The cavalry moves on the ruined buildings along Pennsylvania Avenue, 469 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:16,680 Speaker 1: unleashing a barrage of tear gas on beef occupied buildings. 470 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:19,560 Speaker 1: And so they're being forced out of their shack by 471 00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:22,920 Speaker 1: smoke bomb and tear gas hurled by the troops who 472 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:25,600 Speaker 1: have been called out by the President of the United States. 473 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:30,840 Speaker 1: The infantry follows with rifle mounted bayonets. Beef soldiers put 474 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:35,040 Speaker 1: up a fight, but not much of one. In the evening, 475 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:38,520 Speaker 1: having won the first battle, MacArthur directs his troops to 476 00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:41,520 Speaker 1: torch every tent in the beef camp. It's a spectacle 477 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:44,280 Speaker 1: unparalleled in the history of the country. A day of 478 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:49,240 Speaker 1: bloodshed and riot reminiscent of actual conditions in France in seventeen. 479 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:54,880 Speaker 1: President Hoover watches all of this. He sees the fires 480 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:59,280 Speaker 1: burn from a white house window, and then he goes 481 00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:02,520 Speaker 1: to bed. The light from those tuns is soy bright, 482 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:06,880 Speaker 1: you guys, But not to worry. I got my eyemasky 483 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:12,480 Speaker 1: kittens night. The violence leaves at least two veterans dead 484 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:16,200 Speaker 1: and at least two more veterans severely injured with gunshotings. 485 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:21,360 Speaker 1: Dozens more are hospitalized with concussions, burns, and gashes. People 486 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:24,360 Speaker 1: are wounded by bricks and hatchets. The wife of a 487 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:27,120 Speaker 1: veteran from Dallas is run over by a cavalry horse. 488 00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:30,440 Speaker 1: A fourteen year old boy is treated for serious saber wounds. 489 00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:34,120 Speaker 1: He's not the only one. Gradually, the Bonus Army realizes 490 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:37,080 Speaker 1: that they'd better be good, and a general retreat begins. 491 00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:41,560 Speaker 1: Thousands of vets hobble away from the nation's capital to Johnstown, 492 00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:45,120 Speaker 1: Pennsylvania to regroup. I don't found the nine thousand Bonus 493 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:47,960 Speaker 1: a good. Immediately threw out tents and shacks on themselves 494 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:52,160 Speaker 1: and finally beaten down. But unwilling to accept defeat, the 495 00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:57,320 Speaker 1: beef once again ask Major General Smedley Butler to take command, 496 00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:02,160 Speaker 1: at least according to the newspapers, while the scenes of 497 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:08,560 Speaker 1: MacArthur's soldiers gassing and burning Great War veterans in Smedley, 498 00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:11,960 Speaker 1: he just tells the paper the b ef men should 499 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:17,680 Speaker 1: return to their homes. Major General Smedley Butler is, however, 500 00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:23,880 Speaker 1: far less reticent about attacking President Herbert Hoover. God, Smedley Butler, 501 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:26,320 Speaker 1: leave me alone. I don't come to your encampment and 502 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:30,200 Speaker 1: tell your veterans what to do. So you can imagine 503 00:34:30,240 --> 00:34:34,000 Speaker 1: Smedley's delight when the press flays Hoover for his treatment 504 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:37,960 Speaker 1: of the vets. Even the Washington Daily News, sort of 505 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:42,360 Speaker 1: the Newsmax of its day writes, what a pitiful spectacle 506 00:34:42,640 --> 00:34:44,640 Speaker 1: if the army must be called out to make war 507 00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:49,880 Speaker 1: on unarmed citizens, this is no longer America. Smedley Butler 508 00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:52,560 Speaker 1: goes on the road stumps frift Yard during the thirty 509 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:57,920 Speaker 1: two presidential campaign, declares himself a Hoover for ex president 510 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:03,080 Speaker 1: Republican and you can quote me on that. Look. Smedley 511 00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:06,840 Speaker 1: is a demagogue. There's no real other way to put it. 512 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:12,120 Speaker 1: He has a hard line populist message, speaking directly to veterans, 513 00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:15,760 Speaker 1: From time to time he does lectures on the same 514 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:20,200 Speaker 1: bill as legendary rabble rouser Huey Long All. In all, 515 00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:24,520 Speaker 1: Smedley gives about forty anti Hoover speeches. In the lead 516 00:35:24,560 --> 00:35:28,920 Speaker 1: up to the nineteen thirty two election, mosebf Boys were 517 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:32,200 Speaker 1: cashed in the battlefield of France in nineteen eighteen and 518 00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:35,600 Speaker 1: again in the streets of Washington and thirty two, And 519 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:38,240 Speaker 1: when Americans went to the polls in November of nineteen 520 00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:41,760 Speaker 1: thirty two, Roosevelt's election was more of a tsunami than 521 00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:45,280 Speaker 1: a landslide. Smedley Butler spent the election at his home 522 00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:48,960 Speaker 1: in Newton Square, Pennsylvania, New fdr Victory party for ull Smedley, 523 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:52,160 Speaker 1: though he's not the gloating type n by day, just 524 00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:56,160 Speaker 1: saving the country like I do. Yet, despite all the 525 00:35:56,280 --> 00:36:00,960 Speaker 1: miles Smedley logged for Roosevelt, after the election, the President 526 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:04,760 Speaker 1: elect doesn't want anything to do with him. It feels 527 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:06,520 Speaker 1: a little bit like there are no more battles to 528 00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:09,600 Speaker 1: fight for Smedley. He's out to pasture. He writes a 529 00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:12,760 Speaker 1: book about his Marine Corps adventures called Old Gimlet Eye. 530 00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:15,880 Speaker 1: He reads the newspaper in his easy chair. He delivers 531 00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:18,800 Speaker 1: speeches to any group that will have him. The Women's 532 00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:24,320 Speaker 1: Club of East Orange, New Jersey, the Bristol Father's Association, 533 00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:29,320 Speaker 1: Beautiful m I right, the New England Iron and Hardware Association, 534 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:36,520 Speaker 1: Nice Hammers, everybody. Roosevelt wins the election in November, but 535 00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:41,360 Speaker 1: he is not inaugurated until March. The intervening months are 536 00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:47,080 Speaker 1: the hardest of the depression, and Hoover is still doing nothing. 537 00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:50,760 Speaker 1: Oh my god, I am like so sick of this job. 538 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:54,880 Speaker 1: People were desperate for the government to just help them 539 00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:58,240 Speaker 1: get by. Tell me about it. I'm seeing hardship at 540 00:36:58,240 --> 00:37:02,360 Speaker 1: every damn stop of my speaking tours, and so Smedley. 541 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:07,640 Speaker 1: Butler's speeches take on strong undertones of class conflict. While 542 00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:11,640 Speaker 1: decorating veterans with purple hearts, he tells a Memorial Day 543 00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:15,040 Speaker 1: crowd in Passaic, New Jersey, this isn't just a two 544 00:37:15,240 --> 00:37:21,960 Speaker 1: centimental Even JP Morgan can't buy one man. Finally help comes. 545 00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:27,920 Speaker 1: After taking office, Roosevelt enacts emergency financial reforms. Yeah that's great, 546 00:37:27,920 --> 00:37:30,960 Speaker 1: But what's all this financial balderdash have to do with me? 547 00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:34,120 Speaker 1: I got nothing to do with us fat cat bankers. Well, 548 00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:37,960 Speaker 1: that may seem like the case major General. But one 549 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:42,400 Speaker 1: day in July nineteen thirty three, you're sitting in your 550 00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:46,560 Speaker 1: favorite easy chair. I am just reading the early edition 551 00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:53,560 Speaker 1: of the paper, Okay and Butler Residence, Major General Smellie 552 00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:57,200 Speaker 1: Darlington Butler speaking. When you answer, it's a man who 553 00:37:57,240 --> 00:37:59,840 Speaker 1: says he's from the American Legion. He says someone's on 554 00:37:59,880 --> 00:38:02,800 Speaker 1: their way up from a nearby Legion hall. They'll be 555 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:07,960 Speaker 1: there soon, and they're requesting an audience. And then how 556 00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:10,480 Speaker 1: is it there's a knock on the door. Yeah, I heard, 557 00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:14,960 Speaker 1: and for you, Major General Smedley Butler. Nothing will ever 558 00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:20,840 Speaker 1: be the scene? Why is it? Something bad? Sorry? Smedley, 559 00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:24,080 Speaker 1: no spoilers, It'll have to wait till the next episode. 560 00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:28,320 Speaker 1: A dry up. Next time on Let's Start a Coup? 561 00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:32,400 Speaker 1: Who is Smedley Butler? Really? You're so smart? You tell me. 562 00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:37,120 Speaker 1: Tune in as we explore the seamy underside of Smedley's career. 563 00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:41,560 Speaker 1: Wartz and dol To ask why did so many evil 564 00:38:41,680 --> 00:38:46,160 Speaker 1: people genuinely think of him as their kind of hero? 565 00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:52,200 Speaker 1: Join us to find out. Let's Start a Coup as 566 00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:55,440 Speaker 1: a production of School of Humans and iHeart Podcasts. Our 567 00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:58,480 Speaker 1: hosts are Alex French and Ben Bolin. The show is 568 00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:01,400 Speaker 1: written by Alex French, with additional writing by Joken Osian. 569 00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:06,040 Speaker 1: Original music and scoring by Joken Ocean. Character voices by 570 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:09,080 Speaker 1: Joken Ocean. Sounds like someone didn't get enough attention and 571 00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:13,280 Speaker 1: they're a childhood Elis Buttas is our producer. Emilia Brouck 572 00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:17,000 Speaker 1: is our senior producer. Sound design, additional scoring, mixing and 573 00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:22,320 Speaker 1: mastering by Alexander Overington. Our story editor is Lacy Roberts. 574 00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:26,960 Speaker 1: Fact checking by Austin Thompson. Sean Riggins is our recording engineer. 575 00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:31,960 Speaker 1: Recorded at Tune Welders in Atlanta, Georgia. Executive producers are 576 00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:37,400 Speaker 1: Jason English, Virginia Prescott, Brandon Barr, and Elsie Crowley. Special 577 00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:41,080 Speaker 1: thanks to Ethan Trucks and Adam Overett. Sound licensed from 578 00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:44,280 Speaker 1: Critical Past and the Museum and University of South Carolina 579 00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:48,440 Speaker 1: Moving Image Research Collection. Additional clips courtesy of the National 580 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:52,280 Speaker 1: Archives and Records Administration. If you're enjoying the show, help 581 00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:53,760 Speaker 1: us get the word out by leaving a rating in 582 00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:56,880 Speaker 1: your favorite podcast app, and if you're not buzz off, 583 00:39:57,680 --> 00:40:00,320 Speaker 1: tune in again next time for Let's Start a Coup 584 00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:09,760 Speaker 1: School of Humans