If Butler had not been born, wouldn’t much of this still have happened? I needed to go to these places to access those silenced histories. I wanted to learn the ways in which these things are passed down and to learn things not captured in American sources. I knew memories of the occupation in Haiti still very much alive, but it was true everywhere. These histories have been erased and forgotten in America, but they are very current in all these places. Visiting those countries Butler invaded, why were you just as interested in their perceptions of the U.S. Like back then, we’re at a really dangerous time for our democracy. That includes people in Congress like Josh Hawley who are seeing their opening. They believe that maybe there really isn’t a right to vote.
There are a significant number of people today in America who want some sort of fascism, who want to exclude people from the body politic. But he eventually realizes, “What have I been doing?” and starts questioning himself.Įvents in the book seem highly relevant today - from the plot against Roosevelt to Douglas MacArthur seeking to use troops to attack protesting veterans. Butler is this incredible real-life proxy: He joins the Marines to fight against imperialism in Cuba, then goes around the world exploiting and killing. I hoped that answering that question would answer the larger question of who we are as a country. I plugged “Smedley Butler” into Google and saw all these things about the Business Plot and “ War Is a Racket” and I wondered, “How did this person who created this horrendous trauma then become a critic of war and imperialism?” In Haiti, he was horrible, as part of the massacre at Fort Rivière and essentially re-imposing slavery there. I first encountered in Haiti when researching my first book. Why was Smedley Butler your vehicle for examining the impact of America’s economic and military imperialism? Jonathan Katz aims to resurrect him in his new book, “ Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America’s Empire.” entry into another world war, Buter was as well known for his “ War Is a Racket” speech and writings as he was for his military career.ĭespite leading such a dynamic and dramatic life, he is largely forgotten today. By the end of his life in 1940, a year before U.S.
He then risked a court-martial by repeatedly attacking the manipulation of American power by its plutocrats.
SMEDLEY BUTLER AMERICAS INSTALL
Not only did he serve in Cuba, the Philippines, China, Nicaragua, Panama, Mexico, Haiti and the Dominican Republic but he also personally implemented horrific tactics to exploit those lands and their people, including the essential re-enslavement of Haitians.Īnd finally, Smedley Butler was an American hero again, testifying before Congress to stop “the Business Plot,” an alleged attempt by ultra-wealthy Americans to halt Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal and install a fascist government in its place. Smedley Butler was also a symbol of America’s racist, imperialist and hyper-capitalist policies. Smedley Butler was an American hero of the early 20th century, a symbol of the country’s growing power as a Marine for more than three decades who received 16 medals, including two Medals of Honor and one Marine Corps Brevet Medal.
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