Everything about Smedley Butler totally explained
Smedley Darlington Butler (
July 30,
1881 –
June 21,
1940),
nicknamed "
The Fighting Quaker" and "
Old Gimlet Eye", was a
Major General in the
U.S. Marine Corps and, at the time of his death, the most decorated Marine in
U.S. history.
During his 34 years of Marine Corps service, Butler was awarded numerous medals for heroism including the
Marine Corps Brevet Medal (the highest Marine medal at its time for officers), and subsequently the
Medal of Honor twice. Notably, he's one of only 19 people to be twice awarded the Medal of Honor, and one of only three to be awarded a Marine Corps Brevet Medal and a Medal of Honor, and the only person to be awarded a Marine Corps Brevet Medal and a Medal of Honor for two different actions.
In addition to his military career, Smedley Butler was noted for his outspoken anti-
interventionist views, and his book
War is a Racket. His book was one of the first works describing the workings of the
military-industrial complex and after retiring from service, he became a popular speaker at meetings organized by
veterans,
pacifists and
church groups in the 1930s.
In 1934, he informed the
United States Congress that a group of wealthy industrialists had plotted a
military coup known as the
Business Plot to overthrow the government of
President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Early life and family
Butler was born in
West Chester,
Pennsylvania, the oldest in a family of three sons. His parents were
Thomas Stalker Butler and Maud (Darlington) Butler, both members of distinguished
Quaker families. His father was a lawyer, judge, and, for 31 years, a Congressman. During his time in Congress, Thomas S. Butler was chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee during the
Harding and
Coolidge administrations.
Butler was educated at the
West Chester Friends Graded High School and later at
The Haverford School, a secondary school for sons of upper-class Quaker families near Philadelphia, but he dropped out to join the Marines, 38 days before his 17th birthday.
Butler married Ethel Conway Peters of Philadelphia in
Bay Head, New Jersey 1905-06-30. They had a daughter, Ethel Peters, and two sons, Smedley Darlington Jr. and Thomas Richard. He was then posted to garrison duty in the Philippines. Even in garrison, he managed to distinguish himself, launching a resupply mission across the stormy waters of
Subic Bay after his isolated outpost ran out of rations. He was eventually diagnosed with "nervous breakdown" in 1908 and he was given 9 months sick leave. He returned home and spent a successful time in the
West Virginia coal mining business. Despite an offer of permanent employment from the owners, he returned to the Corps.
Military career
Despite his father's desire that he remain in school, Smedley Butler dropped out when the United States declared
war against Spain in 1898. Due to his young age (he was only 16 years old) Butler lied about how old he was in order to secure a commission in the
Marines as a
second lieutenant.
After three weeks of basic training, Second Lieutenant Butler was sent to
Guantanamo,
Cuba, in July 1898, although he saw no action there because the bay was already secured.
The Boxer Rebellion
Butler was twice wounded during the
Boxer Rebellion: once in Tientsin and once in San Tan Pating. During the Battle of
Tientsin on
July 13,
1900, Butler climbed out of a trench to retrieve a wounded officer for medical attention, whereupon he was shot in the thigh. Another Marine helped the wounded Butler to safety but was himself shot; Butler continued to assist the first man to the rear. Four
enlisted men received the Medal of Honor for their actions in the battle. Although officers were not eligible to receive the Medal of Honor, Butler received the
Marine Corps Brevet Medal and commissioned a
captain by
brevet, in recognition of his bravery in the incident. Butler received his promotion while in the hospital recovering, two weeks before his nineteenth birthday. In addition to wounds he received in Tientsin, Butler was also shot in the chest at San Tan Pating.
Honduras
In 1903, Butler fought to protect the U.S.
Consulate in
Honduras from rebels. An incident during that expedition allegedly earned him the first of several colorful nicknames, "Old Gimlet Eye", attributed to the feverish, bloodshot eyes which enhanced his habitually penetrating and bellicose stare.
First Medal of Honor, Veracruz, Mexico (1914)
Between the
Spanish-American War and the American entry into the first
World War in 1917, Butler achieved the distinction, shared with only one other Marine (
Dan Daly) since that time, of being twice awarded the
Medal of Honor for separate incidents of outstanding gallantry in action.
Citation:
» For distinguished conduct in battle, engagement of Vera Cruz,
22 April 1914. Maj. Butler 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.
Second Medal of Honor, Haiti (1915)
Haiti against the "Cacos" rebels in 1915. On
October 24 1915, a patrol of forty-four mounted Marines led by Butler was ambushed by some 400
Cacos. The Marines maintained their perimeter throughout the night, and early the next morning they charged the much larger enemy force from three directions. The startled Haitians fled.
Sergeant Major Dan Daly received a Medal of Honor for his gallantry in the battle.
Later, as the initial organizer and commanding officer of the Haitian Gendarmerie, the native police force, Butler established a record as a capable administrator. Under his supervision, order was largely restored, and many vital public works projects were successfully completed.
World War I
During
World War I, Butler, much to his disappointment, wasn't assigned to a combat command on the Western Front. While his superiors considered him brave and brilliant, they also described him as "unreliable."
He was, however, promoted to the rank of
brigadier general at the age of 37 and placed in command of Camp Pontanezen at
Brest, France. In October 1918, a debarkation depot near Brest funneled troops of the
American Expeditionary Force to the battlefields. The camp was plagued by horribly unsanitary, overcrowded and disorganized conditions.
U.S. Secretary of War Newton Baker sent novelist
Mary Roberts Rinehart to report on the camp. She later described how Butler began by solving the mud problem: "[T]he ground under the tents was nothing but mud, [so] he'd raided the wharf at Brest of the duckboards no longer needed for the trenches, carted the first one himself up that four-mile hill to the camp, and thus provided something in the way of protection for the men to sleep on."
General John J. Pershing authorized a duckboard shoulder patch for the units. This won Butler another nickname, "Old Duckboard." For his services, Butler earned not only the
Distinguished Service Medal of both the Army and the Navy but also the
French Order of the Black Star.
China and stateside service
From 1927 to 1929, Butler was commander of the
Marine Expeditionary Force in
China. He cleverly parlayed among various nationalist generals and warlords in order to protect American lives and property, and ultimately won the public acclaim of contending Chinese leaders.
Military retirement and later years
When Major General
Wendell C. Neville died in July 1930, many expected Butler to succeed him as
Commandant of the Marine Corps.
Speaking and writing career
Butler took up a lucrative career on the lecture circuit. He also was part of a commission established by
Oregon Governor
Julius L. Meier that helped form the Oregon State Police. In 1932, he ran for the
U.S. Senate in the
Republican primary in
Pennsylvania, allied with
Gifford Pinchot, but was defeated by Senator
James J. Davis.
Butler was known for his outspoken lectures against
war profiteering and what he viewed as nascent
fascism in the United States. During the 1930s, he gave many such speeches to
pacifist groups. Between 1935 and 1937, he served as a spokesman for the
American League Against War and Fascism (which some considered
communist-dominated).
In his 1935 book,
War Is a Racket, Butler presented an
exposé and trenchant condemnation of the profit motive behind warfare. His views on the subject are well summarized in the following passage from a 1935 issue of "the non-
Marxist,
socialist" magazine,
Common Sense – one of Butler's most widely quoted statements:
» "I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and 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 benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might 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."
Death
Smedley Butler died at
Naval Hospital,
Philadelphia,
June 21,
1940. He was buried at Oaklands Cemetery in
West Chester, Pennsylvania. His doctor had described his illness as an incurable condition of the upper
gastro-intestinal tract, probably
cancer.
Legacy and honors
Further Information
Get more info on 'Smedley Butler'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://smedley_butler.totallyexplained.com">Smedley Butler Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
