Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881—June 21, 1940), nicknamed "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. Butler was twice the recipient of the Medal of Honor, one of only 19 to be so honored; he is noted for his outspoken left-wing views and his book War is a Racket, one of the first works describing the military-industrial complex. An immensely popular figure in the United States at the time, Butler led the Bonus Army and came forward to the U.S. Congress in 1933 to reveal a plot to overthrow the government of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Butler was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He attended Haverford College and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1898. He fought in the Philippine-American War later that year. In 1900 he recieved a brevet promotion to Captain for his action during the Boxer Rebellion (which brevet promotion qualified him to receive the Marine Corps Brevet Medal in 1921). Then in 1903, he fought to protect the U.S. Consulate in Honduras from rebels.

Butler was married on June 30, 1905. From 1909 to 1912, he served in Nicaragua. Then in April of 1914, Bulter earned his first Medal of Honor for the capture of Vera Cruz, Mexico. On November 17, 1915, he earned his second Medal of Honor for the capture of Fort Riviere , Haiti. He received a Distinguished Service Medal in 1919.

In 1924-1925, Butler was loaned to the city of Philadelphia to serve as a police commissioner . His duty was to enforce Prohibition, a monumentally difficult task. Unlike many at the time, Butler insisted on enforcing the law against all violators, rich and poor, and this earned him both enmity and respect.

In 1927, Butler served a tour in China, and returned to the United States in 1929 as a Major General. On October 1, 1931, Butler retired from the Marines.

Butler was known for his outspoken views against war profiteering and nascent Fascism in the United States. His book War is a Racket holds a highly critical view of the profit motive behind warfare. Between 1935 and 1937, Butler served as a spokesman for the League Against War and Fascism , a leftist organization.

The Camp Smedley Butler http://www.mcbbutler.usmc.mil Marine Corps base on Okinawa, Japan is named in honor of Butler.

See also

• Chesty Puller

Sources and further reading

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about Smedley Butler

• Schmidt, Hans. Maverick Marine: General Smedley D. Butler and the Contradictions of American Military History. University Press of Kentucky: 1998. ISBN 0813109574.
• Major General Smedley D. Butler, USMC http://www.mclm.com/tohonor/sbutler.html from the Marine CorpsLegacy Museum http://www.mclm.com/
• Smedley D. Butler Citations http://www.cmohs.org/medal/history_links/s_butler.htm from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society http://www.cmohs.org/
• War is A Racket http://lexrex.com/enlightened/articles/warisaracket.htm by General Smedley D. Butler
• An American Coup d'État? http://home.iprimus.com.au/korob/fdtcards/Butler.html by Clayton E. Cramer. History Today, November 1995 .