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The Business Plot · Also Called the Wall Street Putsch · Confirmed by Congress

The Business Plot of 1933

In 1933, Wall Street bankers plotted to overthrow FDR with a fascist coup. It was confirmed by Congress. Nobody was prosecuted. This is sworn testimony, not conspiracy theory — and the same playbook is running right now.

Sworn Testimony 1934 · McCormack-Dickstein Final Report 1935
1933 Year of the Plot
$3M On the Line — $300M Available, Per Sworn Testimony
500K Veterans They Planned to Recruit
0 People Prosecuted
1935 Final Report Confirmed It

The Plot

What happened, who did it, and how we know

The 1933 Business Plot to overthrow American democracy

Per sworn testimony: $3 million committed up front, $300 million available if needed

They Had $3 Million on the Line and Half a Million Soldiers

In the summer of 1933, a group of wealthy industrialists and Wall Street financiers set in motion a plan to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt and install a fascist government modeled on Mussolini's Italy. Historians know it as the Business Plot — also called the Wall Street Putsch.

The plotters included executives connected to J.P. Morgan, the DuPont family, and other titans of American industry, with the American Liberty League as their political front. Per Butler's sworn testimony, their agent claimed $3 million in hand and $300 million available if needed — and a plan to recruit 500,000 war veterans as their private army.

Their plan was straightforward: force FDR to either surrender real power to a new "Secretary of General Affairs" (their man), or be removed entirely. They needed a credible military leader to front the operation. They chose the most decorated Marine in American history. They chose wrong.

"There is no question that these attempts were discussed, were planned, and might have been placed in execution when and if the financial backers deemed it expedient."

— McCormack-Dickstein Committee, Final Report to the House of Representatives, February 15, 1935

Smedley Butler: The Man Who Stopped It

Major General Smedley Darlington Butler — the most decorated Marine of his era

Archival footage — Major General Butler publicly exposing the plot. Source: CriticalPast historical archive.

Two-Time Medal of Honor Recipient. He Chose the Country.

Smedley Darlington Butler served 34 years in the Marines. He received the Medal of Honor twice — one of only 19 Americans ever to do so. He was the most decorated Marine of his era, and the plotters assumed that his reputation with veterans would give their coup instant credibility.

Instead, Butler went to journalists and to Congress. He testified that the plotters' agent kept returning to the need for "a man on a white horse" — a dictator to save the capitalist system — and that they wanted Butler to be that man. He named names, meetings, and dollar amounts. The McCormack-Dickstein Committee investigated, and its final report stated it "was able to verify all the pertinent statements made by General Butler" except one — which it then corroborated through the plotters' own correspondence.

Not one person was prosecuted. The New York Times dismissed the story as a "gigantic hoax." The financiers faced no consequences. The American Liberty League continued operating until 1940.

Primary Sources — The Congressional Record

Then and Now

The same playbook. Different names. The same goal.

This is not a metaphor. This is a documented pattern. Every element of the 1933 plot has a direct equivalent today — verified by congressional testimony, court records, and public reporting. Look at the side-by-side and tell us what's different.

Element 1933 — The Business Plot Today
Who's Behind It Wall Street financiers, DuPont family, J.P. Morgan executives, wealthy industrialists Billionaire donor class, private equity networks, dark money organizations channeling hundreds of millions into political campaigns
The Political Front The American Liberty League — presented as a "patriotic" civic organization defending the Constitution Network of 501(c)(4) "civic" organizations — Heritage Foundation, ALEC, Federalist Society — shaping courts, laws, and elections
The Private Army 500,000 veterans recruited as paramilitaries, using their legitimate patriotism as cover Armed militia groups, coordinated street presence, January 6th assault on the Capitol using real veterans and military equipment
Target of the Coup FDR's New Deal — Social Security, labor protections, banking regulations, the 40-hour work week Dismantling Social Security, Medicare, labor unions, environmental regulations, and the administrative state entirely
Media Response The New York Times called it a "gigantic hoax"; most papers mocked or buried the story Billionaire-owned media normalizes each escalation; each new attack on democracy treated as just another news cycle
Accountability Zero prosecutions. Not one person went to jail. Plot confirmed by Congress, then quietly forgotten. Pardons issued to January 6th participants. Investigations blocked or defunded. Pattern of impunity repeating.
The Ideology Admiration for Mussolini and European fascism, sold as "saving America" from communism Open admiration for authoritarian leaders, sold as "saving America" from various scapegoated groups

What They Wanted to Destroy

The New Deal programs that the plotters were willing to commit treason to stop

Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933

Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933 — His New Deal was the target of the coup

They Risked Treason to Stop Your Retirement

It's worth being specific about what the Business Plot was trying to destroy. The plotters weren't threatened by communism — that was the cover story. They were threatened by regulation of their wealth and power.

  • Social Security Act (1935) — The first guaranteed income floor for elderly Americans. The plotters' descendants have tried to privatize it ever since.
  • Glass-Steagall Act (1933) — Separated commercial and investment banking, preventing the kind of speculation that caused the 1929 crash. Repealed in 1999.
  • Wagner Act (1935) — Guaranteed workers the right to organize unions and bargain collectively. Under sustained attack for 90 years.
  • Securities Exchange Act (1934) — Created the SEC to regulate stock markets. The plotters' industries were to be regulated for the first time.
  • The 40-hour workweek — Then a radical idea. Workers had been dying in 70-hour weeks for industrial profits.

These programs were not gifts. They were fought for by working people against violent opposition. And they were nearly ended by a coup before they even took effect.

The McCormack-Dickstein Committee Record — Verify It Yourself

Every claim on this page is documented. Here's how to check.

This Has Happened Before.

The Business Plot failed because one man chose his country over his class. Nobody was punished. The money was never seized. The organizations continued.

That's not ancient history. That's the blueprint for what happens when wealthy power goes unchecked — they try again. The only thing that stopped it in 1933 was a witness with integrity and a Congress that did its job.

We're not asking you to take our word for it. The Congressional record is public. Butler's testimony is on video. Look it up yourself.

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