Chronology of Smedley Darlington Butler's Life

By Dale Wharton
(click here to read Dale's book review of The Plot to Sieze the White House by Jules Archer)

The following notes on the chronology of Smedley Darlington Butler's (SBD) life utilize two sources:
(a) Jules Archer, The Plot to Seize the White House, 1973
(b) John L Spivak, A Man in His Time, 1967

The numbers at the end of each line refer to page numbers in Archer's book, unless they are preceeded by the initials JLS, in which case these page numbers refer to John L. Spivak's book.)

1881 07 30 Born West Chester PA 37
1898 Joins USMC, coming second of 200 in officer exam 39
1898 07 01 Arrives Santiago de Cuba 40
1899 04 08 Promoted to first lieutenant 41
1899 04 12 Embarks for Philippines, tattooed in Cavite 42
1900 07 13 Assault on Tientsin--Boxer rebellion; wounded 42
1900 07 23 Promoted to captain 44
1902 10 13 To Isla Culebra near Puerto Rico 47
1903 To Honduras then Panama 50
1905 06 30 Marries Ethel Conway Peters at Bay Head NJ 50
1906 11 Daughter Ethel born, Subic Bay 50
1908 10 Promoted to major 51
1909 07 12 Smedley Jr born 51; to Panama, Nicaragua expeditions 52
1912 Supervises rigged election in Nicaragua 57
1913 10 Son Thomas Richard born in Panama 59; second Bronze Star
1914 01 Family to Phila, SDB to flagship Florida off Vera Cruz 59
1914 04 19 Led battalion into Vera Cruz 62, Panama, Medal of Honor
1915 08 US occupies Haiti 63
1915 11 Takes Ft Riviere, Medal of Honor 66
1916 Heads Haitian Gendarmerie, intervenes in Assembly 68f
1916 08 Becomes lieutenant colonel 70
1918 Father chair House Naval Affairs Committee 74
1918 04 Returns from Haiti, takes command of Quantico VA 76
1918 09 24 Arrives Brest, promoted to brigadier general 77, Camp Pontanezen, Distinguished Service Medals &c 80
1920 01 30 John Lejeune USMC commandant, SDB back to Quantico 81
1924 01 07 Phila Director of Public Safety 84
1925 12 31 Fired as Phila supercop 88 ff
1927 01 07 Denounces Volstead Act as class legislation 93
1927 03 25 Arrives Shanghai leading 3rd Marine Brigade 94
1927 11 05 Wife joins SDB at Tientsin. From Shanghai Col Henry Davis blasts Nationalist General Chiang Kai-shek, whom Davis suspects is frontman (for foreign interests?) 98
1927 12 24 Fights fire four days at Standard Oil warehouses 99f
1928 05 26 Father, SDB's confidant and friend, dies 102
1928 09 Helps rebuild bridge then main Tientsin-Peking road 103
1929 01 Returns stateside, takes leave, then Quantico 105
1929 07 Promoted to major general, receives Navy commendation for successful arbitration in China 104
1929 10 Begins to charge speaking fees, to reduce demand 106
1929 12 Publicly discloses rigging Nicaragua election 107
1930 Depressed by deaths of brother Horace and comrade Buck Neville. Navy bypasses SDB--the ranking officer--to name Ben Fuller USMC commandant 109
1931 01 19 In speech he relates story (truthfully recounted by journalist Cornelius Vanderbilt) that Mussolini's car kept going after running over a child 110ff
1931 03 15 Will Rogers writes "I admire him" 116
1931 Dictates war memoirs to Lowell Thomas, who publishes them as OLD GIMLET EYE 118
1931 08 21 Stuns press with antibusiness speech in CT 118 JLS 328
1931 10 01 Retires at 50. In 33 years in corps he had faced gunfire 120 times 119
1931 12 05 LIBERTY magazine carries his attack on desk admirals 121
1932 Loses Republican primary for Senate nomination 123
1932 07 Speaks to bonus marchers in Anacostia 3
1932 07 07 Begins stumping for FDR 124
1933 03 05 FDR proclaims bank holiday, embargoes gold export 127
1933 07 01 Receives Bill Doyle and Gerald C. MacGuire 6
1933 08 Doyle and MacGuire return, leave written speech for SDB to give (on gold standard) at Chicago Legion convention. 9
Alone, MacGuire makes third visit; says nine contributors include Grayson Murphy, Robert Clark, and John Mills 12
1933 09 MacGuire makes fourth call at Newark American Legion (AL) convention. Agrees to arrange visit by Clark. 14 Clark calls on SDB at home, reveals author of speech was John W. Davis 15
SDB upbraids Clark. 17
MacGuire makes fifth call 17
On MacGuire's sixth visit he offers SDB $1000 to make speech calling for return to gold standard 18
1933 10 On visit seven (Penn Station) MacGuire broaches superorg 19
1933 11 16 FDR recognizes USSR 20
1933 12 SDB starts tour for Veterans for Foreign Wars (VFW), visits 18 vets' hospitals 130
1933 12 01 MacGuire leaves for Europe 20
1933 12 11 White House privately learns SDB rebuffed gold group 151f
1934 02 MacGuire sends SDB card from Nice, note from Berlin 153
1934 07 FORTUNE, the monthly, glorifies Italian fascism 21
1934 08 22 MacGuire phones for (last) meeting--Hotel Bellevue. 22 163 Plotters fear FDR might disrupt US finance to fund New Deal 24. MacGuire uncannily predicts five events:
1: Departure as NRA chief of Gen Hugh S Johnson 24 157.
2: Reversal on vets' bonus by Hanford MacNider-- Iowa industrialist, former AL cmndr 28 159.
3: Douglas MacArthur would succeed self as Chief of Staff --a first; father-in-law Stotebury, Phila Morgan rep 28 159f.
4: US superorg modeled on Croix de Feu, with Man on a White Horse leading vets to save capitalism 29f 156f.
5: Al Smith, 1928 presidential candidate, would denounce Democrats and serve as superorg director 29 160f.
1934 09 American Liberty League (ALL) forms [successor to Association Against Prohibition Amendment] 30
1934 09 13 French sees MacGuire two hours, confirms plot 164 JLS 306
1934 09 27 French makes second visit to MacGuire's office 168
1934 11 Congressional Committee on Un-American Activities (CUAA) representative approaches SDB re plot 136 215
1934 11 20 CUAA hears SDB, French, MacGuire--secret exec session 139
1934 11 21 NYT p1 story: denials early, details buried 169
1934 11 22 Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia calls plot cocktail putsch 175
1934 11 26 CUAA publishes statement naming six alleged plotters: John W Davis (Dem candidate for pres 1924), Gen Hugh Johnson, Gen James G Harbord, Thomas W Lamont, Adm Wm S Sims, Hanford MacNider 184
1934 11 28? NYT reports committee not to drop inquiry 185
1934 12 03 TIME runs first-page story ridiculing SDB 186f
1934 12 07 VFW wires FDR supporting SDB 188
1935 01 03 CUAA expires 189
1935 01 04 SDB starts series on radio WCAU 191
1935 SDB writes WAR IS A RACKET 219
1935 02 15 CUAA submits findings supporting SDB 192f
1935 02 17 On national radio, SDB attacks suppression 209 JLS 329
1935 02 25 TIME mocks SDB, then admits he was right in 5-pt note 218
1935 03 SDB gets worshipful letter from vet 217
1935 07 03 SDB's radio series is cancelled 222
1936 01 Al Smith kicks off ALL campaign against New Deal 227f
1936 01 Congress overrides FDR veto of Patman Bonus Bill 227
1936 07 Spanish civil war starts 229
1939 11 SDB attacks law permitting FOB (cash) arms sales 236
1971 09 17 Archer interviews McCormack 211
1971 10 George Seldes comments on press 190