Prescott Bush and The Plot to Overthrow FDR

Some little historical gems just don't want to stay hidden, as much as those in high places want them to. These same stories also have a tendency to be relevant to current events, even though they happened many, many years ago. This myth about the Bush family is one of them.

Here is how it goes...

The great Bush family, an icon in American politics, had a bit of a problem at one time. Back in the early 1930's, shortly after the Stock Market crash and resulting depression, Capitalist America was struggling to survive (in those days Capitalism was not a done deal for the US). Around the world, the Earth was witnessing the rise of Fascism, while it seemed that Capitalism was going broke.

As the story goes, the mega-capitalists of the era got together for a solution. Some of the names involved are familiar to Americans today; Maxwell House, Bird's Eye, Heinz, Goodtea, and George Bush's grandfather - Prescott Bush. Seeing the rise of Hitler and Mussolini, they imagined a partnership of their grand corporations and and government working together in a Fascist syndicate to secure their profits. They saw the resulting loss of freedoms and the American Way of Life as a nescessary evil to survive and prosper and as a way to end the Great Depression. It is said they were financed in this great venture by the same folks who put Hitler into power.

One thing stood in their way - Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was a firm believer that government should be taking care of it's people, and would never stand for the changes these corporations intended to usher in. With his ideas and policies (such as "the New Deal"), he had to be eliminated.

Retired Marine General Smedley Butler, was allegedly enlisted to stir-up veterans and the American Legion to influence them to rise up against Washington. This is not such a big deal nowadays, but in 1932 The American Legion was a much different organization. They had a history of being used to strong-arm strikers and various other groups which stood against the corporate power brokers of the time, and were prone to start riots. In 1932, that is exactly what they did. Douglas MacArthur used his calvary troops to quell the riot.

Butler's reward for these activities - he would lead the resulting Fascist dictatorship. The leader of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, James Van Zandt, was also asked to participate, but to his credit he declined.

Eventually, Congress caught wind of all these going's on, and Butler was called to testify. Everyone else involved seems to have escaped completely unscathed. Part of the myth says this is because Roosevelt, wishing for his New Deal to be passed, made a deal with Butler's corporate backers.

Did any of this really happen?

All we know for sure is that Butler had to testify in Congress about his activities. The American Legion was never the same again. Butler was discredited and dropped from public view. Prescott Bush has proven ties with the Nazis during this era, and there are records of him laundering their money. We can also see the results in our economic world, with the rise of the mega-corporations - entities with no limit to their actions in the name of profit with the backing of the Federal government. Maybe the Coup de Tat actually took place, but it occurred in the back rooms of Washington and the halls of Wall Street. We will never know.

The US Ambassador to Germany during this period, William Dodd, had this to say about the whole situation:

"A clique of U.S. industrialists is hell-bent to bring a fascist state to supplant our democratic government and is working closely with the fascist regime in Germany and Italy. I have had plenty of opportunity in my post in Berlin to witness how close some of our American ruling families are to the Nazi regime.... A prominent executive of one of the largest corporations, told me point blank that he would be ready to take definite action to bring fascism into America if President Roosevelt continued his progressive policies. Certain American industrialists had a great deal to do with bringing fascist regimes into being in both Germany and Italy. They extended aid to help Fascism occupy the seat of power, and they are helping to keep it there. Propagandists for fascist groups try to dismiss the fascist scare. We should be aware of the symptoms. When industrialists ignore laws designed for social and economic progress they will seek recourse to a fascist state when the institutions of our government compel them to comply with the provisions."

Here is another, albeit, better written article on this subject...

And one more article, just for good reference...