THE
PLOT
TO SEIZE
THE
WHITE HOUSE

Jules Archer

I located and purchased a copy of this 1973 first and only printing of this book. It cost me hundreds of dollars. Since it is rare and unavailable, and since it documents an essential episode in American history, I have endeavored to digitize in HTML and Word.

I have run across a rumour or two stating that there are interests who would have this book suppressed. Therefore, I implore any of you who come across this posting to grab a copy of the HTML or Word document or both and stash it for safekeeping and post it yourself if you have a forum. Because I am in tinfoil hat mode here, I wish to see a viral replication of this book so that these unseen forces will be frustrated. And, yes, because I am in tinfoil hat mode I'm expecting some trouble. I will be more than happy to be wrong about that. I had heard that at least one other indie publisher re-published this book, but they no longer list it, either.

It is my and your public duty to make sure that the American people see just how close the United States came to becoming a Fascist state. It is also instructive to note the relationships between the power principals of that time (1933-34), and note how little things have changed. Government, media, banks, big business, and the military - it is a familiar tale. Vigilance is more important than ever.

READ THIS BOOK.

The final line of the book:

"If we remember Major General Smedley Darlington Butler for nothing else, we owe him an eternal debt of gratitude for spurning the chance to become dictator of the United States-and for making damned sure no one else did either."
- "The Plot To Seize The White House" by Jules Archer, 1973

A quote from inside, telling us all that nothing much has changed, has it?:

"You know, the American people will swallow that. We have got the newspapers. We will start a campaign that the President's health is failing. Everybody can tell that by looking at him, and the dumb American people will fall for it in a second."
- bond salesman Gerald C. MacGuire to Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, 1934


(Note: Misspellings and errors, while very few, are mine. I retained some of the odder spellings and hyphenations made by the author as they seem to be ubiquitous to age before the word processor and its homogenizing spell- and sytax-checkers. :) Also, while italics in the Word version of the book are faithfully reproduced, that will be an ongoing project in the HTML version. And finally, excerpts of letters, speeches, and dialogue are represented, in the book and Word version, by an indented and slightly smaller font. Here they are simply in boldface.

Update: Interesting discussion linking the Bush family (Prescott Bush) with the plotters. And here.
Update II: Great example of a dismissive debunking (sounds desperate to me).
Update III: Some (rather expensive) copies have become available. Bully!
Update IV: It's been re-posted here! Thank you.
Update V: Daily Kos talks about it (not cross-linked to here, though.)

Jacket text:

$7.95

THE PLOT TO SEIZE THE WHITE HOUSE
BY JULES ARCHER

Americans can no longer be shocked by the discovery that information directly affecting their personal freedom is withheld from news media to protect persons with governmental influence. But it still comes as a shocking revelation that in 1933 there was an actual attempt to make a fascist puppet of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Now, more than forty years later, the public still remains ignorant of the story behind THE PLOT TO SEIZE THE WHITE HOUSE.

The fact that the plot was a failure and our present government is still a democracy, is directly attributable to Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, one of the most remarkable generals in American history. A veteran of 35 years in the Marine Corps and twice a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, Butler finally decided that "war is a racket!" His reputation for patriotism, integrity, and dedication to democracy, coupled with his proclivity to speak the truth as he saw it irrespective of official policy, made him a seemingly perfect front for the men who hated Roosevelt. They were people with a determination, if it were impossible to replace the president, to manipulate him through the person of an American Mussolini. Their short-sightedness prevented their realizing that Butler was obviously the wrong choice for the job.

Jules Archer quotes testimony from the McCormack-Dickstein House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings (including testimony that was subsequently censored from public record) that details how Butler was approached by representatives of the arch-conservative American Liberty League; how they tried to persuade him to lead an army of veterans in demonstration against Roosevelt's silver standard; how Butler quickly concluded that the silver standard controversy was being used as a subterfuge to lead American veterans against Washington for truly sinister purposes; and how this hero, patriot, and Republican democrat, upon uncovering the full dimensions of the conspiracy, determined to go to Washington and blow it wide open.

John L. Spivak, a reporter assigned to cover the committee hearings, calls the story "one of the most fantastic plots in American history. . . . What was behind the plot was shrouded in a silence which has not been broken to this day. Even a generation later, those who are still alive and know all the facts have kept their silence so well that the conspiracy is not even a footnote in American histories. It would be regrettable if historians neglected this episode and future generations of Americans never learned of it."

Born in New York City, Jules Archer is a graduate of City College of New York. During World War II he served four years in the Pacific with the Army Air Corps and was also a freelance correspondent by order of General MacArthur. He is the author of many books on political events and personalities, including Mao Tse-tung, The Dictators, Hawks, Doves and the Eagle, The Extremists, and Chou En-lai.
Hawthorn Books, Inc. Publishers 260 Madison Avenue New York, New York 10016

Printed in U.S.A.

THE
PLOT
TO SEIZE
THE
WHITE HOUSE

Jules Archer HAWTHORN BOOKS, INC. PUBLISHERS / New York

THE PLOT TO SEIZE THE WHITE HOUSE
Copyright (c) 1973 by Jules Archer. Copyright under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. All inquiries should be addressed to Hawthorn Books, Inc., 260 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016. This book was manufactured in the United States of America and published simultaneously in Canada by Prentice-Hall of Canada, Limited, 1870 Birchmount Road, Scarborough, Ontario. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 76-39261. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

To reporters George Seldes and John L. Spivak
for their courageous dedication to the
truth, wherever it led


CONTENTS


FOREWORD

AKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I
The Plot

II
The Indispensable Man

Photos

III
The Conspiracy Explodes

IV
Fallout

INDEX (not provided in HTML version)