A Daily Updating Blog of Important Events In History That Never Occurred Today.
Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items explore that possibility.

Quick Links

Blog Roll
Althistory Multiply
Bull Spec
Everything Is History
History Blog
History is Funny
John Reilly's Alternate History
Old is the New New
Editor's Recommendations
Alt Hist Magazine
Althistory Wiki
Bloggapedia
Changing the Times
Editor's Postbag
Etys Artwork
For and Against It
Headlines
Iconic Photos
John Reilly's Blog
King and Country
MLK Memorial
New Statesman (What If..)
On This Friday
Selected Threads
This Day in AH
Today in History
Truth be Told
Voice Christian Worker
Zach Timmons AH
Reader's Favourites
Top 100 Ranked Stories
Site Construction
Archive Navigator
Clean DB
Community Journal
Facebook
Get Blogs
Newsfeed Update
Survey
Twitter

Selected threads

Guest Historian Andrew Beane
 Andrews Posts
Guest Historian Chris Oakley
 Apollo 1  Arnold Hiller
 Axis Spain  Baltimore Colts
 Barbaro 2006  Barbarossa 41
 Battle Alaska  Belgium 1940
 Biti Letter  Blackpool 40
 British X Files  Ceaucescu 90
 Chance Encounter  Charles Barkley
 Chicago19  Cimino
 Cleopatra  CSI
 Cuba '62  Curt Flood
 D.B. Cooper  Double Jeopardy
 Eternal City  Falklands
 France 44  Francis Urquhart
 Giant Surprise  God Save Queen
 Grey Cup  GZ Murmansk
 Hirohito@100  Houston 57
 Ice Bowl  Ill Wind
 Iraq NEO Impact  Jamaica Bay
 Japan45  Jay Sebring
 Johnny Damon  Kirk Prime
 Korea 53  Koufax 35
 Last Broadcast  Lusitania '15
 McCain 09  Middle East 67
 Moore 911  Necessary Evil
 New York Knights  O Tempora, ..
 Omega Man  Oswald63
 Parley  Roswell '47
 Salems Lot  Shirers WW2
 Shock  SL Rangers
 Surprise Attack  The Devourer
 Titanic 13  Tom Brady
 Tommies  Tommy Rich
 Trek49  Valkyrie
 Weebls  Worlds Collide
Guest Historian David Atwell
 Action Jackson  Hells Doors
 Hell on Earth  House Cromwell
Guest Historian David Cryan
 Swine Flu
Guest Historian Dirk Puehl
 Dirks Blog
Guest Historian Eric Lipps
 49th State  Bonaparte 2
 Cuba War  Da Vinci Engine
 Ford Killed  Gore Wins
 JFK Impeached  Liberty Fails
 Lifeterm  Linebacker
 No Chappaquiddick
 Whig Revolution
Guest Historian Eric Oppen
 Malcolm X  No Tolkien
 Trotsky's War
Guest Historian Gerry Shannon
 CSA Today  Godfather IV
 Hero Oswald  JFK Lives
 Seinfeld Movie
Guest Historian Jackie Rose
 Happy Endings
Guest Historian Jeff Provine
 Jeff Provine Blog
Guest Historian John J. Reilly
 John Reilly Blog
Guest Historian Jackie Speel
 Conjoined Crisis
Guest Historian Kwame Dallas
 African Holocaust
Guest Historian Mike Stone
 WJ Bryan
Guest Historian Raymond Speer
 Cuba War 62  Fall of Britain
 Fascist Flight
 Gettysburg Prayer
 Pacific and Dixie
Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
 2nd Coming  Canadian Rev
 Chdo Democracy  King Arthur II
 Lucifer Falls  Pete Best Story
 Protocols  Reagan 1976
 Richard Tolman  Sockless
 Soviet America  Speakers Line
 The Sheridans  The Baron
 The Claw  Warp
 Welsh Wizards
Guest Historian Scott Palter
 WW2 Alt
Todayinah Editor Todayinah Ed.
 1860 Crisis  20c Rome
 American Heroes  Anschluss
 Bomber Harris  Business Plot
 Canadian Heroes  China 4ever
 Communist GB  Communist Israel
 Comrade Hiller  Comrade Stalin
 Co presidency  Deepwater
 Fed Lost Cause  Flugzeugtrager
 Glorious45  Good Old Willie
 Gor Smugglers  Happy Hitler
 Hitler Waxwork  Intrepid
 Iron Mare  Islamic America
 Israel's 60th  Jewish Hitler
 Kaiser Victory  Liberty Beacon
 Lloyd George  LOTR
 Madagscar Plan  Manhattan '46
 McBush  Midshipman GW
 Moonbase  No Apollo 1 Fire
 Obama  Peace City One
 POTUS TedK  POTUS Nathaniel
 Puritan World  Resource War
 Sitka  Southern Cross
 The Miracles  Tudor B*stards
 Tyrants  US is Born Again
 US Heroes  War on Terror +
 WhiteHouse Wimp  Wolfes Legacy
 Zoroastria
Guest Historian Zach Timmons
 Alt Indiana Jones
 Brett as 007

Archive Navigator

January February March
April May June
July August September
October November December

Editor's Postbag     |     Feed

All Postbag Items
Reader's Favourites
Baron Jean de Batz
Playing Nice
Tokhtamysh Victorious
Jefferson Undone
Upper Carolina
Nixon killed
Margaret of Anjou
King Arthur II
Haunting Ruin
King Henry IXth
Battle of Nafels
Cosmonaut Leonov
Space Age and Dog Years
Siege of Siena Lifted
Xavier's Vows
Fall of Aquileia
President Bentsen
Catalaunian Plains
American Napoleon 2
Reign of the Batman
Seventh Wife
President Gingrich
Adams Family Values
President Ferraro
Rise of the Bat-boy
Batman: Year One
2002 MN strikes
Panic of 1893
W.B. Yeats born
Too Cold
Comrade Stalin 3
Ohio's Finest
The Death of the Duke
Defenestration of Prague
Troy Eternal
King James III
The Orient
President Edwards born
Superman Begins
Comrade Stalin 4
Principled Stand
Guru
Nova Roma
Jesus of Rome III
President Heston dies
Ike is fired
Death of the Bruce
Happy Endings 20
Failed Statelet
Reagan in 76
June Revolution
POTUS Howard Baker
Actor Reagan
Tiananmen
Jeff and Abe
Centennial Crisis
Jesus of Rome II
Night the Green Goblin died
Mary, Queen of France
Snyder Act
Nicaraguan canal
Concert of Europe
Farthest West
Battle of Turaida
Little Giant
John Hinckley
Cold, Dead Hands
Happy Endings 26c
President Scott
Beauregard undone
Codename James Bond
Op Anthropoid Fails
President Humphrey
Nathaniel Gorham
Birth of the Duke

Site Meter


August 18



Todayinah Editor Editor says, what if the Business Plot succeeded as originally planned? Original quotations are unchanged but used out of context. Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).

Share this Article on: Facebook Twitter

In 1935, on this day the US Secretary of General Welfare, Smedley Butler announced the long-expected retirement of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Press photographs of the wheel-chair ridden and clearly sick President had convinced many Americans that Roosevelt was not in good health. Fortunately, since his appointment, Butler had succeeded in "taking all the worries and details off of his shoulders", and consequently FDR had spent much of the previous year "christening babies, dedicating bridges and kissing children".

Business Plot Part 2: Roosevelt RetiresFormer bond trader and current US Secretary of the Treasury, Mr Gerald MacGuire would be moving forward with improved plans for the New Deal. Especially for First World War Veterans - because the planned reversion to the Gold Standard would ensure that the 1945 bonus would be paid in gold. Compensation for all workers in defence industries, from the lowest labourer to the highest executive, would be limited to "thirty dollars a month, the same wage as the lads in the trenches get".

"We want to see the soldiers' bonus paid in gold. We do not want the soldiers to have rubber money or paper money".The constructive dismissal of the thirty-second President of the United States presented an unexpected opportunity for Huey P. Long.

The disgraced former Governor of Lousiana had been impeached in 1929. According to the Kingfish, his removal from office was the result of illegal political manoerves by Standard Oil who contested his proposal for five cents tax per barrel to pay for his "Share the Wealth" programme. Long would claim with some merit that FDR's removal was the result of a similiar business plot, but on a national scale.

Under the banner of "Every Man a King, but none wears the Crown", Long would seize upon popular resentment, launching an audacious bid for the White House in 1936.


Entry posted by Todayinah Editor Email the AuthorVisit the Authors Web Site © Cramer, Clayton. "An American coup d'etat?. ." History Today. (Nov 1995)
Story Tags Click on the hyperlinked metadata to surf the site! Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Business Plot Source: Wikipedia Labels: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Smedley Butler, Business Plot, America, Federal Government.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, Source material from An American coup d'etat?, Today in History 2009.
Alleged ringleader Gerald MacGuire stated that he wanted to "protect" Roosevelt from other plotters, and install a "secretary of general welfare" to "take all the worries and details off of his shoulders ..."
Butler actually refused to participate in the plot, saying - "Yes; and then you will put somebody in there you can run; is that the idea? The President will go around and christen babies and dedicate bridges and kiss children Mr. Roosevelt will never agree to that himself".


Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2009-08-18 20:31:25 ~ FWIW, people at the time _knew_ about Roosevelt's polio. It didn't equate, in their minds, to sickliness in general.

Readers Comment David Atwell commented on 2009-08-18 23:04:02 ~ So who replaces FDR as President? Garner?

Readers Comment Eric Lipps commented on 2009-08-19 15:43:55 ~ Again, this reminds me of the book "The Plot to Seize the White House". Evidently, in thei TL, Gen. Butler didn't turn the conspirators down when they approached him to head up their military operation.







© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.