The Business Plot

Major General Smedley Butler was no crack-pot. As the most decorated marine in the history of the US military during his lifetime, Butler did not have a reputation for frivolity or excitability. He was, in contrast, widely-known for his ability to stay cool under pressure, his forthrightness and personal integrity.

“Old Gimlet Eye” as he was called on account of his steely, unflinching gaze, commanded the respect of his troops, military veterans, and civilian political leaders alike.

Which is why it must have come as a shock to some when Butler testified before a select congressional committee on a subject so seemingly far-fetched that nowadays one wouldn't be blamed for imagining his testimony coming instead from a pale-skinned, tin-foil hat-bedecked misfit who'd never seen anything more closely resembling battleground action than an all-night session of World of Warcraft.

So what stunning claims did Butler make in his congressional testimony (since, despite their sensational nature, they were broadly ignored by the press and never penetrated the popular consciousness)?

Butler claimed he had been approached by representatives acting on behalf of a coalition of America’s most powerful business leaders and economic elites to lead a plot to overthrow the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and install a de facto military dictatorship.

The co-conspirators he implicated in the plot included many of the wealthiest names in that period in American history, including Irenee Du Pont, Grayson Murphy, and even Prescott Bush (grandfather of America's scandal-plagued 43rd President), among many other notables. (It's noteworthy that many of these same captains of industry presided over companies that were later revealed to have maintained illicit business dealings with the Nazi party even after America's late entry into World War II.)

So were Butler's claims actually credible? Could it really happen here? Well, strange as it seems, that's what the McCormack-Dickstein congressional committee, which was tasked with investigating Butler's allegations, seemed to conclude. In part, the committee's final report on the incident finds in closing:

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.

Nevertheless, no party to the controversy was ever formally charged with a crime. Little doubt remains over the material facts of Butler's testimony. And the pro-Fascist political sentiments held by many of the parties implicated in the conspiracy are well-documented and broadly acknowledged. Debate among historians, however, still continues about the actual scope, seriousness and feasibility of the plot.

(Submitted by Museum Curator)

Official Status: A congressional committee (the McCormack-Dickstein Committee) investigated Butler's allegations and concluded that they were credible, affirming that the material details of Butler's testimony had been confirmed by the evidence and corroborating testimony.

Curator's Remarks: Ultimately, it's not at all beyond the realm of likelihood that only two things kept America from succumbing wholesale to the iron-heel of military dictatorship at this particular point in our history: The integrity of one honest soldier and the cold calculus of political expediency.

In light of the less than overwhelming popular response to the accounts offered by the few news outlets who even dared to report on the plot, it might be reasonable to consider this particular favorable outcome for American democracy a fragile victory. But it's probably better not to dwell on that fact to the point of paranoia.

Links for Further Reading:

• "The Business Plot" via Wikipedia
• The Business Plot to Overthrow Roosevelt
• The Plot to Overthrow FDR (Documentary Video)
• "Oh, Smedley: Was there really a fascist plot to overthrow the United States government?" via The Straight Dope

The Harem Conspiracy

The final years of the reign of Egypt's last great pharaoh, Ramses III, were characterized by economic problems and increasing popular discontent.

Records from the period describe what may have been history's first general workers' strike in Egypt's 29th year under Ramses III's rule, an unlikely display of social and political sedition that sharply illustrates just how vulnerable the sitting God-King had become.

But the beleaguered pharaoh's troubles didn't end there. It wasn't just the rabble crying out for his head. As he would soon discover, conspirators within his own harem were busily plotting against him, making secret preparations for an ambitious bid to end his life--a ruthless assassination plot orchestrated by one of his own queens and carried out by his most trusted palace servants and high officials.

Arising from what might best be described as a lethal confluence of pride, ambition, and polygamy, the Harem Conspiracy enjoys the distinction of being both one of history's oldest known conspiracies and of being the oldest example of a criminal conspiracy resulting in a formal court proceeding. The official record of the proceedings from that criminal prosecution survive intact to the present day, enshrined in a papyrus scroll known as the Judicial Turin Papyrus.

Although many of the details surrounding the Harem Conspiracy plot remain in dispute, the generally accepted elements of the conspiracy are as follows:

1. The Harem plot was instigated by Ramses III's Queen Tey and her son Pentaware, who had been passed over to succeed the pharaoh to the throne in favor of Queen Isis' son Ramses IV.
   
2. Participants in the conspiracy included trusted palace staff, high state officials, military leaders, and other members of the royal court.
3. Although the plot was exposed and the collaborators all tried and punished, Ramses III did not survive the trial proceedings. The cause of the pharaoh's death remains uncertain, but poisoning has been suggested as one likely possibility (the body, recovered in modern times, shows no obvious signs of injury). Others have suggested the pharaoh's death came as a result of spells cast by court magicians also implicated in the conspiracy, but for obvious reasons, historians are skeptical of such suggestions.
   
4. Whether or not the conspiracy succeeded in bringing about the death of Ramses III by poisoning or other means, the conspiracy failed to achieve its ultimate goals and Ramses IV went on to become Ramses III's successor.
   

Submitted by: The Museum Curator

Curator's Remarks:
This story has all the ear-markings of a great historical drama: murderous palace intrigue, internecine power politics, shadowy patricidal machinations. If a film of these events were produced in Hollywood today, no doubt there would be suggestions of an incestuous relationship between the sensuous and sinister Queen Tey and her equally wicked son Pentaware (whose name seems readymade for a silverscreen villain). Ramses III might be depicted as a noble but fading Arthurian hero, Queen Isis and her son Ramses IV as virtuous royals besieged on all sides by treachery. But perhaps what makes the Harem Conspiracy most significant is its place in the history of jurisprudence as antiquity's first recorded, formal criminal prosecution for the crime of conspiracy.

Links for Further Reading:

• Ruins of Ramses III's Palace
• Translation of Judicial Turin Papyrus (warning: Link may launch pop-up)
• Conspiracy Against the King (Wikipedia)
• Timeline of New Kingdom Period in Egyptian History