# The Plot to Seize the White House *The Plot to Seize the White House* is a 1973 nonfiction book by Jules Archer documenting the 1933 [[Business Plot]], in which retired Marine Corps Major General [[Smedley Butler]] said he was approached to lead a coup against Franklin Roosevelt. It is the foundational popular text for the episode the [[The Octopus]] frame treats as a precedent for hidden networks moving against constitutional government. ## Overview The book centers on [[Smedley Butler]], who reported the approach and then publicly exposed it and testified before the McCormack-Dickstein congressional committee. It ties in Wall Street and J.P. Morgan-adjacent interests and the American Liberty League as alleged backers. Out of print for decades, it was rediscovered and reissued as the Business Plot returned to public discussion. ## Epistemic status The book and its subject are established, and the McCormack-Dickstein committee corroborated parts of Butler's testimony -- but no one was prosecuted, and the scale and seriousness of an organized coup remain disputed among historians. Treat the book as the popular account of a real but contested episode. ## See also - [[The Octopus]] - [[Business Plot]] - [[Smedley Butler]]