Overview

Major General Smedley Darlington Butler (1881-1940) from the age of 16 to the age of 50 waged war all over the world for the U.S. Marine Corps. Then he denounced what he'd been doing as a ""racket"" driven by Wall Street profiteers. Butler's change of perspective produced probably the most serious and dramatic confession in world history. His insights have stood the test of time. In fact, much of what he said in 1935 is even more true now. This book republishes Butler's famous 1935 pamphlet, War Is a Racket, and also a harder to find collection of five articles, also from 1935, giving more depth to Butler's revelations and his prescriptions for change. Author and activist David Swanson provides context and builds a case that war remains a racket, defined by Butler as ""something that is not what it seems to the majority of people."" Swanson adapts and builds on Butler's recommendations for addressing this racket as it exists now.

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Reviews

Smedley Butler's quotes are timeless for those who believe that War is Not the Answer and are just as relevant today as they were when they were made in 1935. Big war corporations still rule U.S. politics and decisions for war. The wars for profit of 2026 are continued evidence of the truth of Smedley Butler's comments. -Ann Wright, retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel and diplomat, co-author of Dissent: Voices of Conscience David Swanson, one of our cherished antiwar voices, frames another cherished voice - Smedley Darlington Butler, a U.S. Marine Corps warrior who finally saw through the slaughter, mayhem, and economic rape of war, dedicating himself to the cause of a real and lasting peace. Swanson brings home Butler's remarkably courageous stance against nascent fascism and shows us that his rallying cry, War is a Racket, is alive and well in our vicious and turbulent times. -Stephen Vittoria, author, filmmaker The world is a mess. If the world listened to David Swanson, it would be a much better place. -James Bradley, author of Flags of Our Fathers, Precious Freedom Swanson brings back to crackling life a semi-forgotten military man named Smedley Butler, who, after a long career in the military, woke up to its profiteering aspect and spent the rest of his life pointing out and denouncing the deep connection between war and and material greed. Swanson points out the many parallels between Butler's era and now, including the sad reality that the situation has only worsened, swelling6 David Swanson into the vast military-industrial-lobbyist-media-political complex that is the corrupt backbone of the U.S. economy in 2026, pushing us into unnecessary campaigns like the one in Iran. Swanson's book is a concise and eye-opening documentation of Butler's proselytizing that is all the more convincing because it does not gloss over Butler's participation, before his ""conversion,"" in the mercenary support of dictators and giant corporations, especially in Central and South America, that required military backing to exploit workers and turn handsome profits. -Winslow Myers, author of Living Beyond War: A Citizen's Guide, and, with Libby Traubman, One: One Earth, One Humanity, One Future. In this essential book, David Swanson teams up with Smedley Butler to make ""fog facts""-the little-known or unspeakable truths that make war an everyday part of our lives-the basis for seeing the world clearly so that we can cut through corruption and demand peace. -Aran Shetterly U.S. Marines General Smedley Butler and World BEYOND War Executive Director David Swanson, following life trajectories that couldn't be more dissimilar, both arrived at a highly comprehensive understanding of what US President Dwight Eisenhower famously termed the military-industrial complex. Butler and Swanson write with a similarly sly (wry and dry) sense of humor. Perhaps Butler won't convince you that American warfare following the end of the War To End All Wars was a racket. And perhaps Swanson's carefully crafted argument that modern American warfare is still a racket, won't convince you either. Possibly you don't believe that there are wealthy and powerful people, as well as poor and mean people, among us, who think that greed, deceit and murder are good. -Zool Zulkowitz, peace activist

Author Information

Major General Smedley Darlington Butler (1881-1940) from the age of 16 to the age of 50 waged war all over the world for the U.S. MarineCorps. Then he denounced what he'd been doing as a ""racket"" driven by Wall Street profiteers. Butler's change of perspective produced probably the most serious and dramatic confession in world history. His insights have stood the test of time. In fact, much of what he said in 1935 is even more true now. David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is the executive director of World BEYOND War, a global nonviolent movement to end war and establish a just and sustainable peace. He is the campaign coordinator of RootsAction. On November 10, 2024, Swanson was awarded the Real Nobel Peace Prize by the Lay Down Your Arms Foundation in Oslo, Norway. Swanson was awarded the 2018 Peace Prize by the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation. He was also awarded a Beacon of Peace Award by the Eisenhower Chapter of Veterans For Peace in 2011, and the Dorothy Eldridge Peacemaker Award by New Jersey Peace Action in 2022, and a Global Peace Leadership & Excellence Award in 2024. Swanson has been on the advisory boards of: Nobel Peace Prize Watch, Veterans For Peace, Assange Defense, BPUR, Military Families Speak Out, Fields of Peace, and Peace in Ukraine Coalition. He is an Associate of the Transnational Foundation, and a Patron of Platform for Peace and Humanity. He is on the Consultative Council of the SHAPE Project. He is on the International Coordinating Committee of No to War - No to NATO. He is on the Steering Group of Warheads to Windmills.

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