Smedley D. Butler (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940) was a major general in the United States Marine Corps who participated in military activities in the Philippines, China, Central America, the Caribbean and France during his 34-year career. At the time of his retirement he was the most decorated Marine in U. S. History, one only 19 men to receive the Medal of Honor twice. He was born to a well-respected family descended from Quaker ancestors in West Chester, Pennsylvania and was educated at Haverford School.  Following his retirement in 1931 he served as Director of Public Safety in Philadelphia, supervising the city's police and fire departments, and ran for the U.S. Senate in 1932. He became an outspoken critic of what has come to be called the military-industrial complex.  In 1933 he testified before a congressional committee about the Business Plot: that a cabal of industrialists were plotting a coup to overthrow President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, claims that were confirmed in part by a special congressional report.  He toured the country giving his lecture “War Is A Racket” to meetings organized by veterans, pacifists, and church groups, which was published as a short book in 1935. Lowell Thomas, who wrote Butler's oral biography, praised his “moral as well as physical courage” in the introduction.