In 1934, on this day Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler
(retired ) was appointed to the newly created position of
Secretary of General Affairs. Arriving at a time of grave
national crisis, the "Fighting Quaker" would play a key role in
re-establishing both the authority and also the prestige of the
Federal Government. Recognition would soon follow, Times
Magazine named Butler Man of of the Year, 1934, acknowledging
that "for better or for worse, ...[he] has done the most to
influence the events of the year". Business Plot Part 1: Two
Legends Struggle for the Mastery of AmericaFranklin Delano
Roosevelt, who had won the award in 1932, was not under
consideration because he had effectively been reduced to a
figurehead role as a result of this sweeping re-distribution of
powers. Because the business elite had brought FDR's plans for a
"New Deal" to a sharp halt. Veterans of Foreign Wars commander
James E. Van Zandt confired "he [General Butler] had been
approached by agents of Wall Street to lead a Fascist