The Marine general who aided America's global expansion and then came to regret it later in life

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The CBS Mornings Podcast

News & Politics


Journalist and author Jonathan M. Katz tells CBS News' Vladimir Duthiers about Marine General Smedley Butler. In his new book, "Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America's Empire," Katz shares how Butler aided the United States expand it's borders - annexing the Philippines and the land for the Panama Canal, leading troops in China (twice), and helping invade and occupy Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Mexico, and Cuba. Yet in retirement, Butler turned into a warrior against war, imperialism, and big business, declaring: “I was a racketeer for capitalism."See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.