Standard Oil

Former type	Ohio Corporation (1870–1882) Business Trust (1882–1892) New Jersey Holding Company (1899–1911)[1]
Industry	Oil and gas
Successor(s)	See list of successor entities
Founded	1870
Defunct	1911
Headquarters	Cleveland, Ohio (1870–1885) New York City, New York (1885–1911)[2]
Key people	John D. Rockefeller, Founder & Chairman Henry M. Flagler, Senior Executive John D. Archbold, Vice President William Rockefeller, Senior Executive & New York Representative Samuel Andrews, Chemist & First Chief of Refining Operations Charles Pratt, Senior Executive Henry H. Rogers, Senior Executive Oliver H. Payne, Senior Executive Daniel O'Day, Senior Executive Jabez A. Bostwick, Senior Executive & First Treasurer William G. Warden,[3] Senior Executive Jacob Vandergrift,[4] Senior Executive
Products	Fuel, Lubricant, Petrochemicals
Employees	60,000 (1909)[5]

Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world^[6] and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational corporations until it was broken up by the United States Supreme Court in 1911.

John D. Rockefeller was a founder, chairman and major shareholder. As it grew exponentially and engaged in business strategies, tactics and practices that were lawful but drove many smaller businesses under, Standard Oil became widely criticized in the public eye, even as it made Rockefeller the richest man in modern history. Other notable Standard Oil principals include Henry Flagler, developer of Florida's Florida East Coast Railway and resort cities, and Henry H. Rogers, who built the Virginian Railway (VGN), a well-engineered highly efficient line dedicated to shipping southern West Virginia's bituminous coal to port at Hampton Roads.

Early years[link]

John D. Rockefeller c. 1872, shortly after founding Standard Oil

Standard Oil began as an Ohio partnership formed by the well-known industrialist John D. Rockefeller, his brother William Rockefeller, Henry Flagler, chemist Samuel Andrews, silent partner Stephen V. Harkness, and Oliver Burr Jennings, who had married the sister of William Rockefeller's wife. In 1870 Rockefeller incorporated Standard Oil in Ohio. Of the initial 10,000 shares, John D. Rockefeller received 2,667; Harkness received 1,334; William Rockefeller, Flagler, and Andrews received 1,333 each; Jennings received 1,000; and the firm of Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler received 1,000.^[7] Using highly effective tactics, later widely criticized, it absorbed or destroyed most of its competition in Cleveland in less than two months in 1872 and later throughout the northeastern United States.

In the early years, John D. Rockefeller dominated the combine, for he was the single most important figure in shaping the new oil industry.^[8] He quickly distributed power and the tasks of policy formation to a system of committees, but always remained the largest shareholder. Authority was centralized in the company's main office in Cleveland, but decisions in the office were made in a cooperative way.^[9]

In response to state laws trying to limit the scale of companies, Rockefeller and his associates developed innovative ways of organizing, to effectively manage their fast growing enterprise. In 1882, they combined their disparate companies, spread across dozens of states, under a single group of trustees. By a secret agreement, the existing thirty-seven stockholders conveyed their shares "in trust" to nine Trustees: John and William Rockefeller, Oliver H. Payne, Charles Pratt, Henry Flagler, John D. Archbold, William G. Warden, Jabez Bostwick, and Benjamin Brewster.^[10] This organization proved so successful that other giant enterprises adopted this "trust" form.

Standard Oil Refinery No. 1 in Cleveland, Ohio, 1889

The company grew by increasing sales and also through acquisitions. After purchasing competing firms, Rockefeller shut down those he believed to be inefficient and kept the others. In a seminal deal, in 1868, the Lake Shore Railroad, a part of the New York Central, gave Rockefeller's firm a going rate of one cent a gallon or forty-two cents a barrel, an effective 71% discount from its listed rates in return for a promise to ship at least 60 carloads of oil daily and to handle the loading and unloading on its own.^{[citation needed]} Smaller companies decried such deals as unfair because they were not producing enough oil to qualify for discounts.

In 1872, Rockefeller joined the South Improvement Company which would have allowed him to receive rebates for shipping and receive drawbacks on oil his competitors shipped. But when this deal became known, competitors convinced the Pennsylvania Legislature to revoke South Improvement's charter. No oil was ever shipped under this arrangement.^{[citation needed]}

Standard's actions and secret^[11] transport deals helped its kerosene price to drop from 58 to 26 cents from 1865 to 1870. Competitors disliked the company's business practices, but consumers liked the lower prices. Standard Oil, being formed well before the discovery of the Spindletop oil field and a demand for oil other than for heat and light, was well placed to control the growth of the oil business. The company was perceived to own and control all aspects of the trade.

In 1885, Standard Oil of Ohio moved its headquarters from Cleveland to its permanent headquarters at 26 Broadway in New York City. Concurrently, the trustees of Standard Oil of Ohio chartered the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (SOCNJ) to take advantages of New Jersey's more lenient corporate stock ownership laws.

Also in 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act — the source of all American anti-monopoly laws. The law forbade every contract, scheme, deal, or conspiracy to restrain trade, though the phrase "restraint of trade" remained subjective. The Standard Oil group quickly attracted attention from antitrust authorities leading to a lawsuit filed by Ohio Attorney General David K. Watson.

From 1882 to 1906, Standard paid out $548,436,000 in dividends at 65.4% payout ratio. As is common practice in business, a fraction of the profits was put back into the business, rather than being distributed to stockholders. The total net earnings from 1882 to 1906 amounted to $838,783,800, exceeding the dividends by $290,347,800. The latter amount was used for plant expansions.

1895–1911[link]

In 1897, John Rockefeller retired from the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, the holding company of the group, but remained a major shareholder. Vice-president John Dustin Archbold took a large part in the running of the firm. At the same time, state and federal laws sought to counter this development with "antitrust" laws. In 1911, the US Justice Department sued the group under the federal antitrust law and ordered its breakup into 34 companies.

Standard Oil's market position was initially established through an emphasis on efficiency and responsibility. While most companies dumped gasoline in rivers (this was before the automobile was popular), Standard used it to fuel its machines. While other companies' refineries piled mountains of heavy waste, Rockefeller found ways to sell it. For example, Standard created the first synthetic competitor for beeswax and bought the company that invented and produced Vaseline, the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company, which was a Standard company only from 1908 until 1911.

One of the original "muckrakers" was Ida M. Tarbell, an American author and journalist. Her father was an oil producer whose business had failed due to Rockefeller's business dealings. After extensive interviews with a sympathetic senior executive of Standard Oil, Henry H. Rogers, Tarbell's investigations of Standard Oil fueled growing public attacks on Standard Oil and on monopolies in general. Her work was published in 19 parts in McClure's magazine from November 1902 to October 1904, then in 1904 as the book The History of the Standard Oil Company.

The Standard Oil Trust was controlled by a small group of families. Rockefeller stated in 1910: "I think it is true that the Pratt family, the Payne-Whitney family (which were one, as all the stock came from Colonel Payne), the Harkness-Flagler family (which came into the Company together) and the Rockefeller family controlled a majority of the stock during all the history of the Company up to the present time".^[12]

These families reinvested most of the dividends in other industries, especially railroads. They also invested heavily in the gas and the electric lighting business (including the giant Consolidated Gas Company of New York City). They made large purchases of stock in US Steel, Amalgamated Copper, and even Corn Products Refining Company.^[13]

Standard Oil In China[link]

Standard Oil's production increased so rapidly it soon exceeded US demand and the company began viewing export markets. In the 1890s, Standard Oil began marketing kerosene to China's large population of close to 400 million as lamp fuel.^[14] For its Chinese trademark and brand Standard Oil adopted the name "Mei Foo", translating roughly as beautiful and trustworthy or beautiful confidence.^[15][16] Mei Foo also became the name of the tin lamp that Standard Oil produced and gave away or sold cheaply to Chinese peasants, encouraging them to switch from vegetable oil to kerosene. Response was positive, sales boomed and China became Standard Oil's largest market in Asia. Prior to Pearl Harbor, Stanvac was the largest single US investment in SE Asia.^[17]

Socony's North China Department operated a subsidiary called Socony River and Coastal Fleet, North Coast Division, which became the North China Division of Stanvac after that company was formed in 1933.^[18] To distribute its products, Standard Oil constructed storage tanks, canneries (bulk oil from large ocean tankers was re-packaged into 5-gallon tins), warehouses and offices in key Chinese cities. For inland distribution the Company had motor tank trucks and railway tank cars, and for river navigation it had a fleet of low draft steamers and other vessels.^[19] Stanvac's North China Division, based in Shanghai, owned hundreds of river going vessels, including motor barges, steamers, launches, tugboats and tankers.^[20] Up to 13 tankers operated on the Yangtze River, the largest of which were Mei Ping (1,118 gt), Mei Hsia (1,048 gt),and Mei An (934 gt).^[21] All three were destroyed in the 1937 USS Panay incident.^[22] Mei An was launched in 1901 and was the first vessel in the fleet. Other vessels included Mei Chuen, Mei Foo, Mei Hung, Mei Kiang, Mei Lu, Mei Tan, Mei Su, Mei Xia, Mei Ying, and Mei Yun. Mei Hsia, a tanker, was specially designed for river duty and was built by New Engineering and Shipbuilding Works of Shanghai, who also built the 500-ton launch Mei Foo in 1912. Mei Hsia ("Beautiful Gorges") was launched in 1926 and carried 350 tons of bulk oil in three holds, plus a forward cargo hold and space between decks for carrying general cargo or packed oil. She had a length of 206 feet (63 m), a beam of 32 feet (9.8 m), depth of 10 feet 6 inches (3.20 m) and had a bulletproof wheelhouse. Mei Ping ("Beautiful Tranquility") launched in 1927, was designed offshore but assembled and finished in Shanghai. It's oil fuel burners came from the U.S. and water tube boilers came from England.^[23][24]

Monopoly charges and anti-trust litigation[link]

By 1890, Standard Oil controlled 88% of the refined oil flows in the United States. The state of Ohio successfully sued Standard, compelling the dissolution of the trust in 1892. But Standard only separated off Standard Oil of Ohio and kept control of it. Eventually, the state of New Jersey changed its incorporation laws to allow a company to hold shares in other companies in any state. So, in 1899, the Standard Oil Trust, based at 26 Broadway in New York, was legally reborn as a holding company, the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (SOCNJ), which held stock in 41 other companies, which controlled other companies, which in turn controlled yet other companies. This conglomerate was seen by the public as all-pervasive, controlled by a select group of directors, and completely unaccountable.^[25]

U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt depicted as the infant Hercules grappling with Standard Oil in a 1906 Puck magazine cartoon

In 1904, Standard controlled 91% of production and 85% of final sales. Most of its output was kerosene, of which 55% was exported around the world. After 1900 it did not try to force competitors out of business by underpricing them.^[26] The federal Commissioner of Corporations studied Standard's operations from the period of 1904 to 1906^[27] and concluded that "beyond question... the dominant position of the Standard Oil Company in the refining industry was due to unfair practices—to abuse of the control of pipe-lines, to railroad discriminations, and to unfair methods of competition in the sale of the refined petroleum products".^[28] Due to competition from other firms, their market share had gradually eroded to 70% by 1906 which was the year when the antitrust case was filed against Standard, and down to 64% by 1911 when Standard was ordered broken up^[29] and at least 147 refining companies were competing with Standard including Gulf, Texaco, and Shell.^[30] It did not try to monopolize the exploration and pumping of oil (its share in 1911 was 11%).^{[citation needed]}

In 1909, the US Department of Justice sued Standard under federal anti-trust law, the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, for sustaining a monopoly and restraining interstate commerce by:^[31]

"Rebates, preferences, and other discriminatory practices in favor of the combination by railroad companies; restraint and monopolization by control of pipe lines, and unfair practices against competing pipe lines; contracts with competitors in restraint of trade; unfair methods of competition, such as local price cutting at the points where necessary to suppress competition; [and] espionage of the business of competitors, the operation of bogus independent companies, and payment of rebates on oil, with the like intent."

The lawsuit argued that Standard's monopolistic practices had taken place over the preceding four years:^[32]

"The general result of the investigation has been to disclose the existence of numerous and flagrant discriminations by the railroads in behalf of the Standard Oil Company and its affiliated corporations. With comparatively few exceptions, mainly of other large concerns in California, the Standard has been the sole beneficiary of such discriminations. In almost every section of the country that company has been found to enjoy some unfair advantages over its competitors, and some of these discriminations affect enormous areas."

The government identified four illegal patterns: 1) secret and semi-secret railroad rates; (2) discriminations in the open arrangement of rates; (3) discriminations in classification and rules of shipment; (4) discriminations in the treatment of private tank cars. The government alleged:^[33]

"Almost everywhere the rates from the shipping points used exclusively, or almost exclusively, by the Standard are relatively lower than the rates from the shipping points of its competitors. Rates have been made low to let the Standard into markets, or they have been made high to keep its competitors out of markets. Trifling differences in distances are made an excuse for large differences in rates favorable to the Standard Oil Company, while large differences in distances are ignored where they are against the Standard. Sometimes connecting roads prorate on oil—that is, make through rates which are lower than the combination of local rates; sometimes they refuse to prorate; but in either case the result of their policy is to favor the Standard Oil Company. Different methods are used in different places and under different conditions, but the net result is that from Maine to California the general arrangement of open rates on petroleum oil is such as to give the Standard an unreasonable advantage over its competitors"

The government said that Standard raised prices to its monopolistic customers but lowered them to hurt competitors, often disguising its illegal actions by using bogus supposedly independent companies it controlled.^[34]

"The evidence is, in fact, absolutely conclusive that the Standard Oil Company charges altogether excessive prices where it meets no competition, and particularly where there is little likelihood of competitors entering the field, and that, on the other hand, where competition is active, it frequently cuts prices to a point which leaves even the Standard little or no profit, and which more often leaves no profit to the competitor, whose costs are ordinarily somewhat higher."

On May 15, 1911, the US Supreme Court upheld the lower court judgment and declared the Standard Oil group to be an "unreasonable" monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act. It ordered Standard to break up into 34 independent companies with different boards of directors, the biggest two of the companies were Exxon and Mobil.^[35]

Standard's president, John Rockefeller, had long since retired from any management role. But, as he owned a quarter of the shares of the resultant companies, and those share values mostly doubled, he emerged from the dissolution as the richest man in the world.^[36]

Breakup[link]

This section requires expansion.

By 1911, with public outcry at a climax, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled, in Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, that Standard Oil must be dissolved under the Sherman Antitrust Act and split into 34 companies. Two of these companies were Jersey Standard ("Standard Oil Company of New Jersey"), which eventually became Exxon, and Socony ("Standard Oil Company of New York"), which eventually became Mobil.

Over the next few decades, both companies grew significantly. Jersey Standard, led by Walter C. Teagle, became the largest oil producer in the world. It acquired a 50 percent share in Humble Oil & Refining Co., a Texas oil producer. Socony purchased a 45 percent interest in Magnolia Petroleum Co., a major refiner, marketer and pipeline transporter. In 1931, Socony merged with Vacuum Oil Co., an industry pioneer dating back to 1866, and a growing Standard Oil spin-off in its own right.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Jersey Standard had oil production and refineries in Indonesia but no marketing network. Socony-Vacuum had Asian marketing outlets supplied remotely from California. In 1933, Jersey Standard and Socony-Vacuum merged their interests in the region into a 50–50 joint venture. Standard-Vacuum Oil Co., or "Stanvac", operated in 50 countries, from East Africa to New Zealand, before it was dissolved in 1962.

Other Standard Oil breakup companies include "Standard Oil of Ohio" which became SOHIO, "Standard Oil of Indiana" which became Amoco after other mergers and a name change in the 1980s, "Standard Oil of California" became the Chevron Corporation.

Legacy and criticism of breakup[link]

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1911 that antitrust law required Standard Oil to be broken into smaller, independent companies. Among the "baby Standards" that still exist are ExxonMobil and Chevron. Some have speculated that if not for that court ruling, Standard Oil could have possibly been worth more than $1 trillion today.^[37] Whether the breakup of Standard Oil was beneficial is a matter of some controversy.^[38][39] Some economists believe that Standard Oil was not a monopoly, and also argue that the intense free market competition resulted in cheaper oil prices and more diverse petroleum products; in 1890, Rep. William Mason, arguing in favor of the Sherman Antitrust Act, said: "trusts have made products cheaper, have reduced prices; but if the price of oil, for instance, were reduced to one cent a barrel, it would not right the wrong done to people of this country by the trusts which have destroyed legitimate competition and driven honest men from legitimate business enterprise".^[40]

The Sherman Antitrust Act prohibits the restraint of trade. Defenders of Standard Oil insist that the company did not restrain trade; they were simply superior competitors. The federal courts ruled otherwise.

Some economic historians have observed that Standard Oil was in the process of losing its monopoly at the time of its breakup in 1911. Although Standard had 90% of American refining capacity in 1880, by 1911 that had shrunk to between 60 and 65%, due to the expansion in capacity by competitors.^[41] Numerous regional competitors (such as Pure Oil in the East, Texaco and Gulf Oil in the Gulf Coast, Cities Service and Sun in the Midcontinent, Union in California, and Shell overseas; all except Citgo have since either merged with a Standard descendant or was bought by a company that was itself later bought by a Standard descendant) had organized themselves into competitive vertically integrated oil companies, the industry structure pioneered years earlier by Standard itself. In addition, demand for petroleum products was increasing more rapidly than the ability of Standard to expand. The result was that although in 1911 Standard still controlled most production in the older US regions of the Appalachian Basin (78% share, down from 92% in 1880), Lima-Indiana (90%, down from 95% in 1906), and the Illinois Basin (83%, down from 100% in 1906), its share was much lower in the rapidly expanding new regions that would dominate US oil production in the 20th century. In 1911 Standard controlled only 44% of production in the Midcontinent, 29% in California, and 10% on the Gulf Coast.^[42]

Some analysts argue that the breakup was beneficial to consumers in the long run, and no one has ever proposed that Standard Oil be reassembled in pre-1911 form.^[43] ExxonMobil, however, does represent a substantial part of the original company.

Successor companies[link]

The successor companies from Standard Oil's breakup form the core of today's US oil industry. (Several of these companies were considered among the Seven Sisters who dominated the industry worldwide for much of the 20th century.) They include:

• Standard Oil of New Jersey (SONJ) - or Esso (S.O.) – renamed Exxon, now part of ExxonMobil. Standard Trust companies Carter Oil, Imperial Oil (Canada), and Standard of Louisiana were kept as part of Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup.
• Standard Oil of New York – or Socony, merged with Vacuum – renamed Mobil, now part of ExxonMobil.
• Standard Oil of California – or Socal – renamed Chevron, became ChevronTexaco, but returned to Chevron.
• Standard Oil of Indiana - or Stanolind, renamed Amoco (American Oil Co.) – now part of BP.
• Standard's Atlantic and the independent company Richfield merged to form Atlantic Richfield or ARCO, now part of BP. Atlantic operations were spun off and bought by Sunoco.
• Standard Oil of Kentucky – or Kyso was acquired by Standard Oil of California - currently Chevron.
• Continental Oil Company – or Conoco now part of ConocoPhillips.
• Standard Oil of Ohio – or Sohio, acquired by BP in 1987.
• The Ohio Oil Company – or The Ohio, and marketed gasoline under the Marathon name. The company is now known as Marathon Oil Company, and was often a rival with the in-state Standard spinoff, Sohio.

Other Standard Oil spin-offs:

• Standard Oil of Iowa – pre-1911 – became Standard Oil of California.
• Standard Oil of Minnesota – pre-1911 – bought by Standard Oil of Indiana.
• Standard Oil of Illinois - pre-1911 - bought by Standard Oil of Indiana.
• Standard Oil of Kansas – refining only, eventually bought by Indiana Standard.
• Standard Oil of Missouri – pre-1911 – dissolved.
• Standard Oil of Louisiana – always owned by Standard Oil of New Jersey (now ExxonMobil).
• Standard Oil of Brazil – always owned by Standard Oil of New Jersey (now ExxonMobil).

Other companies divested in the 1911 breakup:

• Anglo-American Oil Co. – acquired by Jersey Standard in 1930, now Esso UK.
• Buckeye Pipe Line Co.
• Borne-Scrymser Co. (chemicals)
• Chesebrough Manufacturing (now Unilever)
• Colonial Oil.
• Crescent Pipeline Co.
• Cumberland Pipe Line Co.
• Eureka Pipe Line Co.
• Galena-Signal Oil Co.
• Indiana Pipe Line Co.
• National Transit Co.
• New York Transit Co.
• Northern Pipe Line Co.
• Prairie Oil & Gas.
• Solar Refining.
• Southern Pipe Line Co.
• South Penn Oil Co. – eventually became Pennzoil, now part of Shell.
• Southwest Pennsylvania Pipe Line Co.
• Swan and Finch.
• Union Tank Lines.
• Washington Oil Co.
• Waters-Pierce.

Note: Standard Oil of Colorado was not a successor company; the name was used to capitalize on the Standard Oil brand in the 1930s. Standard Oil of Connecticut is a fuel oil marketer not related to the Rockefeller companies.

Rights to the name[link]

Of the 34 "Baby Standards", 11 were given rights to the Standard Oil name, based on the state they were in. Conoco and Atlantic elected to use their respective names instead of the Standard name, and their rights would be claimed by other companies.

By the 1980s, most companies were using their individual brand names instead of the Standard name, with Amoco being the last one to have widespread use of the "Standard" name, as it gave Midwestern owners the option of using the Amoco name or Standard.

Currently, three supermajor companies own the rights to the Standard name in the United States: ExxonMobil, Chevron Corporation, and BP. BP acquired its rights through acquiring Standard Oil of Ohio and Amoco, and has a small handful of stations in the Midwestern United States using the Standard name. Chevron has one station in each state it owns the rights to branded as Standard except in Kentucky, which it withdrew from in July 2010.^[44] ExxonMobil keeps the Esso trademark alive at stations that sell diesel fuel by selling "Esso Diesel" displayed on the pumps. ExxonMobil has full international rights to the Standard name, and continues to use the Esso name overseas.^[45]

• 

  One of 16 Chevron stations branded as "Standard" to protect Chevron's former trademark; this one is in Las Vegas, Nevada.

• 

  A combination gasoline/diesel pump at an Exxon in Zelienople, Pennsylvania selling Exxon gasoline and "Esso Diesel".

• Bpstandarddurand.jpg

  BP station with "torch and oval" Standard sign in Durand, Michigan.

See also[link]

• The History of the Standard Oil Company (book)
• History of the United States (1865-1918)
• Standard Oil Gasoline Station
• Wamsutta Oil Refinery

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Bringhurst, Bruce. Antitrust and the Oil Monopoly: The Standard Oil Cases, 1890–1911. New York: Greenwood Press, 1979.
• Chernow, Ron. Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. London: Warner Books, 1998.
• Droz, R.V. Whatever Happened to Standard Oil?, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2005.
• Folsom, Jr., Burton W. John D. Rockefeller and the Oil Industry from The Myth of the Robber Barons. New York: Young America, 2003.
• Giddens, Paul H. Standard Oil Company (Companies and men). New York: Ayer Co. Publishing, 1976.
• Henderson, Wayne. Standard Oil: The First 125 Years. New York: Motorbooks International, 1996.
• Hidy, Ralph W. and Muriel E. Hidy. History of Standard Oil Company (New Jersey : Pioneering in Big Business 1882–1911). New York: Ayer Co. Publishing, 1987.
• Jones; Eliot. The Trust Problem in the United States 1922. Chapter 5; online edition
• Klein, Henry H. Dynastic America and Those Who Own It. New York: Kessinger Publishing, [1921] Reprint, 2003.
• Knowlton, Evelyn H. and George S. Gibb. History of Standard Oil Company: Resurgent Years 1911–1927. New York: Harper & Row, 1956.
• Larson, Henrietta M., Evelyn H. Knowlton and Charles S. Popple. New Horizons 1927–1950 (History of Standard Oil Company (New Jersey), Volume 3). New York: Harper & Row, 1971.
• Latham, Earl ed. John D. Rockefeller: Robber Baron or Industrial Statesman?, 1949. Primary and secondary sources.
• Manns, Leslie D. "Dominance in the Oil Industry: Standard Oil from 1865 to 1911" in David I. Rosenbaum ed, Market Dominance: How Firms Gain, Hold, or Lose it and the Impact on Economic Performance. Praeger, 1998. online edition
• Montague, Gilbert Holland. The Rise And Progress of the Standard Oil Company. (1902) online edition
• Montague, Gilbert Holland. "The Rise and Supremacy of the Standard Oil Company," Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 16, No. 2 (February , 1902), pp. 265–292 in JSTOR
• Montague, Gilbert Holland. "The Later History of the Standard Oil Company," Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 17, No. 2 (February , 1903), pp. 293–325 in JSTOR
• Nevins, Allan. John D. Rockefeller: The Heroic Age of American Enterprise. 2 vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940.
• Nevins, Allan. Study In Power: John D. Rockefeller, Industrialist and Philanthropist. 2 vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1953.
• Nowell, Gregory P. (1994). Mercantile States and the World Oil Cartel, 1900–1939.. Cornell University Press. 
• Standard Oil Company of California. Whatever happened to Standard Oil?, 1980. Retrieved June 25, 2005.
• Tarbell, Ida M. The History of the Standard Oil Company, 1904. The famous original expose in McClure's Magazine of Standard Oil.
• Wall, Bennett H. Growth in a Changing Environment: A History of Standard Oil Company (New Jersey), Exxon Corporation, 1950–1975. New York: Harpercollins, 1989.
• Williamson, Harold F. and Arnold R. Daum. The American Petroleum Industry: The Age of Illumination, 1859–1899, 1959: vol 2, American Petroleum Industry: the Age of Energy 1899–1959, 1964. The standard history of the oil industry. online edition of vol 1
• Yergin, Daniel. The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• The Dismantling of The Standard Oil Trust
• Educate Yourself- Standard Oil -- Part I
• Witch-hunting for Robber Barons: The Standard Oil Story by Lawrence W. Reed—argues Standard Oil was not a coercive monopoly.
• The Truth About the "Robber Barons"—arguing that Stand Oil was not a monopoly.
• Google Books: Dynastic America and Those Who Own It, 2003 (1921), by Henry H. Klein
• Standard Oil Trust original Stock Certificate signed by John. D. Rockefeller, William Rockefeller, Henry M. Flagler and Jabez Abel Bostwick - 1882
• Whatever happened to Standard Oil?: Pre-1911 and Post-1911—Timeline of the various subsidiaries
• Standard Oil around the World: Post-1911
• CHARLES A. WHITESHOT: THE OIL-WELL DRILLER.A HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE, THE OIL INDUSTRY Publisher: MANNINGTON 1905

Jello Biafra
Jello Biafra at Fusion Festival 2010
Background information
Birth name	Eric Reed Boucher
Also known as	Occupant, Count Ringworm, Osama McDonald
Born	(1958-06-17) June 17, 1958 (age 54) Boulder, Colorado, U.S.
Genres	Punk rock, spoken word
Occupations	Musician, speaker, record label director, Green Party politician
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1976–present
Labels	Alternative Tentacles
Associated acts	Dead Kennedys, The Melvins, No WTO Combo, D.O.A., Lard, Al Jourgensen, Ministry, Pennywise, The Offspring, Pansy Division, Leftöver Crack, Nomeansno, Sepultura, Tool, Revolting Cocks, Napalm Death, Brujeria, Mojo Nixon, 1000 Homo DJs, Métal Urbain, Body Count, Tumor Circus, Butthole Surfers, Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine
Website	AlternativeTentacles.com Alternative Tentacles myspace

Jello Biafra (born Eric Reed Boucher; June 17, 1958, Boulder, Colorado) is an American musician, spoken word artist and leading figure of the Green Party of the United States. Biafra first gained attention as the lead singer and songwriter for San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. After he left the band, he took over the influential independent record label Alternative Tentacles, which he had co-founded in 1979 with Dead Kennedys bandmate East Bay Ray. Although now focused primarily on spoken word, he has continued as a musician in numerous collaborations.

Politically, Biafra is a member of the Green Party of the United States^[1] and actively supports various political causes. He ran for the party's Presidential nomination in 2000, finishing second to Ralph Nader.^[2] He is a staunch believer in free society, which is not to be confused with libertarianism or voluntary society (voluntaryism), who utilizes shock value and^[1] advocates direct action and pranksterism in the name of political causes. Biafra is known to use absurdist media tactics, in the leftist tradition of the Yippies, to highlight issues of civil rights and social justice.

Early life[link]

Eric Boucher was born in Boulder, Colorado, to parents Stanley Boucher, a psychiatric social worker and poet, and Virginia Boucher, a librarian, who worked two cubicles away from Ed Sauer.^{[citation needed]} He also had a sister, Julie J. Boucher, the Associate Director of the Library Research Service at the Colorado State Library (who died in a mountain-climbing accident on October 12, 1996).^[3] As a child, Eric Boucher developed an interest in international politics that was encouraged by his parents. An avid news watcher, one of his earliest memories was of the John F. Kennedy assassination.^[4] Biafra says he has been a fan of rock music since first hearing it in 1965, when his parents accidentally tuned in to a rock radio station. During the 1970s, he became involved in activism in reaction to several events of the era including the Vietnam War, the Chicago 7 trial, and the Kent State shootings.^[5]

He began his career in music in January 1977 as a roadie for the punk rock band The Ravers (who later changed their name to The Nails), soon joining his friend John Greenway in a band called The Healers. The Healers became infamous locally for their mainly improvised lyrics and avant garde music. In the autumn of that year, he began attending the University of California, Santa Cruz.^[6] He studied acting and the history of Paraguay before leaving to become involved in San Francisco, California's punk scene.

Musical career[link]

The Dead Kennedys[link]

In June 1978, he responded to an advertisement placed in a store by guitarist East Bay Ray, stating "Guitarist wants to form punk band",^[7] and together they formed the Dead Kennedys. He began performing with the band under the stage name Occupant,^{[citation needed]} but soon began to use his current stage name, a combination of the brand name Jell-O and the short-lived African state Biafra. Biafra wrote the band's lyrics, most of which were political in nature and displayed a sardonic, sometimes absurdist, sense of humor despite their serious subject matter. In the tradition of UK anarcho-punk bands like Crass, the Dead Kennedys were one of the first US punk bands to write politically-themed songs. The lyrics Biafra wrote helped popularize the use of humorous lyrics in hardcore. Biafra cites Joey Ramone as the inspiration for his use of humor in his songs (as well as being the musician who made him interested in punk rock), noting in particular songs by The Ramones such as "Beat on the Brat" and "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue".^[8]

Biafra initially attempted to compose music on guitar, but his lack of experience on the instrument and his own admission of being "a fumbler with my hands" led Dead Kennedys bassist Klaus Flouride to suggest that Biafra simply sing the parts he envisioned to the band.^[9] Biafra sang his riffs and melodies into a tape recorder, which he brought to the band's rehearsal and/or recording sessions. This later became a problem when the other members of the Dead Kennedys sued Biafra over royalties and publishing rights.^{[clarification needed]} By all accounts, including his own, Biafra is not a conventionally-skilled musician,^[9] though he and his collaborators (Joey Shithead of D.O.A. in particular) attest that he is a skilled composer^[10] and his work, particularly with the Dead Kennedys, is highly respected by punk-oriented critics and fans.

	Holiday in Cambodia noicon "Holiday in Cambodia" by the Dead Kennedys from Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Jello Biafra with the Dead Kennedys

Biafra's first popular song was the first single by the Dead Kennedys, "California Über Alles". The song, which spoofed California governor Jerry Brown, was the first of many political songs by the group and Biafra. The song's popularity resulted in its being covered by other musicians, such as The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy (who rewrote the lyrics to parody Pete Wilson), John Linnell of They Might Be Giants and Six Feet Under on their Graveyard Classics album of cover versions. Not long after, the Dead Kennedys had a second and bigger hit with "Holiday in Cambodia" from their debut album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables. Allmusic cites this song as "possibly the most successful single of the American hardcore scene"^[11] and Biafra counts it as his personal favorite Dead Kennedys song.^[12] Minor hits from the album included "Kill the Poor" (about potential abuse of the then-new neutron bomb) and a satirical cover of Elvis Presley's "Viva Las Vegas".

The Dead Kennedys received some controversy in the spring of 1981 over the single "Too Drunk to Fuck". The song became a big hit in Britain, and the BBC feared that it would manage to be a big enough hit to appear among the top 30 songs on the national charts, requiring a mention on Top of the Pops. However, the single peaked at number 31 in the charts.^[5]

Later albums also contained memorable songs, but with less popularity than the earlier ones. The EP In God We Trust, Inc. contained the song "Nazi Punks Fuck Off!" as well as "We've Got A Bigger Problem Now", a rewritten version of "California Über Alles" about Ronald Reagan. Punk musician and scholar Vic Bondi considers the latter song to be the song that "defined the lyrical agenda of much of hardcore music, and represented its break with punk".^[13] The band's most controversial album, Frankenchrist, brought with it the song "MTV Get Off the Air", which accused MTV of promoting poor quality music and sedating the public. The album also contained a controversial poster by Swiss surrealist artist H. R. Giger entitled Penis Landscape.

The Dead Kennedys toured widely during their career, starting in the late 1970s. They began playing mostly at southern Californian clubs (most notably the Whisky a Go Go), but eventually they moved to major clubs across the country, including CBGB in New York. Later, they played to larger audiences such as at the 1980 Bay Area Music Awards (where they played the notorious "Pull My Strings" for the only time), and headlined the 1983 Rock Against Reagan festival.^[14]

On May 7, 1994, people who believed Biafra was a "sell out" attacked him at the 924 Gilman Street club in Berkeley, California. Biafra claims that he was attacked by a man nicknamed Cretin, who crashed into him while moshing. The crash injured Biafra's leg, causing an argument between the two men. During the argument, Cretin pushed Biafra to the floor and five or six friends of Cretin assaulted Biafra while he was down, yelling "Sellout rock star, kick him", and attempting to pull out his hair.^[15] Biafra was later hospitalized with serious injuries.^[16] The attack derailed Biafra's plans for both a Canadian spoken-word tour and an accompanying album, and the production of Pure Chewing Satisfaction was halted. However, Biafra returned to the Gilman club a few months after the incident to perform a spoken-word performance as an act of reconciliation with the club.^[17]

Biafra has been a prominent figure of the Californian punk scene and was one of the founding members of the San Francisco hardcore punk community. Many later hardcore bands have cited the Dead Kennedys as a major influence.^[18] Hardcore punk author Steven Blush describes Biafra as hardcore's "biggest star" who was a "powerful presence whose political insurgence and rabid fandom made him the father figure of a burgeoning subculture [and an] inspirational force [who] could also be a real prick... Biafra was a visionary, incendiary [performer]."^[19]

After the Dead Kennedys disbanded, Biafra's new songs were recorded with other bands, and he released only spoken word albums as solo projects. These collaborations had less popularity than Biafra's earlier work. However, his song "That's Progress", originally recorded with D.O.A. for the album Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors, received considerable exposure when it appeared on the album Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1.

Obscenity prosecution[link]

In April 1986, police officers raided his house in response to complaints by the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC).^[20] In June 1986, L.A. deputy city attorney Michael Guarino, working under City Attorney James Hahn, brought Biafra to trial in Los Angeles for distributing "harmful material to minors" in the Dead Kennedys album Frankenchrist.^[21] In actuality, the dispute was about neither the music nor the lyrics from the album, but rather the print of the H. R. Giger poster Landscape XX (Penis Landscape) included with the album. Biafra believes the trial was politically motivated; it was often reported that the PMRC took Biafra to court as a cost-effective way of sending a message out to other musicians with content considered offensive in their music.^[22]

Music author Reebee Garofalo argued that Biafra and Alternative Tentacles may have been targeted because the label was a "small, self-managed and self-supported company that could ill afford a protracted legal battle."^[23] Facing the possible sentence of a year in jail and a $2000 fine, Biafra, Dirk Dirksen, and Suzanne Stefanac founded the No More Censorship Defense Fund, a benefit made up of several punk rock bands, to help pay for his legal fees, which neither he nor his record label could afford. The jury deadlocked 5 to 7 in favor of acquittal, prompting a mistrial; despite a motion to re-try the case, the judge ordered all charges dropped.^{[citation needed]} The Dead Kennedys disbanded during the trial, in December 1986, due to the mounting legal costs; in the wake of their disbandment, Biafra made a career of his spoken word performances. His early spoken word albums focused heavily on the trial (especially in High Priest of Harmful Matter), which made him renowned for his anti-censorship stance.

Biafra has a cameo role in the 1988 film Tapeheads. He plays an FBI agent who arrests the two protagonists (played by Tim Robbins and John Cusack). Whilst arresting them his character asks "Remember what we did to Jello Biafra?" lampooning the obscenity prosecution.

On March 25, 2005, Biafra appeared on the U.S. radio program This American Life, "Episode 285: Know Your Enemy", which featured a phone call between Jello Biafra and Michael Guarino, the prosecutor in the Frankenchrist trial. The episode was about Guarino's change of opinion and the reconciliation between Guarino and Biafra.

Lawsuit by former band members and reunion activities[link]

In October 1998, former members of the Dead Kennedys sued Biafra for nonpayment of royalties. According to Biafra, the suit resulted from his refusal to allow one of the band's most well known singles, "Holiday in Cambodia", to be used in a commercial for Levi's Dockers; Biafra opposes Levi's because he believes that they use unfair business practices and sweatshop labor.^[24] The three former members claimed that their motive had nothing to do with advertising, and that they had filed suit because Biafra had denied them royalties and failed to promote their albums. Biafra maintained that he had never denied them royalties, and that he himself had not even received royalties for rereleases of their albums or "posthumous" live albums which had been licensed to other labels by the Decay Music partnership. Decay Music denied this charge and have posted what they say are his cashed royalty checks.^[25] Biafra also complained about the songwriting credits in new reissues and archival live albums of songs that Biafra claims he composed himself to the entire band. In May 2000, a jury found Biafra liable for fraud and malice and ordered him to pay $200,000, including $20,000 in punitive damages, to the band members.^[26] After an appeal by Biafra’s lawyers, in June 2003, the California Court of Appeal unanimously upheld all the conditions of the 2000 verdict against Biafra and Alternative Tentacles.^[27]

The other band members reunited in 2001 without Biafra under the name of "DK Kennedys" (later returning to the original band name), replacing Biafra first with Brandon Cruz, then with Jeff Penalty, and finally with Ron "Skip" Greer. Biafra himself has openly criticized his former bandmates' legal tactics and reunion tours, most notably in the song "Those Dumb Punk Kids (Will Buy Anything)", which he performed with The Melvins.

Other bands[link]

In 1988, Biafra, with Al Jourgensen and Paul Barker of the band Ministry, and Jeff Ward, formed Lard. The band became yet another side project for Ministry, with Biafra providing vocals and lyrics. According to a March 2009 interview with Jourgensen, he and Biafra are working on a new Lard album, which is being recorded in Jourgensen's El Paso studio.^[28] While working on the film Terminal City Ricochet in 1989, Biafra did a song for the film's soundtrack with D.O.A.. As a result, Biafra worked with D.O.A. on the album Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors. Biafra also worked with Nomeansno on the soundtrack, which led to their collaboration on the album The Sky Is Falling and I Want My Mommy the following year. Biafra also provided lyrics for the song "Biotech is Godzilla" for Sepultura's 1993 album Chaos A.D..

In 1999, Biafra and other members of the anti-globalization movement protested the WTO Meeting of 1999 in Seattle. Along with other prominent West Coast musicians, he formed the short-lived band the No WTO Combo to help promote the movement's cause. The band was originally scheduled to play during the protest, but the performance was canceled due to riots. The band performed a short set the following night at the Showbox in downtown Seattle (outside the designated area), along with the hiphop group Spearhead. No WTO Combo later released a CD of recordings from the concert, entitled Live from the Battle in Seattle.

As of late 2005, Biafra was performing with the band The Melvins under the name "Jello Biafra and the Melvins", though fans sometimes refer to them as "The Jelvins." Together they have released two albums, and have been working on material for a third collaborative release, much of which was premiered live at two concerts at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco during an event called Biafra Five-O, commemorating Biafra's 50th birthday, the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Dead Kennedys, and the beginning of legalized same-sex marriage in California. Biafra is also working with a new band known as Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine, which includes Ralph Spight of Victims Family on guitar and Billy Gould of Faith No More on bass. This group debuted during Biafra Five-O.

In 2011, Biafra appeared in a singular concert event with an all-star cast of Southern musicians including members from Cowboy Mouth, Dash Rip Rock, Mojo Nixon and Down entitled, "Jello Biafra and the New Orleans Raunch & Soul All Stars" who performed an array of classic Soul covers to a packed house at the 12-Bar in New Orleans, Louisiana.^[29]

Alternative Tentacles[link]

In June 1979, Biafra co-founded the record label Alternative Tentacles, with which the Dead Kennedys released their first single, "California Über Alles".^[30] The label was created to allow the band to release albums without having to deal with pressure from major labels to change their music (although the major labels were not willing to sign the band due to their songs being deemed too controversial).^[31] After dealing with Cherry Red in the UK and IRS Records in the US for their first album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, the band released all later albums (and later pressings of Fresh Fruit) on Alternative Tentacles (with the exception of live albums released after the band's break-up, which the other band members compiled from recordings in the band partnership's vaults without Biafra's input or endorsement)^{[citation needed]}. Biafra has been the owner of the company ever since its founding, though he does not receive a salary for his position (Biafra has referred to his position in the company as "absentee thoughtlord").^[12]

Biafra is an ardent collector of unusual vinyl records of all kinds, from 1950s and 1960s ethno-pop recordings by the likes of Les Baxter and Esquivel to vanity pressings that have circulated regionally, to German crooner Heino; he cites his always growing collection as one of his biggest musical influences. In 1993 he gave an interview to RE/Search Publications for their second Incredibly Strange Music book focusing primarily on these records. His heavy interest in such recordings (often categorized as outsider music) eventually led to his discovery of the prolific (and schizophrenic) singer/songwriter/artist Wesley Willis, whom he signed to Alternative Tentacles in 1994, preceding Willis' major label deal with American Recordings. His collection grew so large that on October 1, 2005, Biafra donated a portion of his collection to an annual yard sale co-promoted by Alternative Tentacles and held at their warehouse in Emeryville, California.^[32]

In 2006, along with Alternative Tentacles employee and The Frisk lead singer Jesse Luscious, Biafra began co-hosting The Alternative Tentacles Batcast, a downloadable podcast hosted by alternativetentacles.com. The show primarily focuses on interviews with artists and bands that are currently signed to the Alternative Tentacles label, although there are also occasional episodes where Biafra devoted the show to answering fan questions.

Spoken word[link]

Biafra in an appearance in Aarau, Switzerland

Biafra first became a spoken word artist in January 1986, starting with a performance at University of California, Los Angeles. In his performance he combined his sense of humor with his political beliefs, much in the same way that he did with the lyrics to his songs. Biafra has held this career since, but did not begin recording spoken word records until after the disbanding of the Dead Kennedys.

His ninth spoken word album, In the Grip of Official Treason, was released in October 2006.

Biafra was also featured in the British band Pitchshifter's song As Seen on TV reciting the words of dystopian futuristic radio advertisements.

Politics[link]

Mayoral campaign[link]

In the autumn of 1979, Biafra ran for mayor of San Francisco, using the Jell-O ad campaign catchphrase, "There's always room for Jello", as his campaign slogan. Having entered the race before creating a campaign platform, Biafra later wrote his platform on a napkin while attending a Pere Ubu concert where Dead Kennedy's drummer Ted told Biafra, "Biafra, you have such a big mouth that you should run for Mayor." As he campaigned, Biafra wore campaign T-shirts from his opponent Quentin Kopp's previous campaign and at one point vacuumed leaves off the front lawn of another opponent, current U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, to mock her publicity stunt of sweeping streets in downtown San Francisco for a few hours. He also made a whistlestop campaign tour along the BART line. Supporters committed equally odd actions; two well known signs held by supporters said "If he doesn't win I'll kill myself" and "What if he does win?"^[34]

In San Francisco any individual could legally run for mayor if a petition was signed by 1500 people or pay $1500. Biafra paid $900 and got signatures over time and eventually became a legal candidate, meaning he received statements put in voters pamphlets and equal news coverage.

His platform included unconventional points such as forcing businessmen to wear clown suits within city limits, erecting statues of Dan White (who assassinated Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978) all over town and allowing the parks department to sell eggs and tomatoes with which people could pelt them, hiring out of job workers, due to a tax initiative, to become pan handlers in wealthy neighborhoods (one being where Diannne Feinstein lives), and a citywide ban on cars (although the latter point was not considered completely outlandish by many voters at the time, as the city was suffering from serious pollution).^[31] Biafra has expressed irritation that these parts of his platform attained such notoriety, preferring instead to be remembered for serious proposals such as legalizing squatting in vacant, tax-delinquent buildings and requiring police officers to keep their jobs by running for election voted by the people of the neighborhoods they patrol.^[34]

He finished fourth out of a field of ten, receiving 3.79% of the vote (6,591 votes); the election ended in a runoff that did not involve him (Feinstein was declared the winner).

Presidential campaign[link]

Biafra discussing politics

In 2000, the New York State Green Party drafted Biafra as a candidate for the Green Party presidential nomination, and a few supporters were elected to the party's nominating convention in Denver, Colorado. Biafra chose death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal as his running mate. Despite the fact that his address to the convention was positively received, the party overwhelmingly chose Ralph Nader as the presidential candidate with 295 of the 319 delegate votes. Biafra finished in a second place tie with Stephen Gaskin; both received 10 votes.

Biafra, along with a camera crew (dubbed by Biafra as "The Camcorder Truth Jihad"), later reported for the Independent Media Center at the Republican and Democratic conventions. Biafra detailed these events in his album Become The Media, which has resulted in his being credited with coining the slogan "Don't hate the media, become the media". Indymedia and related alternative media often use this line, or the now more apt "Don't hate the media, be the media."

Post-2000[link]

After losing the 2000 nomination, Jello became highly active in Ralph Nader's presidential campaign, as well as in 2004 and 2008.

During the 2008 campaign Jello played at rallies^[35] and answered questions for journalists in support of Ralph Nader. After Barack Obama won the general election, Jello wrote an open letter making suggestions on how to run his term as president.^[36]

Boycott of Israel[link]

In the summer of 2011 Jello Biafra and his band were scheduled to play at the Barby Club in Tel Aviv. They came under heavy pressure by the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, and finally decided to cancel the gig – after a debate which according to Biafra "deeply tore at the fabric of our band (,,,) This whole controversy has been one of the most intense situations of my life - and I thrive on intense situations". Biafra then decided to travel to Israel and the Palestinian Occupied Territories, at his own expense, and talk with Israeli and Palestinian activists as well as with fans disappointed at his cancellation. In the article stating his conclusions he wrote: "I will not perform in Israel unless it is a pro-human rights, anti-occupation event that does not violate the spirit of the boycott. Each artist must decide this for themselves. I am staying away for now, but am also really creeped out by the attitudes of some of the boycott hardliners, and hope someday to find a way to contribute something positive here. I will not march or sign on with anyone who is more interested in making threats than making friends.

"I do not regret speaking out. It has been quite a learning experience along the way. I can't very well shut up now. It's as if I've been covered with someone else's chewing gum, and I'll never be able to scrape it all off. As my friend said, "it gets in your blood" - and it has definitely gotten in mine.

I loved Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem was hardly the "dead city" at night that some Tel Aviv hipsters claim it is. I want to go back. I want to play. But I, too, am as sickened as the next person that not all the cool people I met in the West Bank can cross into Israel and enjoy Tel Aviv - or even worship in Jerusalem. That unnecessary checkpoints prevent them from reaching their farms, schools or even hospitals. Forty-four years of brutal occupation has done no more to solve the problem than the United States has accomplished in its War on Drugs. You can't just keep almost four million people in prison." ^[37]

Personal life[link]

Biafra married Therese Soder, aka Ninotchka, lead singer of San Francisco-area punk band The Situations on October 31, 1981.^[38] The wedding was conducted by Flipper vocalist/bassist Bruce Loose, who became a Universal Life Church minister just to conduct the ceremony, which took place in a graveyard.^[39] The wedding reception, which members of Flipper, Black Flag, and D.O.A. attended, was held at director Joe Rees' Target Video studios.^[40] The marriage ended in 1986.

Musical samples[link]

	I Wanna Be A Drug Sniffing Dog noicon "I Wanna Be A Drug Sniffing Dog" by Lard from Pure Chewing Satisfaction Ban Everything noicon "Ban Everything" by Jello Biafra from Beyond the Valley of the Gift Police Yuppie Cadillac noicon "Yuppie Cadillac" by Jello Biafra and the Melvins from Never Breathe What You Can't See Full mp3 file from Alternative Tentacles' website
Problems listening to these files? See media help.

Partial discography[link]

For a more complete list, see the Jello Biafra discography.

Dead Kennedys[link]

• 1980 - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
• 1981 - In God We Trust, Inc.
• 1982 - Plastic Surgery Disasters
• 1985 - Frankenchrist
• 1986 - Bedtime for Democracy
• 1987 - Give Me Convenience OR Give Me Death

Spoken word[link]

• 1987 - No More Cocoons
• 1989 - High Priest of Harmful Matter: Tales From the Trial
• 1991 - I Blow Minds for a Living
• 1994 - Beyond the Valley of the Gift Police
• 1998 - If Evolution Is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Evolve
• 2000 - Become the Media
• 2002 - The Big Ka-Boom, Pt. 1
• 2002 - Machine Gun in the Clown's Hand
• 2006 - In the Grip of Official Treason

Lard[link]

• 1989 - The Power of Lard
• 1990 - I Am Your Clock
• 1990 - The Last Temptation of Reid
• 1997 - Pure Chewing Satisfaction
• 2000 - 70's Rock Must Die

Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine[link]

• 2009 - The Audacity of Hype
• 2011 - Enhanced Methods of Questioning

Collaborations[link]

• 1990 - Supernaut with 1000 Homo DJs - "Hey Asshole" (credited as Count Ringworm)
• 1990 - Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors with D.O.A.
• 1990 - In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up by Ministry (appears on the video release where he recites his own version of the Pledge of Allegiance)
• 1991 - The Sky is Falling and I Want My Mommy with Nomeansno
• 1991 - Tumor Circus with Steel Pole Bath Tub by Tumor Circus
• 1992 - Body Count with Body Count - "Freedom of Speech"
• 1993 - Chaos A.D. with Sepultura - "Biotech Is Godzilla" (credited on the lyrics)
• 1994 - Prairie Home Invasion with Mojo Nixon
• 1995 - Raza Odiada with Brujeria - "Raza Odiada (Pito Wilson)" (as the voice of Pete Wilson)
• 1997 - Helter Skelter with The D.O.C. - "Secret Plan"
• 1997 - Ixnay on the Hombre with The Offspring - "Disclaimer"
• 1998 - Every Home a Prison with Coldcut
• 2000 - Deviant with Pitchshifter - "As Seen on T.V."
• 2000 - Live from the Battle in Seattle with No WTO Combo
• 2001 - Nation with Sepultura - "Politricks"
• 2004 - Never Breathe What You Can't See with The Melvins (credited on the inner sleeve as Osama McDonald)
• 2005 - The Code Is Red...Long Live the Code with Napalm Death - "The Great and the Good"
• 2005 - Sieg Howdy! with The Melvins (credited on the inner sleeve as J Lo)
• 2005 - 13 Ft. and Rising with Throw Rag - "Children of the Secret State"
• 2005 - Hell's Winter with Cage - "Grand Ol' Party Crash" (credited on the Cage as the voice of George W. Bush)
• 2006 - J'Irai Chier dans Ton Vomi with Métal Urbain
• 2006 - Cocked and Loaded with Revolting Cocks - "Dead End Streets" and "Viagra Culture"
  (credited on the inner sleeve as Jello Biafra as well as all of his former stage names including Occupant, Smegma Pigvomit, Osama McDonald, and J Lo)
• 2006 - Rio Grande Blood with Ministry - "Ass Clown"
• 2007 - Deadline with Leftöver Crack - "Baby-Punchers"
• 2008 - Everybody Make Some Noise! with The A.K.A.s
• 2009 - All Sewn Up: A Tribute to Patrik Fitzgerald with Motorpsycho - "Punch"
• 2009 - That's So Gay with Pansy Division - "Average Men"

Filmography[link]

• 1977 - This Is America, Pt. 2
• 1978 - Massacre at Central High
• 1981 - Urgh! A Music War
• 1983 - Anarchism in America
• 1986 - Lovedolls Superstar, directed by Dave Markey
• 1987 - Household Affairs, directed & filmed by Allen Ginsberg
• 1988 - Tapeheads, directed by Bill Fishman
• 1990 - Terminal City Ricochet
• 1991 - Highway 61, directed by Bruce McDonald
• 1994 - Skulhedface, directed by Melanie Mandl
• 1997 - Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore, directed by Sarah Jacobson
• 1999 - The Widower
• 1999 - Virtue
• 2001 - Plaster Caster
• 2002 - Bikini Bandits, directed by Steve and Peter Grasse
• 2004 - Death and Texas
• 2004 - Punk: Attitude
• 2005 - We Jam Econo: The Story Of The Minutemen
• 2006 - Punk's Not Dead, directed by Susan Dynner
• 2006 - Whose War?, directed by Donald Farmer
• 2007 - American Drug War: The Last White Hope, directed by Kevin Booth
• 2008 - Nerdcore Rising, directed by Negin Farsad
• 2009 - Open Your Mouth And Say Mr.Chi Pig, directed by Sean Patrick Shaul
• 2010 - A Man Within, directed by Yony Leyser

References and footnotes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jello Biafra

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jello Biafra

• Jello Biafra at the Internet Movie Database
• Jello Biafra at AllRovi
• Biafra's label Alternative Tentacles

Smedley Butler
Smedley D. Butler
Nickname	"Old Gimlet Eye" "The Fighting Quaker" "Old Duckboard"
Born	(1881-07-30)July 30, 1881 West Chester, Pennsylvania
Died	June 21, 1940(1940-06-21) (aged 58) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Place of burial	Oaklands Cemetery West Chester, Pennsylvania
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1898–1931
Rank	Major General
Commands held	13th Marine Regiment Marine Expeditionary Force, China
Battles/wars	Spanish-American War Philippine-American War Battle of Noveleta Boxer Rebellion Battle of Tientsin Battle of San Tan Pating Banana Wars Siege of Granada Battle of Coyotepe Hill Infiltration of Mexico City Battle of Fort Dipitie Battle of Fort Riviere Mexican Revolution Battle of Veracruz World War I Western Front
Awards	Medal of Honor (2) Marine Corps Brevet Medal Army Distinguished Service Medal Navy Distinguished Service Medal French Order of the Black Star
Other work	Coal miner, author, public speaker, Philadelphia Director of Public Safety (1924–1925)

Smedley Darlington Butler^[1] (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940) was a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps, an outspoken critic of U.S. military adventurism, and at the time of his death the most decorated Marine in U.S. history.

During his 34-year career as a Marine, he participated in military actions in the Philippines, China, in Central America and the Caribbean during the Banana Wars, and France in World War I. By the end of his career, he had received 16 medals, five for heroism. He is one of 19 men to twice receive the Medal of Honor, one of three to be awarded both the Marine Corps Brevet Medal and the Medal of Honor, and the only man to be awarded the Brevet Medal and two Medals of Honor, all for separate actions.

In his 1935 book War is a Racket, he described the workings of the military-industrial complex and, after retiring from service, became a popular speaker at meetings organized by veterans, pacifists and church groups in the 1930s.

In 1934, he became involved in a controversy known as the Business Plot when he told a congressional committee that a group of wealthy industrialists were planning a military coup to overthrow Franklin D. Roosevelt. The purported plot would have had Butler leading a mass of armed veterans in a march on Washington. The individuals identified denied the existence of a plot, and the media ridiculed the allegations. The final report of the committee stated that there was evidence that such a plot existed, but no charges were ever filed. The opinion of most historians is that while planning for a coup was not very advanced, wild schemes were discussed.

Butler continued his speaking engagements in an extended tour, but in June 1940 checked himself into a naval hospital, dying a few weeks later from what was believed to be cancer. He was buried at Oaklands Cemetery in West Chester, Pennsylvania; his home has been maintained as a memorial and contains memorabilia collected during his various careers.

Early life[link]

Smedley Butler was born July 30, 1881, in West Chester, Pennsylvania, the eldest of three sons. His parents Thomas Stalker Butler and Maud (Darlington) Butler^[2] were descended from local Quaker families. His father was a lawyer, a judge and, for 31 years, a Congressman and chair of the House Naval Affairs Committee during the Harding and Coolidge administrations. His maternal grandfather was Smedley Darlington, a Republican Congressman from 1887-1891.^[3]

Butler attended the West Chester Friends Graded High School, followed by The Haverford School, a secondary school popular with sons of upper-class Philadelphia families.^[4] A Haverford athlete, he became captain of its baseball team and quarterback of its football team.^[2] Against the wishes of his father, he left school 38 days before his seventeenth birthday to enlist in the Marine Corps during the Spanish–American War.^[2] Nevertheless, Haverford awarded him his high school diploma on June 6, 1898, before the end of his final year; his transcript stated he completed the Scientific Course "with Credit".^[2]

Military career, marriage and time as a coal miner[link]

In the anti-Spanish war fever of 1898, Butler lied about his age to receive a direct commission as a Marine second lieutenant.^[2] He trained in Washington D.C. at the Marine Barracks on the corner of 8th and I Streets. In July 1898, he went to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, arriving shortly after its invasion and capture.^[5] His company soon returned to the U.S. and after a short break, he was assigned to the armored cruiser USS New York for four months.^[6] He came home to be mustered out of service in February 1899,^[6] but in April 1899, he accepted a commission as a first lieutenant in the Marine Corps.^[6]

Philippine–American War[link]

The Marine Corps now sent him to the Manila, Philippines.^[7] On garrison duty with little to do, he turned to alcohol to relieve the boredom. He once became drunk and was temporarily relieved of command after an unspecified incident in his room.^[8]

In October 1899, he saw his first combat action when he led 300 Marines to take the town of Noveleta, from Filipino rebels known as Insurrectos. In the initial moments of the assault, his first sergeant was wounded. Butler briefly panicked, but quickly regained his composure and led his Marines in pursuit of the fleeing enemy.^[8] By noon the Marines had dispersed the rebels and taken the town. One Marine had been killed and ten were wounded. Another 50 Marines had been incapacitated by the humid tropical heat.^[9]

After the excitement of this combat, garrison duty again became routine. Butler had a very large Eagle, Globe, and Anchor tattoo made which started at his throat and extended to his waist. He also met Littleton Waller a fellow Marine with whom he maintained a life long friendship. When Waller received command of a company in Guam, he was allowed to select five officers to take with him; he chose Butler. Before they had departed, their orders were changed and they were sent to China aboard the USS Solace to help put down the Boxer Rebellion.^[9]

Boxer Rebellion[link]

Once in China, Butler was initially deployed at Tientsin. He took part in the Battle of Tientsin on July 13, 1900. When he saw another Marine officer fall wounded, he climbed out of a trench to rescue him. Butler was then himself shot in the thigh. Another Marine helped him get to safety, but also was shot. Despite his leg wound, Butler assisted the wounded officer to the rear. Four enlisted men would receive the Medal of Honor in the battle. Butler's commanding officer, Major Littleton W. T. Waller, personally commended him and wrote that "for such reward as you may deem proper the following officers: Lieutenant Smedley D. Butler, for the admirable control of his men in all the fights of the week, for saving a wounded man at the risk of his own life, and under a very severe fire." Commissioned officers were not then eligible to receive the Medal of Honor, and Butler instead received a promotion to captain by brevet while he recovered in the hospital, two weeks before his nineteenth birthday. Butler was wounded in the chest at Battle of San Tan Pating, the bullet reportedly clipping part of Central America out of his tattoo. Because of his record in China, Butler became eligible for the Marine Corps Brevet Medal when it was created in 1921, and was one of only 20 Marines to receive it.^[10] His citation reads:

The Secretary of the Navy takes pleasure in transmitting to First Lieutenant Smedley Darlington Butler, United States Marine Corps, the Brevet Medal which is awarded in accordance with Marine Corps Order No. 26 (1921), for distinguished conduct and public service in the presence of the enemy while serving with the Second Battalion of Marines, near Tientsin, China, on 13 July 1900. On 28 March 1901, First Lieutenant Butler is appointed Captain by brevet, to take rank from 13 July 1900.^[11]

The Banana Wars[link]

Butler participated in a series of occupations, police actions, and interventions by the United States in Central America and the Caribbean, commonly called the Banana Wars because their goal was to protect American commercial interests in the region, particularly those of the United Fruit Company. This company had significant financial stakes in the production of bananas, tobacco, sugar cane, and other products throughout the Caribbean, Central America and the northern portions of South America. The U.S. was also trying to advance its own political interests by maintaining its influence in the region and especially its control of the Panama Canal. These interventions started with the Spanish–American War in 1898 and ended with the withdrawal of troops from Haiti and President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Good Neighbor Policy in 1934.^[12] After his retirement, Butler became an outspoken critic of the business interests in the Caribbean, criticizing the ways in which U.S. businesses and Wall Street bankers imposed their agenda on United States foreign policy during this period.^[13]

Honduras[link]

In 1903, Butler was stationed in the Caribbean on Culebra Island. Upon rumors of a Honduran revolt, the United States government ordered the Marines and a supporting naval detachment to sail to Honduras, 1,500 miles (2,414 km) to the west, to defend the U.S. Consulate in Honduras. Using a converted banana boat renamed the Panther, Butler and several hundred Marines landed at the port town of Puerto Cortés. In a letter home, he described the action: They were "prepared to land and shoot everybody and everything that was breaking the peace",^[14] but instead found a quiet town. The Marines re-boarded the Panther and continued up the coast line looking for rebels at several towns, but found none. When they arrived at Trujillo, however, they heard gunfire, and came upon a battle in progress that had been waged for 55 hours between the Bonillistas and the Honduran soldiers at a local fort. At the sight of the Marines, the fighting ceased and Butler led a detachment of Marines to the American consulate, where he found the consul, wrapped in an American flag, hiding among the floor beams. As soon as the Marines left the area with the shaken consul, the battle resumed and the Bonillistas soon controlled the government.^[14] During this expedition Butler earned the first of his nicknames, "Old Gimlet Eye". It was attributed to his feverish, bloodshot eyes—he was suffering from some unnamed tropic fever at the time—which enhanced his penetrating and bellicose stare.^[15]

Marriage and stint as a coal miner[link]

Between the Honduran campaign and his next assignment, he returned to Philadelphia. He married Ethel Conway Peters of Philadelphia in Bay Head, New Jersey on June 30, 1905. His best man at the wedding was his former commanding officer in China, Lieutenant Colonel Littleton W. T. Waller.^[16] The couple would have three children: a daughter, Ethel Peters Butler, and two sons, Smedley Darlington, Jr. and Thomas Richard.^[17]

After the Honduras campaign, Butler was assigned to garrison duty in the Philippines, where he once launched a resupply mission across the stormy waters of Subic Bay after his isolated outpost ran out of rations. He was diagnosed as having a nervous breakdown in 1908, and received nine months sick leave for which he returned home. He found work as a coal miner in West Virginia, but did not find mining to his taste, and returned to active duty in the Marine Corps.^[18]

Central America[link]

From 1909 to 1912, he served in Nicaragua, enforcing U.S. policy, and once again led his battalion to the relief of a rebel-besieged city, this time Granada, and again, with a 104-degree fever. In December 1909, he commanded the 3d Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, on the Isthmus of Panama. On August 11, 1912, he was temporarily detached to command an expeditionary battalion with which he participated in the bombardment, assault and capture of Coyotepe Hill, Nicaragua in October 1912. He remained in Nicaragua until November 1912, when he rejoined the Marines of 3d Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, at Camp Elliott, Panama.^[3]

Veracruz, Mexico, and first Medal of Honor[link]

Marine Officers at Veracruz. Front row, left to right: Wendell C. Neville; John A. Lejeune; Littleton W. T. Waller, Commanding; Smedley Butler

Butler and his family were living in Panama in January 1914 when he was ordered to report as the Marine officer of a battleship squadron massing off the coast of Mexico, near Veracruz, to monitor a revolutionary movement. He did not like leaving his family and the home they had established in Panama and he intended to request orders home as soon as he determined he was not needed.^[19]

On March 1, 1914, Butler and Navy Lieutenant (later Admiral) Frank Fletcher went ashore in Veracruz and made their way to Jalapa, Mexico and back. A purpose of the trip was to allow Butler and Fletcher to discuss the details of a future expedition into Mexico. Fletcher's plan required Butler to make his way into the country and develop a more detailed invasion plan while inside its borders. It was a spy mission and Butler was enthusiastic to get started. When Admiral Fletcher explained the plan to the commanders in Washington, D.C., they agreed to it. Butler was given the go-ahead. He entered Mexico and made his way to the U.S. Consulate in Mexico City, posing as a railroad official named "Mr. Johnson". He and the chief railroad inspector scoured the city, saying they were searching for a lost railroad employee; there was no lost employee, and in fact the employee they said was lost never existed. The ruse gave Butler access to various areas of the city. In the process of the so-called search, they located weapons in use by the Mexican army, and determined the sizes of units and states of readiness. They updated maps and verified the railroad lines for use in an impending US invasion.^[20] On March 7, 1914, he returned to Veracruz with the information he had gathered and presented it to his commanders. The invasion plan was eventually scrapped when authorities loyal to Victoriano Huerta detained a small American naval landing party in Tampico, Mexico, which became known as the Tampico Affair.^[21]

When President Woodrow Wilson discovered that an arms shipment was about to arrive in Mexico, he sent a contingent of Marines and sailors to Veracruz to intercept it on April 21, 1914. Over the next few days, street fighting and sniper fire posed a threat to Butler's force, but a door-to-door search routed out most of the resistance. By April 26, the landing force of 5,800 Marines and sailors secured the city, which they held for the next six months. By the end of the conflict, the Americans reported 17 dead and 63 wounded and the Mexican forces had 126 dead and 195 wounded. After the actions at Veracruz, the United States decided to minimize the bloodshed and changed their plans from a full invasion of Mexico to simply maintaining the city of Veracruz.^[22] For his actions on April 22, Butler was awarded his first Medal of Honor.^[3][11] The citation reads:

For distinguished conduct in battle, engagement of Vera Cruz, 22 April 1914. Major Butler was eminent and conspicuous in command of his battalion. He exhibited courage and skill in leading his men through the action of the 22d and in the final occupation of the city.^[11]

After the occupation of Veracruz, many military personnel received the Medal of Honor, an unusually high number that diminished somewhat the prestige of the award. The Army presented one, nine went to Marines and 46 were bestowed upon Navy personnel. During World War I, Butler, then a major, attempted to return his Medal, explaining he had done nothing to deserve it. The medal was returned with orders to keep it and to wear it as well.^[23]

Haiti and second Medal of Honor[link]

Capture of Fort Riviere, Haiti, 1915, by D. J. Neary; illustrations of Major Smedley Butler, Sergeant Iams, and Private Gross (USMC art collection)

In 1915, rebel Haitians known as Cacos killed the Haitian dictator Vilbrun Guillaume Sam. In response, the United States ordered the USS Connecticut to Haiti with Major Butler and a group of Marines on board. On October 24, 1915, 400 Cacos ambushed Butler's patrol of 44 mounted Marines when they approached Fort Dipitie. The Marines maintained their perimeter throughout the night. The next morning, they charged the much larger enemy force from three directions. The startled Haitians fled, thinking that the Marines had a much larger force.^[24] By mid-November 1915, most of the Cacos had been captured or killed and the insurgency generally suppressed, except for a small force of 200 Cacos at Fort Rivière, an old French-built stronghold deep in the country.^[24] Fort Rivière sat atop Montagne Noire, with its front reachable only by a steep, rocky slope; the other three sides fell away so sharply that an approach from those directions was considered to be impossible. Some Marine officers argued that it should be assaulted by a regiment supported by artillery, but Butler convinced his colonel to allow him to attack with just four companies of 24 men each, plus two machine gun detachments.^[24]

For the operation, Butler was given only three companies of Marines and some sailors from the USS Connecticut. They encircled the fort, and gradually closed in on it. Butler reached the fort from the southern side with the 15th Company and found a small opening in the wall. The Marines entered through the opening and engaged the Cacos in hand-to-hand combat. He and the Marines took the rebel stronghold on November 17, 1915, an action for which he received his second Medal of Honor, as well as the Haitian Medal of Honor.^[11] Only one Marine was injured in the assault when he was struck by a rock and lost two teeth.^[25] Butler's exploits impressed then Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt, who recommended the award based upon Butler's performance during the engagement in which all 200 Cacos were killed.^[26] Once the medal was approved and presented in 1917, Butler achieved the distinction, shared with Dan Daly, of being the only Marines to receive the Medal of Honor twice for separate actions.^[3] The citation reads:

For extraordinary heroism in action as Commanding Officer of detachments from the 5th, 13th, 23d Companies and the Marine and sailor detachment from the U.S.S. Connecticut, Major Butler led the attack on Fort Riviere, Haiti, 17 November 1915. Following a concentrated drive, several different detachments of Marines gradually closed in on the old French bastion fort in an effort to cut off all avenues of retreat for the Caco bandits. Reaching the fort on the southern side where there was a small opening in the wall, Major Butler gave the signal to attack and Marines from the 15th Company poured through the breach, engaged the Cacos in hand-to-hand combat, took the bastion and crushed the Caco resistance. Throughout this perilous action, Major Butler was conspicuous for his bravery and forceful leadership.^[11]

Subsequently, as the initial organizer and commanding officer of the Haitian Gendarmerie, the native police force, Butler established a record as a capable administrator. Under his supervision, social order, administered by the dictatorship, was largely restored and many vital public works projects were successfully completed.^[27] He recalled later that, during his time in Haiti, he and his troops "hunted the Cacos like pigs."^[25]

World War I[link]

Butler (far right) with three other legendary Marines. From left to right: Sergeant Major John Henry Quick, Major General Wendell Cushing Neville, Lieutenant General John Archer Lejeune

During World War I, to his disappointment, Butler was not assigned to a combat command on the Western Front. He made several requests for a posting in France, writing letters to his personal friend, Wendell Cushing Neville. While Butler's superiors considered him brave and brilliant, they described him as "unreliable."^[5]

In October 1918, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general at the age of 37 and placed in command of Camp Pontanezen at Brest, France, a debarkation depot that funneled troops of the American Expeditionary Force to the battlefields. The camp had been plagued by horribly unsanitary, overcrowded and disorganized conditions. U.S. Secretary of War Newton Baker sent novelist Mary Roberts Rinehart to report on the camp. She later described how Butler tackled the sanitation issues. Butler began by solving the mud problem: "[T]he ground under the tents was nothing but mud, [so] he had raided the wharf at Brest of the duckboards no longer needed for the trenches, carted the first one himself up that four-mile hill to the camp, and thus provided something in the way of protection for the men to sleep on."^[5] General John J. Pershing authorized a duckboard shoulder patch for the units. This earned Butler another nickname, "Old Duckboard." For his exemplary service he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal of both the United States Army and Navy and the French Order of the Black Star.^[3]

The citation for the Army Distinguished Service Medal states:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Brigadier General Smedley Darlington Butler, United States Marine Corps, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during World War I. Brigadier General Butler commanded with ability and energy Pontanezen Camp at Brest during the time in which it has developed into the largest embarkation camp in the world. Confronted with problems of extraordinary magnitude in supervising the reception, entertainment and departure of the large numbers of officers and soldiers passing through this camp, he has solved all with conspicuous success, performing services of the highest character for the American Expeditionary Forces.^[11]

The citation for the Navy Distinguished Service Medal states:

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Distinguished Service Medal to Brigadier General Smedley Darlington Butler, United States Marine Corps, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services in France, during World War I. Brigadier General Butler organized, trained and commanded the 13th Regiment Marines; also the 5th Brigade of Marines. He commanded with ability and energy Camp Pontanezen at Brest during the time in which it has developed into the largest embarkation camp in the world. Confronted with problems of extraordinary magnitude in supervising the reception, entertainment and departure of large numbers of officers and soldiers passing through the camp, he has solved all with conspicuous success, performing services of the highest character for the American Expeditionary Forces.^[11]

Butler sitting in car at Gettysburg during a Pickett's Charge reenactment by Marines in 1922

Following the war, he became Commanding General of the Marine Barracks at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. At Quantico, he transformed the wartime training camp into a permanent Marine post. During a training exercise in western Virginia in 1921, he was told by a local farmer that Stonewall Jackson's arm was buried nearby, to which he replied, "Bosh! I will take a squad of Marines and dig up that spot to prove you wrong!"^[28] Butler found the arm in a box. He later replaced the wooden box with a metal one, and reburied the arm. He left a plaque on the granite monument marking the burial place of Jackson's arm; the plaque is no longer on the marker but can be viewed at the Chancellorsville Battlefield visitor's center.^[28][29]

China and stateside service[link]

From 1927 to 1929, Butler was commander of the Marine Expeditionary Force in China and, while there, cleverly parlayed his influence among various generals and warlords to the protection of U.S. interests, ultimately winning the public acclaim of contending Chinese leaders. When Butler returned to the United States in 1929 he was promoted to major general, becoming, at age 48, the youngest major general of the Marine Corps. He directed the Quantico camp's growth until it became the "showplace" of the Corps.^[30] Butler won national attention by taking thousands of his men on long field marches, many of which he led from the front, to Gettysburg and other Civil War battle sites, where they conducted large-scale re-enactments before crowds of distinguished spectators.^[30]

In 1931, he publicly recounted gossip about Benito Mussolini in which the dictator allegedly struck a child with his automobile in a hit-and-run accident. The Italian government protested and President Hoover, who strongly disliked Butler, forced Secretary of the Navy Charles Francis Adams III to court-martial him. Butler became the first general officer to be placed under arrest since the Civil War. He apologized to Secretary Adams and the court martial was canceled with only a reprimand.^[31]

Director of Public Safety[link]

At the urging of Butler's father, in 1924, the newly elected mayor of Philadelphia W. Freeland Kendrick asked him to leave the Marines to become the Director of Public Safety, the official in charge of running the city's police and fire departments. Philadelphia's municipal government was notoriously corrupt and Butler initially refused. Kendrick asked President Calvin Coolidge to intervene. Coolidge contacted Butler and authorized him to take the necessary leave from the Corps. At the request of the President, Butler served in the post from January 1924 until December 1925.^[3] He began his new job by assembling all 4,000 of the city police into the Metropolitan Opera House in shifts to introduce himself and inform them that things would change while he was in charge. He replaced corrupt police officers and, in some cases, switched entire units from one part of the city to another, undermining local protection rackets and profiteering.^[32][33]

Within 48 hours of taking over, Butler organized raids on more than 900 speakeasies, ordering them padlocked and, in many cases, destroyed. In addition to raiding the speakeasies, he also attempted to eliminate other illegal activities: bootlegging, prostitution, gambling and police corruption. More zealous than he was political, he ordered crackdowns on the social elite's favorite hangouts, such as the Ritz-Carlton and the Union League, as well as on drinking establishments that served the working class.^[34] Although he was effective in reducing crime and police corruption, he was a controversial leader. In one instance he made a statement that he would promote the first officer to kill a bandit and stated, "I don't believe there is a single bandit notch on a policeman's guns [sic] in this city, go out and get some."^[32] Although many of the local citizens and police felt that the raids were just a show, the raids continued for several weeks.^[33]

He implemented programs to improve city safety and security. He established policies and guidelines of administration, and developed a Philadelphia police uniform that resembled that of the Marine Corps.^[35] Other changes included military-style checkpoints into the city, bandit chasing squads armed with sawed-off shotguns, and armored police cars.^[35] The press began reporting on the good and the bad aspects of Butler's personal war on crime. The reports praised the new uniforms, the new programs and the reductions in crime but they also reflected the public's negative opinion of their new Public Safety director. Many felt that he was being too aggressive in his tactics and resented the reductions in their civil rights, such as the stopping of citizens at the city checkpoints. Butler frequently swore in his radio addresses, causing many citizens to suggest his behavior, particularly his language, was inappropriate for someone of his rank and stature.^[36] Some even suggested Butler acted like a military dictator, even charging that he inappropriately used active-duty Marines in some of his raids.^[36] Major R. A. Haynes, the federal Prohibition commissioner, visited the city in 1924, six months after Butler was appointed. He announced that "great progress"^[37] had been made in the city and attributed that success to Butler.^[37]

Eventually Butler's leadership style and the directness of actions undermined his support within the community. His departure seemed imminent. Mayor Kendrick reported to the press, "I had the guts to bring General Butler to Philadelphia and I have the guts to fire him."^[38] Feeling that his duties in Philadelphia were coming to an end, Butler contacted General Lejeune to prepare for his return to the Marine Corps. Not all of the city felt he was doing a bad job though and when the news started to break that he would be leaving, people began to gather at the Academy of Music. A group of 4,000 supporters assembled and negotiated a truce between him and the mayor to keep him in Philadelphia for a while longer, and the President authorized a one year extension for him.^[39]

His second year focused on executing arrest warrants, cracking down on crooked police and enforcing prohibition. On January 1, 1926, his leave from the Marine Corps ended and the President declined a request for a third extension. Butler received orders to report to San Diego and he prepared his family and his belongings for the new assignment.^[40] In light of his pending departure, Butler began to defy the Mayor and other key city officials. On the eve of his departure, he had an article printed in the paper stating his intention to stay and "finish the job".^[41] The mayor was surprised and furious when he read the press release the next morning and demanded his resignation.^[41] After almost two years in office, Butler resigned under pressure, stating later that "cleaning up Philadelphia was worse than any battle I was ever in."^[34]

Military retirement[link]

Major General Butler at his retirement ceremony

In the old Marine tradition, when a Commandant retired or died, it was customary for the senior Marine Corps general to assume the position of Commandant while a new one was chosen. However, when Marine Corps commandant Major General Wendell C. Neville died July 8, 1930, Butler, at that time the senior major general in the Corps, was not appointed.^[30] Although he had significant support from many inside and outside the Corps, including John Lejeune and Josephus Daniels, two other Marine Corps generals were seriously considered for the post, Ben H. Fuller and John H. Russell. General Lejeune and others petitioned President Hoover, garnered support in the Senate and flooded then-Secretary of the Navy Charles Adams's desk with more than 2,500 letters of support.^[42] With the recent death of his influential father, however, Butler had lost much of his protection from his civilian superiors. The outspokenness that characterized his run-ins with the Mayor of Philadelphia, the "unreliability" mentioned by his superiors when opposing a posting to the Western Front, and his comments about Benito Mussolini resurfaced. In the end, the position of Commandant went to Major General Ben H. Fuller and, at his own request, Butler retired from active duty on October 1, 1931.^[5][30]

Later years[link]

Even before retiring from the Corps, Butler began developing his post-Corps career. In May 1931, he took part in a commission established by Oregon Governor Julius L. Meier. The commission laid the foundations for the Oregon State Police.^[43] He began lecturing at events and conferences and after his retirement from the Marines in 1931, he took this up full-time. He donated much of his earnings from his lucrative lecture circuits to the Philadelphia unemployment relief. He toured the western United States, making 60 speeches before returning for his daughter's marriage to Marine aviator Lieutenant John Wehle. Her wedding was the only time that he wore his dress blue uniform after he left the Marines.^[44]