I was reading about Marine Smedley Butler and in his wikipedia article it talks about how he was initially laughed out of politics for his warnings about, and efforts to stop, an attempted coup d'etat in the U.S. shortly after WWII. The article then says something like, "Later evidence would show that Smedley was right about the coup." That seems like a very understated way of saying "holy FUCK the American Federal goddamn government was almost overthrown!"

So, was there an attempted overthrow? Or is this just crazy conspiracy stuff? And if there was, how much of our asses did Smedley save? And why the hell isn't this more common knowledge? Seems like, if its true, its kind of a bid deal.

Thanks in advance.