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The American Liberty League was a U.S.
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 organization formed in 1934 by conservative Democrats
History of the United States Democratic Party

The history of the Democratic Party of the United States is an account of the oldest political party in the United States and arguably the oldest democratic party in the world....
 such as Al Smith
Al Smith

Alfred Emanuel Smith, Jr. , known in private and public life as Al Smith, was an American politician who was elected List of Governors of New York four times, and was the History of the United States Democratic Party United States presidential election, 1928....
 (the 1928 Democratic presidential nominee), Jouett Shouse (former high party official and U.S. Representative), John W. Davis
John W. Davis

John William Davis was an Politics of the United States, diplomat and lawyer. He served as an United States Representative from West Virginia , then as Solicitor General of the United States and United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom under President Woodrow Wilson....
 (the 1924 Democratic presidential nominee), and John Jacob Raskob (former Democratic National Chairman and the foremost opponent of prohibition
Prohibition in the United States

In the history of the United States, Prohibition is the period from 1920 to 1933, during which the sale, manufacture, and transportation of Alcoholic beverage for consumption were banned nationally as mandated in the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution....
), Dean Acheson
Dean Acheson

Dean Gooderham Acheson was an American statesman and lawyer; as United States Secretary of State in the administration of President Harry S. Truman during 1949?1953, he played a central role in defining American foreign policy during the Cold War....
 (future Secretary of State under Harry Truman), along with many industrialists, notably Prescott Bush
Prescott Bush

Prescott Sheldon Bush was a Wall Street executive banker, and a United States United States Senate representing Connecticut from 1952 until January 1963....
 and members of the Du Pont family
Du Pont family

The Du Pont family is an United States family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours . The son of a Paris watchmaker and a member of a Duchy of Burgundy noble family, he and his sons, Victor Marie du Pont and Eleuth?re Ir?n?e du Pont, emigrated to the United States in 1800 and used the resources of their Huguenot heritage to found on...
.

The League stated that it would work to "defend and uphold the Constitution" and to "foster the right to work, earn, save and acquire property." The League spent between $500,000 and $1.5 million in promotional campaigns; its funding came mostly from the Du Pont family, as well as leaders of U.S. Steel
U.S. Steel

The United States Steel Corporation , more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an integrated steel producer with major production operations in the United States, Canada, and Central Europe....
, General Motors, General Foods
General Foods

General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by C. W. Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895....
, Standard Oil
Standard Oil

Standard Oil was a predominant United States integrated petroleum producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as an Ohio Corporation, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational corporations until it was broken up...
, Birdseye
Birdseye

Birdseye, Birds Eye or Bird's Eye may refer to:*Birds Eye, a brand of frozen foods**Clarence Birdseye, considered the founder of the modern frozen food industry, and the "Birds Eye" frozen food brand...
, Colgate
Colgate

Colgate may refer to:...
, Heinz Foods, Chase National Bank, and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling. Today it is the third largest tire company in the world after Bridgestone and Michelin....
.






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The American Liberty League was a U.S.
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 organization formed in 1934 by conservative Democrats
History of the United States Democratic Party

The history of the Democratic Party of the United States is an account of the oldest political party in the United States and arguably the oldest democratic party in the world....
 such as Al Smith
Al Smith

Alfred Emanuel Smith, Jr. , known in private and public life as Al Smith, was an American politician who was elected List of Governors of New York four times, and was the History of the United States Democratic Party United States presidential election, 1928....
 (the 1928 Democratic presidential nominee), Jouett Shouse (former high party official and U.S. Representative), John W. Davis
John W. Davis

John William Davis was an Politics of the United States, diplomat and lawyer. He served as an United States Representative from West Virginia , then as Solicitor General of the United States and United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom under President Woodrow Wilson....
 (the 1924 Democratic presidential nominee), and John Jacob Raskob (former Democratic National Chairman and the foremost opponent of prohibition
Prohibition in the United States

In the history of the United States, Prohibition is the period from 1920 to 1933, during which the sale, manufacture, and transportation of Alcoholic beverage for consumption were banned nationally as mandated in the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution....
), Dean Acheson
Dean Acheson

Dean Gooderham Acheson was an American statesman and lawyer; as United States Secretary of State in the administration of President Harry S. Truman during 1949?1953, he played a central role in defining American foreign policy during the Cold War....
 (future Secretary of State under Harry Truman), along with many industrialists, notably Prescott Bush
Prescott Bush

Prescott Sheldon Bush was a Wall Street executive banker, and a United States United States Senate representing Connecticut from 1952 until January 1963....
 and members of the Du Pont family
Du Pont family

The Du Pont family is an United States family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours . The son of a Paris watchmaker and a member of a Duchy of Burgundy noble family, he and his sons, Victor Marie du Pont and Eleuth?re Ir?n?e du Pont, emigrated to the United States in 1800 and used the resources of their Huguenot heritage to found on...
.

The League stated that it would work to "defend and uphold the Constitution" and to "foster the right to work, earn, save and acquire property." The League spent between $500,000 and $1.5 million in promotional campaigns; its funding came mostly from the Du Pont family, as well as leaders of U.S. Steel
U.S. Steel

The United States Steel Corporation , more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an integrated steel producer with major production operations in the United States, Canada, and Central Europe....
, General Motors, General Foods
General Foods

General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by C. W. Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895....
, Standard Oil
Standard Oil

Standard Oil was a predominant United States integrated petroleum producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as an Ohio Corporation, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational corporations until it was broken up...
, Birdseye
Birdseye

Birdseye, Birds Eye or Bird's Eye may refer to:*Birds Eye, a brand of frozen foods**Clarence Birdseye, considered the founder of the modern frozen food industry, and the "Birds Eye" frozen food brand...
, Colgate
Colgate

Colgate may refer to:...
, Heinz Foods, Chase National Bank, and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling. Today it is the third largest tire company in the world after Bridgestone and Michelin....
. It reached over 125,000 members and supported the Republicans in 1936.

In the year of its founding, 1934, the League was accused by Smedley Butler
Smedley Butler

Smedley Darlington Butler , nicknamed "The Fighting Quaker" and "Old Gimlet Eye", was a Major general in the United States Marine Corps and, at the time of his death, the most decorated Marine in U.S....
 of being involved in a fascist Business Plot
Business Plot

The Business Plot was a Conspiracy alleged by retired United States Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, who testified to the McCormack-Dickstein United States Congressional committee that a group of men had approached him as part of a plot to overthrow United States President of the United States Franklin D....
 to overthrow President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Butler was a famously anti-capitalist retired Marine Corps general and strong supporter of President Roosevelt. According to Butler's congressional testimony, the League was founded intentionally as a para-military coup vehicle, an 'American version' of the 1930s French Croix de Feu. Butler said that he was approached to lead a group of 500,000 veterans to take over the functions of government. The final McCormack-Dickstein Committee report recounted Butler's allegations on the existence of the plot. No prosecutions or further investigations followed, and historians and contemporary journalists largely rejected the idea that any such plan was near execution, with the New York Times characterizing it as a "gigantic hoax."

The League labeled Roosevelt's Agricultural Adjustment Administration "a trend toward Fascist control of agriculture." Social Security
Social Security (United States)

Social security in the United States currently refers to the Federal government of the United States Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program....
 was said to "mark the end of democracy." Lawyers for the American Liberty League challenged the validity of the Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act), but in 1937, the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the statute. The League faded away and disbanded in 1940.