Before there was a “military-industrial complex,” there was Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, a two-time Medal of Honor recipient who spent over three decades in the United States Marine Corps rising to the rank of Major General, fighting in nearly every dirty little war the American empire could cook up at the turn of the 20th century.

They called him “Old Gimlet Eye.” He was a living legend. Decorated like a five-star Christmas tree, Butler was the embodiment of valor, discipline, and guts. But after 33 years and 16 foreign interventions, he came home and told the truth: the wars he fought weren’t for freedom. They were for business. 

In 1935, Butler published War Is a Racket, a slim little grenade of a book that blew the lid off the cozy relationship between war, Wall Street, and Washington. It’s just 5 chapters, but it hits harder than a .50 cal.

“War is a racket. It always has been.”

“I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers.”

“Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate in three districts. I operated on three continents.”

This poster pays tribute to Butler’s guts—first on the battlefield, then on the record. Printed on museum-quality matte paper, it’s built to last and designed to remind you (and everyone who walks by) that blind patriotism is a racket’s best friend. Hang it in your office, studio, garage, or command post. Because the man told the truth—and it’s still the truth.

Specs:
• Museum-quality matte paper
• Paper thickness: 10.3 mil
• Paper weight: 189 g/m²
• Opacity: 94%
• ISO brightness: 104%
• Paper sourced from Japan