The Big Picture

• American history is often ambiguous and depends on perspective. The film Amsterdam attempts to retell an obscure episode in US history known as The Business Plot.
• The 1930s were a serious and tumultuous time in America. The Great Depression caused widespread unemployment and hardship, while FDR's New Deal faced opposition from the upper class.
• The Business Plot involved a covert political conspiracy to overthrow FDR. General Smedley Butler played a key role in uncovering the plot, and wealthy bond broker Gerald MacGuire was implicated.

Most American history is ambiguous. Compare Howard Zinn’s The People’s History of the United States to any high school history textbook circulating in American public schools. Like the Banana Wars or the invention of the telephone, history depends on perspective and who’s telling it. The new film Amsterdam, starring Christian Bale, John David Washington, Margot Robbie, and Robert De Niro, attempts to retell an obscure episode in American history known as The Business Plot – a covert political conspiracy hedged to overthrow Franklin D. Roosevelt. Set in the early 1930s, seldom is this event included in history textbooks. Although director David O. Russell claimed the film covers “A lot of [what] really happened,” Amsterdam is more of a voyeurism exercise than a history lesson.

What Was America Like in the 1930s?

The film provides little context for how serious the times were during 1933. Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. The first thousand bullets were fired from a machine gun in Japan. In America, The Depression birthed hard times. The US reeled to rehabilitate its economy, which tanked after the 1929 stock market crash. Unemployment ballooned by 1933 with an estimated 15 million people losing their jobs. In Detroit, The Ford Motor Company, which in the spring of 1929 had employed 128,000 workers, cut over 90,000 jobs by August 1931. Destitution and the Dust Bowl rocked blue-collar America. From Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri, over 300,000 flocked to California. Middle-class neighborhoods were abandoned and “Hoovervilles” sprung up in garbage dumps across the country. The leer of Florence Owens Thompson was ingrained in the nation for generations to come.

The film also doesn’t mention the state of the First World War veterans of the time, who were now jobless and incapable of feeding their families. In the spring and summer of 1932, up to 20,000 WWI veterans marched on Washington, later coined the Bonus Army, waving government bonus certificates, not due for years in the future, demanding Congress pay them off now. The unrest culminated in the 1932 presidential election, where Franklin D. Roosevelt won in a landslide over then-president Herbert Hoover.

FDR campaigned on the idea that Americans “needed a new deal" and upon election, summoned Congress into a 100-day special session, in which Roosevelt presented and passed a series of 15 major bills, as well as 76 separate laws. Distress swelled for the capitalists in America as Roosevelt's bills were passed over the “Hundred Days.” Executives, bank titans, and the upper class rejected most of FDR’s policies, begrudging reckless social spending would lead to a ballooned welfare budget. Perhaps the contention reached its height in April 1933 when Roosevelt eliminated the gold standard. Wall Street and wealthy businessmen panicked, asserting if U.S. currency wasn’t backed by gold, inflation could skyrocket, and leave their millions worthless.

What Was the "Business Plot"?

Throughout the film, details on the scheme itself are kept ambiguous with most of the film focusing on the atmosphere of the times. Even the main trio of characters played by Bale, Washington, and Robbie are completely made up, nor are the real-life inspirations directly tied to the real-life Business Plot. Robert De Niro’s character is closest to reality, playing General Gill Dillenbeck. The character is inspired by Smedley Butler, a dedicated Marine Corps general. In the film, Dillenbeck is portrayed wearing replicas of Butler's baby-blue, star-spangled ribbons, honors he received after his WWI service. De Niro also captures the gravity of this moment in Butler’s life, as he was the main component in unraveling The Business Plot. At the time, Butler was a fervent public figure in the fight for the veterans, even publicly supporting the Bonus Army. Wall Street executives viewed his alliance with the 500,000-strong veterans as a potential political demographic that, if focused carefully, could help bolster the favor of remaining on the gold standard.

Enter Gerald MacGuire, the only character who kept his real name. In the film he’s subtle, holding a briefcase, and gabbing in the background with the "Dillenbecks." In real life, MacGuire was a wealthy bond broker who approached Butler in the summer of 1933. According to Butler, their meetings seemed innocuous at first with MacGuire proposing Butler run for National Commander of the American Legion. In later meetings, the proposals became exuberant, offering all-expenses-paid trips for Butler and other veterans to fly around the country for speaking conferences, pushing audiences to vote for the gold standard. As the offers grew so did Butler’s suspicions and, in November 1934, Butler met with FBI head J. Edgar Hoover and made a series of allegations against MacGuire, his associates, and their overthrow scheme.

'Amsterdam' Takes Liberties With the Real Life Plot

The film opens with this event portraying De Niro’s character publicly whistleblowing to reveal the scheme to the public. Then, an assassination attempt dismantles the speech and kick-starts the plot. None of this happened. In fact, when these allegations became public in 1934, Butler later testified in front of a House Committee that the group approached him to band the veterans together and lead a coup against Roosevelt, replacing him with a “Secretary of General Affairs.” This position would oversee major policy decisions while lending Roosevelt as a mere public figure. According to The Washington Post, in return for staging the coup, Butler was promised, “college educations for his children and his mortgage paid off.” According to The Washington Post, Butler also alleged the group was backed by a $300 million slush fund, raised by a conservative lobby called American Liberty League. Members of that lobby included J.P. Morgan Jr., Irénée du Pont, and the CEOs of General Motors and General Foods.

According to The Washington Post, ultimately, the committee found, “There is no question that these attempts were discussed, were planned, and might have been placed in execution when and if the financial backers deemed it expedient.” However, no one was arrested, and no other investigations resulted from the Committee. And similarly, in the film, Butler was openly mocked by mainstream media outlets, particularly The New York Times rendering Butler’s accusations as, “bald and unconvincing narratives”. Today, most historians believe the event happened, but questions remain as to how close the plan was from unfolding.

Amsterdam is available to rent or buy on Apple TV+

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