Former Marine Corps Commandant Smedley Butler Addresses the Bonus Army, 1932

I never saw such fine Americanism as is exhibited by you people. You have just as much right to have a lobby here as any steel corporation. Makes me so damn mad, a whole lot of people speak of you as tramps. By God, they didn't speak of you as tramps in 1917 and '18…No…Take it from me, this is the greatest demonstration of Americanism we have ever had. Pure Americanism. Don't make any mistake about it; you've got the sympathy of the American people. Now don't you lose it.