The American Liberty League was an American political organization formed in 1934 by conservative Democrats to oppose the New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt and other liberal Democrats. Jouett Shouse, a prominent Democrat, was the League's president. Other leaders included prominent Democrats and businessmen, such as Al Smith (the 1928 Democratic presidential nominee), John W. Davis (the 1924 Democratic presidential nominee), and John Jacob Raskob (former Democratic National Chairman and the foremost opponent of prohibition), Dean Acheson (future Secretary of State under Harry Truman). It attracted many industrialists, and members of the Du Pont family.[1]
The League's goal was 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, General Motors, General Foods, Standard Oil, Birdseye, Colgate, Heinz Foods, Chase National Bank, and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. It reached over 125,000 members and supported the Republicans in 1936, though it did not make a formal endorsement at the request of the Alf Landon presidential campaign.
Regarding the controversial NRA, the League was ambivalent. Jouett Shouse, the League president commented that "the NRA has in- dulged in unwarranted excesses of attempted regulation"; on the other, he added that "in many regards [the NRA] has served a useful purpose."[2] Shouse said that he had "deep sympathy" with the goals of the NRA, explaining, "While I feel very strongly that the prohibition of child labor, the maintenance of a minimum wage and the limitation of the hours of work belong under our form of government in the realm of the affairs of the different states, yet I am entirely willing to agree that in the case of an overwhelming national emergency the Federal Government for a limited period should be permitted to assume jurisdiction of them."[3]
The League labeled Roosevelt's Agricultural Adjustment Administration "a trend toward Fascist control of agriculture." Social Security 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.
The League came under heavy attack from the Left. In 1934 a Socialist orator named Smedley Butler claimed the League was plotting to overthrow the government and wanted Butler (a former general) to lead the coup; he never was in contact with anyone from the League and offered no evidence[4]