Smedley Darlington Butler was born in West Chester, PA on July 30, 1881. Over his father's objections, but with the help of his mother, at the age of 16 he left home and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in 1898, just 38 days short of his 17th birthday. He was promoted to Brevet Captain for his heroic action during the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900. Thus began a career that lasted 33 years from the Spanish American War, through World War I, and through the second Chinese rebellion that set the stage for communist rule later in China. He became one of only two Marines ever to hold double awards of the Medal of Honor. After retirement he became one of the most popular speakers and fighters for veteran's rights and the defeat of what is now referred to as the "military industrial complex". In the 1930's he revealed to President Theodore Roosevelt a scheme by a conglomerate of financiers, bankers, and industrialists to replace him with a "Presidential Assistant", and he, Butler, appointed as the new "Dictator".