The Paranoid Style Ascendant: From the Business Plot to the Deep State and the Erosion of Public Trust

06, Feb. 2026 /Mpelembe Media  —  Conspiracy theories have been a persistent feature of American political life, though their status has shifted over time. In the 17th and 18th centuries, conspiracy theories were considered “orthodox knowledge” voiced by elites, such as the Founding Fathers’ fears of British plots or the Puritan belief in the devil’s influence,. In the early republic, fears centered on the Illuminati, Freemasons, and Catholics, who were accused of subverting American liberty,,. Following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, persistent myths arose claiming that John Wilkes Booth escaped and a government cover-up hid the truth.

Major 20th-Century Plots Two significant theories from the 20th century involved alleged secret maneuverings to alter the presidency:

The Business Plot (1933): Retired Major General Smedley Butler testified that wealthy businessmen planned to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt and install a fascist dictatorship. A congressional committee concluded that such attempts were indeed discussed and planned, though no prosecutions followed,.

The October Surprise (1980): This theory alleges that the Reagan campaign secretly negotiated to delay the release of American hostages in Iran to ensure Jimmy Carter’s defeat. While congressional investigations found no credible evidence to support these claims, new allegations continue to emerge regarding secret trips and meetings,.

The “Paranoid Style” and Modern Stigmatization By the late 1950s and 1960s, conspiracy theories moved from the mainstream to the margins, becoming “stigmatized heterodox knowledge”. Historian Richard Hofstadter famously described the “paranoid style” in American politics as a mode of expression characterized by “heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy,” often utilized by those who feel their country has been “taken away from them”,. The assassination of John F. Kennedy remains a central topic of this style, with enduring debates regarding the “magic bullet,” the grassy knoll, and the CIA’s role,,.

The Trump Era and the “Deep State” Donald Trump’s presidency marked a resurgence of conspiracy rhetoric in the mainstream. Trump promoted numerous theories, including “Birtherism,” claims that wind turbines cause cancer, and allegations of massive election fraud in 2020,,. He also popularized the concept of the “Deep State”—a clandestine network of government officials allegedly working against him—adapting a term originally associated with Turkey to the American bureaucracy,.

Impact on Public Trust Research indicates that exposure to conspiracy theories significantly reduces trust in government institutions, even when those theories are accompanied by factual rebuttals. The “he said, she said” format of reporting often fails to mitigate this loss of confidence, as mere exposure to the claims diminishes trust in the agencies implicated,. Amidst these political battles, presidents have also used non-verbal means, such as fashion, to navigate societal expectations and shape their historical legacies.

In the sweltering July of 1932, the Anacostia flats of Washington D.C. resembled a war zone. Thousands of World War I veterans, known as the “Bonus Army,” had erected a sprawling city of shacks, demanding the early payment of promised bonuses to survive the Great Depression. The standoff ended in fire and blood when U.S. Army cavalry, under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, charged the camp, burning the veterans’ shelters to the ground. In the smoke of Anacostia, the atmosphere of a nation on the brink of collapse was palpable.While we often dismiss conspiracy theories as the “fringe” delusions of the modern internet age, history tells a more sordid story. Paranoia has not merely existed on the sidelines; it has been a foundational tool and a legitimate lens of power at the highest levels of American government for centuries. This investigation explores five counter-intuitive truths from our history of political plots, revealing how the line between “official” truth and “paranoid” fantasy has always been razor-thin.

1. The Wall Street Plot to Overthrow FDR Was Real

In 1933, as Franklin D. Roosevelt took the sledgehammer of the New Deal to the American economy, a cabal of wealthy financiers decided he had to go. This “Business Plot”—or “Wall Street Putsch”—was no mere parlor talk. It was a concrete plan to install a fascist dictator in the White House. The conspirators approached Major General Smedley Butler, a Marine Corps legend, to lead a 500,000-man army of veterans to seize Washington.The motive was greed, specifically tied to the gold standard. Wealthy businessmen, including Robert Sterling Clark (the Singer fortune heir known as the “millionaire lieutenant”), were horrified by Roosevelt’s departure from gold. They viewed a currency not backed by bullion as “worthless paper” and sought a leader who would protect their fortunes. Butler, however, blew the whistle, testifying before the McCormack–Dickstein Committee. While the  New York Times  initially mocked the story as a “gigantic hoax,” the committee’s final report in 1935 was chillingly clear: the attempts were “planned, and might have been placed in execution when and if the financial backers deemed it expedient.””I spent 33 years and four months in active military service… and during that period I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.” — Major General Smedley Butler

2. Conspiracy Theories Were Once “Official” Knowledge

From the 17th century through the mid-20th century, conspiracy theories were not “fringe”—they were “Orthodox Knowledge.” They were the legitimate tools of the elite, used by Founding Fathers and Presidents to interpret the world. It was only after World War II that this mode of thinking was pathologized.In the wake of the Holocaust and the Red Scare, social scientists—including the Frankfurt School and Richard Hofstadter—began to view conspiracism as a psychological danger to democracy rather than a logical assessment of cause and effect. Hofstadter’s “Paranoid Style” reframed these beliefs as “Heterodox,” stigmatizing them as irrationality.| Feature | Pre-1950s Conspiracism (Orthodox Knowledge) | Post-1950s Conspiracism (Heterodox Knowledge) || —— | —— | —— || Primary Authors | Articulated by elites (Founding Fathers, Presidents) | Articulated by the fringe and counter-publics || Social Status | Legitimate, “official” knowledge | Stigmatized, “illegitimate” knowledge || Primary Function | Used to shape national policy and justify revolutions | Used to challenge authority from below || Why It Shifted | Pre-Enlightenment focus on personal intent | Post-WWII response to the Holocaust and extremism |

3. The Original “Conspiracy Mongers” Were the Founding Fathers

Early American presidents utilized paranoia as a central political strategy. Thomas Jefferson’s “Revolution of 1800” was effectively a campaign to eliminate the Federalists by labeling them “monarchists,” “Anglomen,” and “British agents” intent on destroying the “Spirit of 1776.” Jefferson didn’t stop at Alexander Hamilton; by the end of George Washington’s term, Jefferson concluded the First President was a co-conspirator whose head had been “shorn by the harlot England.”This tradition of elite paranoia flourished under Andrew Jackson during the “Bank War.” Jackson characterized the Bank of the United States as a “monster” and a “hydra of corruption,” claiming a secretive cabal of elites was plotting the ruin of the common man. These were not the rants of a marginalized outsider, but the central strategies of sitting presidents used to arouse their “base” and annihilate political rivals like Nicholas Biddle.

4. The Strange Afterlife of John Wilkes Booth

The myth that John Wilkes Booth escaped his fate at Richard Garrett’s barn is one of America’s most enduring “folk-myth” patterns. These theories, popularized by lawyer Finis L. Bates, claimed that Booth lived on as “John St. Helen” or a sign painter named David E. George, whose embalmed “mummy” eventually became a macabre carnival attraction. The theory even suggested a body double—a Confederate soldier named J.W. Boyd—was killed in Booth’s place. However, as historian William C. Davis conclusively proved, J.W. Boyd did not die in 1865; he lived until January 1866.Why does the myth persist? Psychologically, Lincoln was transformed after his death into a personalized “folk-god,” a warmer figure than the “austere” George Washington. In the logic of mythology, the slayer of a folk-god cannot die a simple death. To satisfy the human need for cosmic justice, the assassin must be forced to wander the earth alone, “branded with infamy.”

5. The “Deep State” Is an Elastic Label for Bureaucracy

In modern discourse, the “Deep State” is often portrayed as a clandestine “shadow government.” Yet, academic analysis and the reality of the American bureaucracy suggest a far more transparent, albeit complex, structure. While critics like Tom Engelhardt and Alfred McCoy have noted the rise of a “fourth branch” of government in the post-9/11 National Security State, scholars like Jon D. Michaels argue that the U.S. bureaucracy acts as a “bulwark, not a battering ram.”

Diverse Origins:  Unlike foreign deep states, U.S. bureaucrats come from a vast range of socio-economic backgrounds.

Transparency:  American agencies are generally accessible and governed by legal structures, unlike the “dark states” of developing nations.

Internal Fragmentation:  The bureaucracy is not a monolith; it is internally diverse and often at odds with itself.

Defensive Stability:  Civil servants often act to ensure the stability of constitutional checks and balances against executive overreach.”The deep state is a hybrid association of elements of government and parts of top-level finance and industry that is effectively able to govern… without reference to the consent of the governed as expressed through the formal political process.” — Mike Lofgren

Conclusion: The Persistence of Paranoia

The history of American paranoia suggests we are not living in a unique era, but a recurring one. While the internet has allowed for the rise of “counter-publics” where conspiracy theories are once again treated as orthodox truth, the fundamental human drive to find patterns in chaos remains constant. From 19th-century myths of “monarchist” plots to the “Deep State” narratives of today, these stories reflect our deepest anxieties about power and trauma.Is our modern era a return to the “elite paranoia” of the 18th century, or have we entered a new, fragmented territory where truth is defined entirely by the “echo chamber” you inhabit?

Source: insights.mpelembe.net