Could the U.S. government ever be overthrown in a coup?

Question

I was reading today about Boris Yeltsin's death and how he was able to help stop a coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991 when a bunch of high-ranking military officers took control of government buildings in Moscow, at which point Yeltsin jumped up on one of the tanks to stop them, effectively halting their actions because he was a high-ranking government official.

We don't have a government and/or parliamentary structure like various governments that have been overthrown in a coup, but it got me to thinking, is it theoretically possible to stage a coup and overthrow the government? Would it take a bunch of military officers taking control of buildings in D.C.? Or would it be more complicated than that? I know for instance that by law Congress can only meet at the U.S. Capitol except under extraordinary circumstances, but if, for example, Flight 93 had hit the Capitol or White House on 9/11, what would this have done to government if, say, Congress had nowhere to meet?

Aceproceed, I'm not wasting my brainpower. I'm wasting yours. :-)

Kingmonkey, I feel better already knowing that FEMA has a plan in case of disaster. :-)

Answer 1

A military coup is theoretically possible with any government. The military has the ability to exert tremendous force on the population. History has shown again and again that this is sufficient to control a country. If the military decided to put the country under martial law, there isn't a lot the average citizen could do about it. The few militia/survivalist types out there might resist a bit more, but the military's vastly superior training, numbers, and firepower would quickly overwhelm anyone.

Regardless of the rules of where Congress can and cannot meet, all it would take for the military to take over the country would be for the military to do it. They wouldn't have to observe any niceities with the Constitution. They would simply invalidate it.

That being said, it is *highly* unlikely that would happen here. American political culture wouldn't tend to accept it. First of all, the military takes the idea of civilian leadership very seriously. It would take extraordinary circumstances to change that. Second, the regime would ultimately be unstable. If you think Baghdad is rough right now, imagine how it would be once a resistance got organized in America. We're a bunch of individualist cowboys and we wouldn't accept military rule.

Answer 2

Theoretically, yes, it could happen. Reality? Not likely. A military dictator might be able to take control of the federal government but it would be very difficult to take over the State governments without massive support. Of course, civilian firearm ownership makes this task even harder, which is the real reason behind the 2nd Amendment. We have the right to own firearms in this country for just this scenario. Any military take over of the government would be met with stiff resistance from a sizable portion of Americans.

Now, let's consider a plane crashing into the Capitol. How would that affect government? Not much really. Let's assume that the entire Congress was killed in the attack. Not really a big deal because the State legislatures would simply appoint interim Representatives and Senators until elections could be held. Should the President be killed then we would simply follow the line of succession going from the Vice President, Speaker of the House, President pro tempore of the Senate, and then on to the Secretaries of State, Treasury, Defense, Attorney General, Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, HUD, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs and finally Homeland Security.

Now! Should ALL of those people and the Congress be killed off at the same time THEN we might have a problem. The chances of that happening are very slim. The only real scenario that would force that would be a nuclear attack in Washington DC. But then again the State Legislatures could appoint Reps and Senators who would then appoint an interim President and Vice President.

Would there be chaos? Sure. Would it be catastrophic? Indeed. Could it be handled? Yes, but it would be difficult. Is it plausible that the entire US government would be overthrown or even killed off? Yes! Likely? No.

Not only that but FEMA has contingencies plans for things such as this. Interesting to note that FEMA only spends 10% of its budget on natural disaster preparedness. The rest goes towards ensuring the survivability of the US government.

Answer 3

They weren't trying to replace our government with a fascist regime, they were trying to prevent Roosevelt from creating a fascist regime. Roosevelt agreed with Mussolini on practically all particulars, and there was very good reason to be afraid of the concetration of power into Roosevelt's hands. However this supposed plot is nothing but a fairy tale. There is no direct evidence that it ever approached fruition. Even if it was contemplated by everyone you claim, it was not a failed coup because it never started. NO ACTIONS WERE TAKEN. Nothing was done, nobody was killed, no march took place, no money was even spent. If you're looking for fascists the Bush family isn't where you want to search. Fascism was and is a penny-ante version of socialism, just like Nazism, and most of its tenets are quite at home in the present day Democratic party. You won't find any Republicans advocating the sort of government power that is routine among Democrats and Fascists both. Strangely enough the left in America yawned when the truth about Carnivore and Echelon came out in the 90s, but now that we have an actual security threat to worry about they're terrified of the Patriot Act. However you forgot Aaron Burr's attempted coup. That one was actually in progress when disrupted unlike the Butler fancies.

Answer 4

A coup could only happen if the country is in a state of economic and political chaos as Russia was as the USSR fell.

Do you think today if all the top military generals got together and decided they were going to do it that all of your average soldiers are going to be all gung ho to jump on board? The average man or woman in the military couldn't care less about the big political picture. They don't look up to the highest ranking officers as their masters.

Do you think that a building really means that much. So if an earthquake occured and the white house and congress buildings were destroyed, then the entire US government would instantly crumble and the whole country would collapse into anarchy?

Try reading a book about thinking logically instead of trying to apply situations with no real similarity to one another and wasting your brain power on it.

Answer 5

Actually post nuclear Government survival was a rigorous training exercise and an intregal part of Civil Defense exercises from 1945 to 1990. This protocol is still valid. There is NO sunset on this appointment if you were sworn in the to protect the Constitution. I was an active CD member since 1964. In June 1970 I participated in Operation Three Round Burst shortly after the Kent State shootings. Almost all colleges were shut down. Bombs every week it seemed. What OTRB called for was the removal of all three branches of the US Gov. The hiatus would be maintained by the US Military providing provost courts and martial law where necessary. For the most part all civilian courts would cease on 30 day writs. An Emergency provisional government would also maintain continuity on a 30 day basis.ALL Federal Judges would step down. A pre- appointed House of Congress would occupy the Capitol until new elections were held. Political Parties would be abolished. The CD Gov would have election asap. Candidates would be asked to take loyalty tests (2015 vs 1970) probably LVA and polygraph to ascertain their loyalty to the Constitution. They must serve at NO compensation. and on. This was a widely practised protocol until FEMA. It showed the smaller and stronger gold standard Feds trusted civilians with restoring the US government. We were shown how badly civilians in Hawaii Territory were treated after the wimpy governor signed over to Martial Law in 1941. Its like today liberals have lowered the standards on Police, because of the uncontrolled illegals and drugged negroes. The police are told to kill any civilian first. Their job is suppose to save lives. My late Dad disarmed close to 100 people with weapons between 1947 and 1978. BTW i was fortunate to see several of the gigantic underground bunkers the feds have built to survive a 'disaster'. China built them first in the 1950's. I have simplified the post commie take over/take back CD protocol.
Do you know why you are not involved today? The trouble anyone that knows of the 'Mandamus to Save the Republic' is at least 60 yrs old. Also 95% white. Could you see Negroes and Latinos 'working to save the USA from a Communist takeover after a nuclear incident. China has told the Muslim world they would send military forces to occupy Long Beach and the Panama Canal. Or if the Mexicans wanted to seize the SW of the USA. Most under 30 males act like fairies today. The women think they are physical equals. They'd last 2 seconds. Personally I believe the USA must split up. I dont want to live with non-whites. Keep the powder dry

Answer 6

We are a very big country and their is no reason Idaho or any other state would obey someone just because they occupied buildings in Washington DC. The coup would have to occupy every state capital and major city in the country, which means most of the military would have to be involved. We do not have a national police force to carry out the orders. It is possible in principle if the professional army becomes more loyal to their commanders that their country, but I can't see that happening.
The government had a secret underground facility in West Virginia to move to during the cold war. They probably have one now somewhere.

Answer 7

With every day pass, our country is getting into more and more trouble. The inflation, unemployment and falling value of dollar are the main concern for our Government but authorities are just sleeping, they don’t want to face the fact. Media is also involve in it, they are force to stop showing the real economic situation to the people. I start getting more concern about my future as well as my family after watching the response of our Government for the people that affected by hurricane Katrina.

According to recent studies made by World Bank, the coming crisis will be far worse than initially predicted. So if you're already preparing for the crisis (or haven't started yet) make sure you watch this video at http://www.familysurvival.tv and discover the 4 BIG issues you'll have to deal with when the crisis hits, and how to solve them fast (before the disaster strikes your town!) without spending $1,000s on overrated items and useless survival books.

Answer 8

Any government can be overthrown,and the more democratic the easier it can be done! The US is no different. In fact there are currently a number US Generals that are fed up with george and dick right now and are considering that very same possibility! Ever notice the turn around with the generals and how many are suddenly retiring early!

Answer 9

Remember how great , wealthy and powerful Russia and great, wealthy and powerful China had their corrupt governments thrown out to be repaced by communistic rule! Don't forget that the Great Roman Empire or the great Constatople are both history! Nothing is impossible when the majority in any nation swings into rage and turns real sour.

When the wealth of a nation is in the hands of a chosen few, trouble brews.

Answer 10

yes, we were bombed by our own planes on 9-11. A person can walk onto a campus two hours later and kill 30 more people.
Half our country is split by the war.

Our own military can overtake the capital as long as every gov. offical is in the building, One entire battallion consisting of tanks and marines can overtake the government. A rogue general.

A coup happens within its own people.