Born in Baltimore, Maryland, to John Harvey and Eunice West (née Riddle) Butler,[1] he received his early education at public schools in his native city.

[3] After his military service, he returned to Baltimore and attended Johns Hopkins University (1919-1921) before joining his father's real estate business.

Butler received strong support from Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, whose accusations of Communist infiltration into the State Department had been rejected by the Tydings Committee.

[2] During the campaign, McCarthy's staff distributed a pamphlet that featured a falsified photograph showing Tydings with Communist leader Earl Browder.

[2] He supported returning offshore oil lands to the states, and voted in favor of the non-interventionist Bricker Amendment.

At 80, he died from a heart attack in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, as he and his wife were returning from a vacation on St. Simons Island in Georgia.