Butler was raised in then-segregated Orange Heights, Florida. He served in combat during World War II and after returning to the U.S., worked as a nurse at Emory University Hospital while attending classes at Morris Brown College. He then went on to earn and B.S. and M.S. in nursing at the University of Florida where he also served as a lecturer. On March 19, 1969, he won election to the Gainesville City Commission, a significant accomplishment as Gainesville was 80% White at the time. In 1971, he was elected by the City Commission to serve as Gainesville's first African American mayor since Josiah T. Walls during Reconstruction. While mayor, he started a minority recruiting program to increase the number of Black firefighters and policemen; he paved most of the dirt roads in Black neighborhoods; formed a Bi-Racial Committee to help foster improved interracial relations; and consolidated the various city utilities into a single entity.
