Douglas MacArthur

Born January 26, 1880
Little Rock, Arkansas
Died April 5, 1964
Washington, D.C .
American general; commanded the Allied forces in
the Southwest Pacific and served as civilian
administrator of occupied Japan

One of the most memorable figures of the World War II period, Douglas MacArthur was a colorful character and an excellent self-promoter whose image frequently appeared in newspapers and newsreels (news films, often shown before movies). He was always seen wearing sunglasses and smoking an oversized corncob pipe, looking fearless as he commanded the Allied forces in the Pacific. He was known as a complicated person who could be charming and modest or vain and arrogant, and he often clashed with his superiors. In fact, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945; see entry) once called MacArthur one of the "two most dangerous men in America" (the other was Louisiana senator Huey Long, another colorful character). However, his theatrics should not cloud MacArthur's real accomplishments, especially his campaign to liberate the Philippines from Japanese control and his term as civilian administrator of Japan after the war.

A boy bound for glory

Almost from birth, MacArthur seemed destined for greatness. He was the third child and second son of General Arthur MacArthur, who earned a Congressional Medal of Honor for his courage during the Civil War and who was the U.S. Army's top-ranking officer by 1906. Coincidentally, the elder MacArthur also once served as military governor to the Philippines, which had been under American control since the Spanish American War (April to August 1898). Douglas MacArthur's mother, Mary Pinkney Hardy, was devoted to her son and would eventually use her many social connections to help him advance in his career. She encouraged all of her children to remember their duty to others and to be honest, but she paid special attention to Douglas, telling him that he was certain to achieve glory.

MacArthur spent his childhood living on a variety of army posts and was attracted to the military life at an early age; he claimed to have learned to ride horses and shoot before he learned to read and write. He was close to his older brother, Arthur, who died of appendicitis in 1926 in the midst of a promising career in the navy. In 1897 the family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, and for the rest of his life MacArthur considered that city home. His father decided that MacArthur should attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. Before he was accepted he had to take a competitive examination, and he later remembered how rigorously he had prepared for it: "I never worked harder in my life. It was a lesson I never forgot. Preparedness is the key to success and victory."

MacArthur passed the exam and entered West Point in 1899, when he was nineteen. During his years at the academy he had an excellent academic record; he also played baseball, managed the football team, and served as president of the student body during his senior year. At graduation in 1903 he won the rank of first captain, the school's highest military honor, and also was first in his class in academics.

The "Fighting Dude"

After graduation he was made second lieutenant of engineers, and he served briefly in the Philippines, then in San Francisco. In 1905 he was assigned to serve as an aide to his father, who had been appointed the U.S. Army's official observer of the war between Russia and Japan. The next year MacArthur returned to Washington to work as an aide to President Theodore Roosevelt, a friend of his father's. Over the next ten years, MacArthur served a number of different assignments. When the United States joined World War I (1914-18) in 1917, he was working in the office of the Army General Staff in Washington, D.C.

It was during World War I that MacArthur made his reputation—both for exceptional courage and for exceptional arrogance. In response to the military's need to recruit more men into the armed forces and to unite the country behind the war effort, MacArthur suggested the formation of a "Rainbow Division," which would be made up of National Guard volunteers from each state. MacArthur was assigned to lead this division and given the temporary rank of colonel.

In June 1918, when he was only thirty-eight years old, MacArthur was appointed brigadier general, and two months later he was given command of the Rainbow Division's 84th Infantry Brigade. He led his troops in several major battles in France, including those at St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, and Sedan. MacArthur became famous both for his bravery (he earned seven Silver Stars as well as four other U.S. medals and nineteen honors from the other Allied countries) and for his "uniform," which went completely against army regulations. It consisted of riding breeches, a turtleneck sweater, a four-foot-long scarf, and a soft cap instead of a helmet. He also smoked his cigarettes in a long holder. Called the "Fighting Dude" by the troops, MacArthur was once taken prisoner by an American soldier who thought he must be a German because of his unusual uniform.

Between two wars

Returning to the United States in 1919, MacArthur was named superintendent of West Point— the youngest officer ever to hold that post. During his three years at the academy, he modernized the curriculum, reorganized the athletic program, and made other changes that allowed the school to double in size. In February 1922, he married a wealthy, divorced socialite named Henrietta Louise Cromwell Brooks, and in August of the same year he was assigned to serve in the Philippines.

After three years in the Philippines, MacArthur returned to the United States to command the army's 3rd Corps Area, stationed in Baltimore. In 1928, he was named president of the U.S. Olympic Committee and spent a summer in Amsterdam overseeing the games. Then he returned to the Philippines, but this time his wife did not accompany him; the following June, the two were divorced by mutual consent.

In the fall of 1930, MacArthur returned to Washington, D.C., and was named the army's chief of staff—the highest post in the U.S. military—by President Herbert Hoover. Only fifty years old, MacArthur attained the rank of four-star general. Only eight other generals in U.S. history had reached that rank. The country was in the midst of the Great Depression (1929-39; a period of sharp economic decline during which many businesses went bankrupt and many people were jobless) and there was not much extra money for military use; nevertheless, MacArthur managed to modernize and strengthen the army during his five years as chief of staff. The only controversy of his term occurred when he was accused of taking too personal a role in a troop action that ended the "Bonus March," a demonstration by impoverished World War I veterans demanding assistance from the government. MacArthur was accused of trying to make himself look good by personally appearing on the scene; in addition, it was said that the troops had used too much force against the veterans.

Advisor to the Philippines

MacArthur's next job was as a military advisor to the newly-formed Philippine Commonwealth, which was scheduled to become fully independent, but the United States would still be in charge of the country's defense. MacArthur's job was to create and train military forces for the Philippine government. One young officer who accompanied him on this assignment was Major Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969; see entry), who would later achieve his own measure of greatness as commander of Allied forces in Europe during World War II.

In April 1937, MacArthur wed Jean Faircloth, a Tennessean he had met on the boat to the Philippines; he later described the marriage (which turned out to be long and happy) as "perhaps the smartest thing I have ever done." Later that year, MacArthur retired from the U.S. Army, remaining in the Philippines, and the couple's son, Arthur MacArthur III, was born in early 1938.

Trying to defend the Philippines

By the middle of 1941, Japan's aggressive actions in the Pacific region alarmed the American government. President Franklin D. Roosevelt recalled MacArthur from retirement and made him the head of all the U.S. Army forces in the Pacific area, including the entire army of the Philippines, which was immediately inducted into the U.S. Army. MacArthur quickly began preparing the forces in the Philippines, raising the number of soldiers from 22,000 to 180,000. These men, however, were mostly untrained troops.

On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, taking everyone by surprise and destroying much of the U.S. Navy's fleet. The United States declared war on Japan and three days later Japan's allies, Germany and Italy, declared war on the United States. The United States joined the Allied powers that were working together to defeat Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Instead of making sure that the U.S. planes and other equipment at Clark Air Field in the Philippines were out of harm's way, MacArthur did nothing—apparently he believed that Japan would leave the Philippines alone. But nine days after Pearl Harbor, Japan struck the airfield, following their attack with a full-fledged invasion of the Philippines.

By Christmas, MacArthur and his friend Manuel Quezon, the president of the Philippines, were forced to abandon the country's capital, Manila. They took refuge at Corregidor, the island fortress at the entrance to Manila Bay. Meanwhile the combined U.S. and Filipino troops fought it out in the jungles of the Bataan peninsula. Soon it was clear that the Philippines could not be saved, and President Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to leave. With his family and a few staff members and officers, MacArthur escaped to Australia, traveling 560 miles by PT boat (a coastal patrol vessel), followed by a flight in a B-17 Flying Fortress airplane with the Japanese in pursuit. Before leaving the Philippines, MacArthur proclaimed "I shall return" (even though the U.S. government had recommended that he say "We shall return").

Determined to return

MacArthur felt that the United States broke its promise to protect the Philippines, and he was determined to rescue the country from the Japanese. But first he had to convince the other Allied military commanders—who were inclined to focus first on the defeat of Germany—that conquering the Japanese should be a high priority. That done, he would have to convince those who thought American forces should bypass the Philippines on the way to attacking Japan.

Meanwhile, Australia was vulnerable to Japanese attack. Named Supreme Commander of the Southwest Pacific Area in April 1942, MacArthur prepared Australian and American troops for battle, and from October to December 1942 he led a campaign in New Guinea that kept the Japanese at bay. By 1943, the United States was sending more troops and airplanes to the Pacific. The War Department had divided the region into two theaters or areas of attack: Admiral Chester Nimitz (1885-1966; see sidebar on page 141) would lead the navy west across the central Pacific and toward Japan, while MacArthur and the army would move north from Australia.

"Leapfrogging" to victory

MacArthur used a unique "leapfrogging" strategy that proved highly successful. The strategy involved "hopping" from island to island, bypassing the places where enemy troops were waiting in large numbers, and attacking where they were least expected. In this way, MacArthur worked his way toward the Philippines—with Japan as the final goal— making eighty-seven amphibious landings (a joint action of land, sea, and air forces that invade from the seas) and minimizing casualties (deaths or wounding of his own soldiers).

Finally the Allies were ready to retake the Philippines, and MacArthur waded ashore with his troops at Leyte island in October 1944 and on the mainland at Luzon three months later. With his first landing he made a radio broadcast proclaiming, "People of the Philippines, I have returned," and he became an instant hero to his listeners. He was not such a hero, however, with some of his officers and soldiers. They felt that he wanted to keep all of the glory for himself.

To Japan for a new role

After the Allied forces cleared the Philippines of all remaining Japanese soldiers, they prepared to invade Japan. MacArthur was named commander of all U.S. ground troops in the Pacific, while Nimitz commanded the naval forces. The plans were made unnecessary, however, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On August 15, Japan surrendered to the Allies. MacArthur was promoted to Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers on August 15. He flew to Tokyo, where he received the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945.

Immediately after the end of the war, MacArthur was made civilian administrator of occupied Japan. This important position involved helping the country recover from the devastating effects of war as well as encouraging a democratic form of government—instead of the type of government they had in place during the war, one headed by an emperor and dominated by the military. MacArthur arrived in Tokyo with no weapons but plenty of self-confidence. He set up his headquarters in the Dai Ichi Building in Tokyo. From there he issued various rules and regulations to disarm the country, restore the economy, begin land reform, and create and strengthen labor unions. Emperor Hirohito (1901-1989; see entry) was allowed to remain as a symbol of unity and tradition, but he was stripped of almost all of his power.

Although some viewed MacArthur as an almost dictatorial ruler who did not listen to criticism, most observers praised his evenhanded approach as well as the way he won the trust of the Japanese people. MacArthur himself felt that this was his most successful role and greatest accomplishment.

Back in the United States, MacArthur was mentioned as a possible presidential candidate for the 1948 election. He did not discourage his supporters, and was said to be quite disappointed when Thomas Dewey beat him for the Republican nomination.

A showdown with President Truman

After World War II, the country of Korea was divided into two countries, Communist North Korea and South Korea, which had an authoritarian (where power is concentrated in an authority that is not responsible to the people) government. The North Koreans wanted to reunite Korea under Communist rule, and on June 25, 1950, North Korean forces attacked South Korea. The United States was concerned about the spread of communism throughout Asia. President Harry S. Truman (1884-1975; see entry) placed MacArthur in charge of the U.S. troops in the region, directing him to protect South Korea. Soon he was made commander of the United Nations forces sent to help South Korea.

MacArthur's personal determination to fight communism led him to go against the advice of other military leaders and launch a bold strike against North Korea with an amphibious landing at Inchon in September 1950. His troops succeeded in pushing the enemy back across the 38th parallel (the line dividing North and South Korea), and they continued driving the North Koreans toward the Yalu River, which formed the boundary between North Korea and China. MacArthur ignored warnings that the Chinese might join the North Koreans in their struggle. The Chinese did join the fight, and the American and United Nations troops had to withdraw.

MacArthur asserted that instead of retreating, the United States should bomb strategic sites in China; he thought that to crush communism in Asia, they would have to crush China, the largest Communist country. But Truman and other western leaders disagreed. They were not ready to start another big war. MacArthur was unwilling to accept this judgment, and he made public his conflict with Truman over U.S. policy in Korea. Truman firmly believed that a military officer must not question the civilian leader of the United States, and therefore he relieved MacArthur of his command on April 11, 1950.

A hero goes home

A week later, MacArthur returned to the United States for the first time in fifteen years. He received a hero's welcome, with about 20,000 admirers waiting to greet him when his airplane landed. He made a speech before Congress, quoting a line from an old ballad, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away": "And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away—an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty."

MacArthur spent his remaining years living at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City with his wife. With the death of General George C. Marshall (1880-1959; see entry).in 1959, MacArthur became the army's top-ranking officer (just as his father had been earlier in the century), with the rank of General of the Army. He remained on active duty—though without assignment—until his death. MacArthur was buried in one of the old uniforms he'd worn during his days in the Pacific, adorned only (from among all the many decorations he had earned) with the U.S. and five-star insignias.

Where to Learn More

Books

Darby, Jean. Douglas MacArthur. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner, 1989.

Devaney, John. Douglas MacArthur: Something of a Hero. New York: Putnam's, 1979.

Finkelstein, Norman H. The Emperor General: A Biography of Douglas MacArthur. Minneapolis, MN: Dillon Press, 1989.

Perret, Geoffrey. Old Soldiers Never Die: The Life of Douglas MacArthur. New York: Random House, 1996.

Scott, Robert A. Douglas MacArthur and the Century of War. New York: Facts on File, 1997.

Wittner, Lawrence S., ed. MacArthur. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1971.

Periodicals

"The Emperor: Douglas MacArthur." U.S. News & World Report (March 16,1998): 54.

Admiral Nimitz Leads in the Pacific

While General Douglas MacArthur led his troops to a "leapfrogging" victory in the South Pacific, the top officer in the U.S. Navy commanded Allied forces in the northern and eastern parts of the region. Admiral Chester Nimitz was a quiet, easygoing man with a big job.

Born in 1885 in Fredericksburg, Texas, Nimitz graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, in 1905. He served in the Philippines, and later became an expert on submarines. During World War I Nimitz was chief of staff of the Atlantic Submarine Force.

By the time World War II began, Nimitz had been promoted to rear admiral and was serving as chief of the navy's Bureau of Navigation. About ten days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Nimitz took over command of the Pacific Fleet. He flew out to Hawaii and began rebuilding the fleet, which had been devastated by the attack. Nimitz was soon overseeing raids on the Marshall Islands, then on the Gilbert Islands. It seemed that despite the blow it had taken, the U.S. Navy was on the attack.

In an operation designed to protect Australia from possible Japanese invasion, Nimitz gathered together Allied forces for the Battle of the Coral Sea, which took place in early May 1942. This victory was followed by another one at Midway Island in June. During the next year, Nimitz's forces worked their way across the central Pacific, rooting out the Japanese from their island strongholds and pounding the Japanese navy. Finally the Allies achieved a decisive victory at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands in February 1944.

In July, 1944 Nimitz met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882- 1945; see entry) and other military commanders to discuss MacArthur's wish to liberate the Philippines. Nimitz finally agreed with MacArthur that it was the right thing to do, and in October the Battle for Leyte Gulf took place. The Allies came out on top, and MacArthur was able to wade ashore as the returning victor.

Nimitz was promoted to five-star admiral in December 1944. The war ended with the Japanese surrender, which took place on September 2, 1945, aboard the USS Missouri. Nimitz was among the Allied officers who signed the treaty agreement. He left his Pearl Harbor command in November and the next month became the commander in chief for the U.S. Fleet. Two years later Nimitz retired from the military. He died in 1966.