Douglas MacArthur

Born January 26, 1880
Little Rock, Arkansas
Died April 5, 1964
Washington, D.C.

U.S. general

C onsidered a war hero in World War II (1939–45) as commander of the U.S. Army and Air Forces in the Pacific campaign against Japan, Douglas MacArthur played a crucial role in rebuilding Japan during the early years of the Cold War. The Cold War was an intense political and economic rivalry from 1945 to 1991 between the United States, the Soviet Union, and China with limited military conflict. MacArthur later led U.S. forces during the first year of the Korean War (1950–53). Holding very strong anticommunist views, he became the most controversial U.S. military figure of the Cold War. Promoting a military conquest of communist China and reunification of Korea, he was a major critic of U.S. foreign policy toward the Far East.

A military family

MacArthur was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on January 26, 1880, to Arthur MacArthur, a soldier and decorated Civil War veteran, and Mary Hardy, daughter of a wealthy family in Norfolk, Virginia. He was raised on various army posts in Texas and the American Southwest, as his father became one of the highest-ranking officers in the army. MacArthur's mother was an ambitious woman and strongly influenced his drive for high achievement. His brother would become a naval captain.

MacArthur received his secondary education at the West Texas Military Academy in San Antonio from 1883 to 1897. He then attended the military academy at West Point and graduated first in his class in 1903. He then served as a junior engineering officer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at several army posts in the United States, the Philippines, and Panama. In 1913, MacArthur joined the general staff of the War Department and was often sent on field assignments. In World War I (1914–18), MacArthur switched to combat infantry units from the engineers and fought in France. Promoted to colonel, he held several field commands and showed unusual bravery and flair. He received a number of decorations and rose to the rank of brigadier general by 1918. He served as part of the occupation forces in Germany before returning to the United States in April 1919.

Following the war, MacArthur was appointed superintendent of West Point. He introduced major new reforms during his three years there from 1919 to 1922, including raising the school's academic standards. In 1922, he married a wealthy socialite widow, Louise Brooks. They would have no children and divorce after seven years of marriage. From 1922 to 1930, MacArthur held several positions that included two tours in the Philippines, and he eventually rose to a major general. During this period, he became very interested in Far Eastern international issues.

MacArthur was recognized for his high intelligence and extraordinary command abilities. However, he would be also considered egotistical and aloof except by his closest friends and associates. He worked hard to cultivate a strong public image of his military accomplishments. During his career, he would repeatedly question the civilian authority over the military as established in the U.S. Constitution. This trait would bring him into great controversy.

Leader of the army

In 1930, President Herbert Hoover (1874–1964; served 1929–33) appointed MacArthur U.S. Army chief of staff, the youngest to hold that position in U.S. history. MacArthur would serve in that position for five years, primarily attempting to maintain an effective military force during the economic hard times of the Great Depression (1929–41), the worst financial crisis in American history. In the summer of 1932, however, his image was strongly tarnished when he led a charge of army troops to remove several thousand World War I veterans from Washington, D.C. The veterans had been peacefully protesting to Congress for advanced pay of their promised benefits, owing to the high unemployment brought by the Depression. They had refused to leave when Congress turned them down. MacArthur was also unpopular for his fight against the prevailing pacifist mood of the nation. His stance was that the country needed to maintain a high level of military preparedness.

On a more constructive note, MacArthur played a key role in establishing the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) for President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945; served 1933–45). The CCC was a federal program for providing work for more than 250,000 unemployed young men. It proved to be one of the most successful economic relief programs during the Depression of the 1930s.

In 1935, MacArthur resigned the chief of staff position to become a military advisor to the newly established Philippine government. During his six years there, he strove to build a Filipino force capable of combating Japanese military expansion in the region. This experience would prepare him for the upcoming World War II campaign against Japan, as well as carrying out U.S. Cold War policies aimed at containing the spread of communism in the Far East. Communism is a system of government in which the nation's leaders are selected by a single political party that controls almost all aspects of society. Private ownership of property is eliminated and government directs all economic production. The goods produced and accumulated wealth are, in theory, shared relatively equally by all.

In April 1937, MacArthur married Jean Faircloth. They would have one son. In December 1937, MacArthur retired from the U.S. Army and assumed the role of private military advisor to the Filipino leadership.

World War II in the Pacific

With the decline in relations between Japan and the United States in early 1941, MacArthur was reinstated in the

U.S. military as a lieutenant general with command of U.S. Army forces in the Far East. For the first several months, optimism ran high that the Japanese advances in the region could be turned back before long. However, the surprise Japanese attack on the U.S. military fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, quickly dashed optimistic hopes. Only hours after the Pearl Harbor attack, Japanese forces landed in the Philippines. The Japanese forces continually advanced, as MacArthur's troops used a series of delaying actions while in steady retreat. By March 1942, the U.S. troops were under siege, and Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to Australia to rebuild a larger force of American and Australian forces. MacArthur became commander of the Southwest Pacific Area Theater.

Shortly after MacArthur left for Australia, the U.S. forces on the Philippines surrendered to Japanese troops. Nonetheless, under public pressure, Roosevelt awarded MacArthur the Congressional Medal of Honor for his delaying tactics and promoted him to full general. The U.S. media reported MacArthur's techniques as a courageous defense against superior forces that bought time for the United States to begin regrouping for war. Roosevelt, though, privately believed MacArthur mishandled the logistical support badly, but gave in to the continuing public and congressional adoration of MacArthur.

For the next thirty months, MacArthur mounted a counteroffensive against the Japanese with the goal of eventually recapturing the Philippines. He began with an attack on New Guinea and then hopped from island to island. In the fall of 1944, MacArthur led a major invasion of the Philippines. However, progress proved much slower than expected, dragging into 1945 with high casualties. During this period in April 1945, MacArthur became commander of all U.S. forces in the Pacific. The battle for the Philippines became largely irrelevant in August 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on two Japanese cities. The Japanese soon surrendered. As supreme commander of Allied forces in the Pacific, MacArthur formally accepted the surrender onboard the battleship USS Missouri on September 2.

Rebuilding Japan

Following the surrender, President Harry S. Truman (1884–1972; served 1945–53; see entry) appointed MacArthur the occupation commander of Japan. MacArthur would prove a very positive influence on the successful rebuilding of Japan's economy and society, and in containing the expansion of communism in the region. MacArthur brought major change in dismantling the Japanese military and war industry, and introducing democratic reforms. A new constitution was written under MacArthur's direct leadership, which guaranteed certain human rights, such as freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and greater rights for women. MacArthur also introduced a new educational system and sweeping economic reforms.

MacArthur was responsible as well for establishing a prowestern government in South Korea. Korea had been divided into Soviet and U.S. occupation zones at the conclusion of World War II, much like the division of Germany in Europe. MacArthur selected Syngman Rhee (1875–1965) as the new South Korean leader. However, Rhee imposed a harsh rule that quickly grew unpopular with U.S. political leaders in Washington. MacArthur's role ended in 1948, when the new South Korean government, known as the Republic of Korea, was formed.

By 1948, as communist victory in the civil war in China was growing more obvious, MacArthur switched his emphasis to the rebuilding of industry rather than social reform. He also became a leading critic of President Truman's decision to reduce foreign aid to the Chinese Nationalist government. Nationalism refers to the strong loyalty of a person or group to its own country. The Chinese Nationalists wanted to once again raise the world prominence of China. Truman believed there was little chance for the government to survive much longer against the communist revolutionary forces of Mao Zedong (1893–1976; see entry). In October 1949, Mao's forces finally gained control of the Chinese government, and Chiang Kai-shek (1887–1975; see entry) fled to the island of Taiwan, where he established a new government. MacArthur immediately proposed to use Taiwan as a military base to retake Mainland China. He also strove to restrict the growth of any communist political activities in Japan, even creating a special police force of seventy-five thousand men to guard against any efforts to sabotage the newly forming Japanese economy.

Korean War

Focus shifted quickly to Korea in June 1950, however, when the communist-controlled North Korea invaded U.S.supported South Korea. The United States responded within hours, gaining a United Nations (UN) resolution to condemn and repel the invasion. The UN is an international organization, composed of most of the nations of the world, created to preserve world peace and security. MacArthur was named commander of the UN forces dominated by U.S. forces. In 1951, the United States would sign a peace treaty with Japan, ending U.S. military occupation.

On September 15, 1950, MacArthur led a daring invasion on the coast of Korea behind enemy lines, splitting overextended North Korean forces. With the North Koreans in full retreat, MacArthur and Truman decided to pursue them through North Korea with thoughts of reunifying Korea. The UN forces met little resistance, eventually reaching the border of Chinese-controlled Manchuria. MacArthur basically ignored threats from communist China that they would commit troops to the war if U.S. forces approached the border. MacArthur even called for attacks on China itself that included an invasion from Taiwan. However, Truman wanted no part in expanding the war.

Nevertheless, Chinese communist leader Mao was becoming very nervous about U.S. intentions, given MacArthur's call for attack. Finally in late November 1950, communist China launched a massive offensive involving almost three hundred thousand Chinese troops. The UN forces hastily retreated back into South Korea. MacArthur blamed Truman for not attacking China first. By March 1951, the battlefront stabilized back to the original prewar boundary between North and South Korea at the thirty-eighth parallel. MacArthur persisted in his attacks on Truman, giving life to charges made by

U.S. senator Joseph R. McCarthy (1909–1957; see entry) of Wisconsin of communist subversion in the U.S. government. His aggressive position also undermined the president's efforts at seeking a cease-fire. Finally on April 11, 1951, Truman angrily relieved MacArthur of all his military commands.

A return to the United States

MacArthur returned to the United States and was welcomed by the public as a war hero, perhaps owing more to his World War II exploits than his Korean controversies. It was his first return to the United States since before World War II. MacArthur made a dramatic speech to a joint session of Congress on April 19, 1951, again harshly criticizing Truman's foreign policies. It was this speech in which MacArthur uttered the famous line, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away." Though he was warmly received during his speech, congressional hearings that followed countered many

of MacArthur's charges. The public quickly began to lose interest in the general's perspectives. Other senior military leaders did not share his opinions, and his later speeches gained less public attention.

MacArthur also held political interests in running for president as the Republican candidate and began to focus on the 1952 presidential elections. He and his supporters had previously shown some interest in 1944 and 1948 as well, but little came from it. Although he delivered the keynote speech at the Republican National Convention in 1952, another popular military commander won the nomination instead, World War II general Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969; served 1953–61; see entry). MacArthur was simply too controversial. Greatly disappointed, MacArthur left public life.

In 1952, MacArthur took the largely honorary position of board chairman of the Remington Rand Corporation, a computer company. He lived in New York City, making only occasional public speeches. He made one last farewell trip to the Philippines in 1961. During his later years, he wrote his autobiography, titled Reminiscences, which was published in 1964. He also advised President Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973; served 1963–69; see entry) to avoid a war in Vietnam, predicting it would be costly and highly unpopular with the American public. His prediction would come true. MacArthur died in Washington, D.C., in April 1964, and was buried in Norfolk, Virginia. His military career was one of the longest in U.S. history, as well as the most controversial.

For More Information

Books

Blair, Clay. The Forgotten War: America in Korea, 1950–1953. New York: Time Books, 1987.

James, D. Clayton. The Years of MacArthur. 3 vols. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1970–1985.

MacArthur, Douglas. Reminiscences. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964. Reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1985.

Manchester, William. American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur, 1880–1964. Boston: Little, Brown, 1978.

McCullough, David. Truman. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992.

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

Schaller, Michael. Douglas MacArthur: The Far Eastern General. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.

Web Site

"Conflict and Consequence: The Korean War and its Unsettled Legacy." Truman Presidential Museum and Library.http://www.trumanlibrary.org (accessed on September 10, 2003).

Japan and the Cold War

Though Japan was stripped of all its military capability following its defeat in World War II, it still played a vital role in Cold War developments in the Far East. Following Japan's surrender in September 1945, the United States appointed General Douglas MacArthur as the supreme commander of Allied occupation forces.

Though appointed to simply carry out policies made by the Allies, MacArthur, through his strong-willed manner, operated relatively independently in setting the course of change in Japan. MacArthur was so dominant a figure that he became the sole symbol of postwar reconstruction to the Japanese public. His dignified manner, dramatic flair, dedication, firmness, and clear sympathy for the war-torn country won great esteem from the population and brought Japan under U.S. influence during the Cold War. MacArthur introduced democratic concepts, education reforms, and economic change. He broke up the major landholdings held by a few landlords and distributed the land into numerous peasant farms. He also broke up industries owned by a few wealthy families. In addition, MacArthur was responsible for attracting over two billion dollars' worth of relief goods for the Japanese people between 1945 and 1951. Through his efforts, Japan became a West-aligned nation, representing a first line of defense in containing communist expansion in the Far East.