Douglas MacArthur

Douglas MacArthur was born on January 26, 1880, in Little Rock, ArkansasArkansasArkansas is a U.S. state bounded on the east by the Mississippi River; its capital and largest city is Little Rock. Arkansas was admitted to the Union on June 15, 1836, as the 25th state. Its population at the 2020 Census (April 1, 2020) was 3,011,524.Open the full entry, the youngest of three children. His father, Arthur MacArthur Jr., was an Army officer and a Union hero of the Civil War; his mother, Mary “Pinky” Hardy, was the daughter of a Norfolk, VirginiaVirginiaVirginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state whose capital is Richmond. It entered the Union on June 25, 1788, as the 10th state, and had a population of 8,631,393 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry, cotton merchant, and her brothers fought for the Confederacy. He grew up moving with his family among military posts from New MexicoNew MexicoNew Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States. Its capital is Santa Fe and its largest city is Albuquerque. It was admitted to the Union on January 6, 1912, as the 47th state, and had a population of 2,117,522 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry to Washington, D.C.⁠[1][2]

He entered the United States Military Academy in 1899 and graduated first in his class in 1903, commissioned a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers; his first duty assignment was in the Philippines. In 1905–1906 he accompanied his father, then a major general, on an official tour of Asia that included bases in Japan and other countries.⁠[2][3]

In 1914, on an intelligence mission at Veracruz, he fought off attacks by bandits with a .38 caliber revolver, killing seven attackers; a Medal of Honor nomination for the action was denied.⁠[2]

In World War I, as a major, he helped create the 42nd Division, drawn from many states, and coined its name “Rainbow.” Promoted to colonel and made the division’s chief of staff, he arrived in France with it in November 1917; between 1917 and 1919 he served it as chief of staff, brigade commander and division commander, and he was promoted to brigadier general in 1918.⁠[2][3]

For his war service he received two Distinguished Service Crosses, a Distinguished Service Medal and seven Silver Stars, as well as two Purple Hearts, awarded in 1932, for mustard gas injuries.⁠[2]

After the war he became superintendent of the United States Military Academy and launched far-reaching reforms; the MacArthur Memorial calls him “the father of modern West Point.” He was promoted to major general in 1925. During the 1920s he served two tours in the Philippines and led the U.S.United StatesThe United States is a federal country in North America made up of 50 states, the District of Columbia as the seat of government, and territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam; its capital is Washington, D.C. The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted a resident population of 331,449,281, and the 435 seats of the House of Representatives are apportioned among the states on the basis of the census.Open the full entry delegation to the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam.⁠[3][2]

In 1930 President Herbert HooverHerbert HooverHerbert Hoover (1874–1964) was an American mining engineer, humanitarian and politician who led food relief for Europe during and after World War I, served as U.S. secretary of commerce from 1921 to 1928 and was the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933, a term dominated by the Great Depression.Open the full entry appointed him Army chief of staff, with promotion to general, and Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) was an American politician who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 to 1945, the only president elected four times; he led the country through the Great Depression and World War II and greatly expanded the federal government’s role through the New Deal.Open the full entry later extended his term. During the Great Depression he worked to preserve the Army’s meager strength and helped organize the Civilian Conservation Corps. In mid-1932 he was widely criticized for using regular troops to drive the veterans of the Bonus Army out of Washington.⁠[2][3]

After stepping down as chief of staff he served as military adviser to the Philippines from 1935 to 1941, charged with preparing its forces for independence and defense, with the rank of field marshal. He retired from the U.S. Army in December 1937.⁠[3][2]

He was recalled to active duty in July 1941 as commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Far East. After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941 it also struck the Philippines, and his forces withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor and kept resisting. In March 1942 Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered him to Australia, and he promised to return to liberate the Philippines.⁠[3][4][2]

He received the Medal of Honor for the defense of the Philippines under General Orders No. 16 of April 1, 1942; the citation begins “For conspicuous leadership in preparing the Philippine Islands to resist conquest.”⁠[4]

He commanded Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific Theater, advancing toward the Philippines by bypassing Japanese strongpoints. On October 20, 1944, he waded ashore at Leyte, fulfilling his promise to return, and in December 1944 he was promoted to the five-star rank of General of the Army.⁠[2][3]

On September 2, 1945, he presided over the Japanese surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay. From 1945 to 1951, as Allied commander in Tokyo, he directed the occupation of Japan, overseeing demobilization, economic restoration and the drafting of a new constitution; the MacArthur Memorial notes that the constitution renounced war and gave women the vote, and that he ordered food distributed to relieve starvation.⁠[3][2]

When the Korean War began in 1950 he was chosen to command United Nations forces. Over objections from the Chief of Naval Operations and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he pressed for an amphibious landing at Inchon, which began on September 15, 1950; U.S. and U.N. forces retook Seoul by September 28, and the North Korean army retreated north.⁠[3][5]

In November 1950 massive Chinese forces attacked, forcing his troops to retreat to below Seoul.⁠[3]

On April 11, 1951, President Harry S. TrumanHarry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman (1884–1972) was an American politician who served as a U.S. senator from Missouri and as vice president in 1945, succeeding Franklin D. Roosevelt on his death that year and serving as the 33rd president of the United States from 1945 to 1953, a period spanning the end of World War II and the early Cold War.Open the full entry relieved him, effective at once, of his posts as Supreme Commander, Allied Powers; Commander in Chief, United Nations Command; Commander in Chief, Far East; and Commanding General, U.S. Army, Far East, naming Lt. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway to succeed him. Truman’s statement said MacArthur “is unable to give his wholehearted support to the policies of the United States Government.”⁠[6]

The Miller Center’s account states that he had repeatedly made public statements undermining Truman’s foreign policy, disregarded suggestions from the Joint Chiefs of Staff and recommended a blockade and bombing of China, and that in March 1951, after Truman announced he would seek a negotiated settlement, he made his own offer to meet the Chinese and wrote to Republican congressman Joseph Martin criticizing the peace effort. BritannicaEncyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopedia first published in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1768; the name also refers to its publisher, Chicago-based Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (which presents itself as The Britannica Group). The print edition ended in 2012, and the company’s main businesses since then have been the online encyclopedia Britannica.com, digital education products for schools and libraries, and Merriam-Webster dictionaries.Open the full entry’s biography attributes the dismissal to the general’s insubordination and unwillingness to conduct a limited war.⁠[7][3]

On April 19, 1951, he addressed a joint session of Congress with the speech “Old Soldiers Never Die,” which was interrupted at least 50 times by applause, and he was given a ticker-tape parade in New York City. The Miller Center adds that much of the press, many members of Congress and large segments of the public agreed with Truman’s decision.⁠[2][7]

Conservative Republican groups tried in vain to nominate him for president in 1944, 1948 and 1952; the 1952 election was won by Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) was an American army general and politician who served as supreme commander of Allied forces in western Europe during World War II and as the 34th president of the United States, a Republican, from 1953 to 1961.Open the full entry, who had once been his aide. That year he became chairman of the board of Remington Rand.⁠[3][2]

He died at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C., on April 5, 1964, at age 84, and on April 11, 1964, he was buried with full honors at the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, Virginia.⁠[2]

He married Louise Cromwell Brooks in 1922; they divorced in 1929. In 1937 he married Jean Marie Faircloth, whom he had met in 1935, and their son, Arthur MacArthur IV, was born in 1938.⁠[2]

He wrote the memoir Reminiscences and received West Point’s Thayer Award, accepting it with his “Duty, Honor, Country” speech. The MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk comprises a museum, an archive and research center, an education center and a theater, among other facilities.⁠[2][8]

D. Clayton James’s biography for Britannica describes him as enigmatic and contradictory: critics saw him as imperious and egotistical, while members of his staff described him as warm and humble; the article judges that most authorities credit him with superior intelligence, rare command ability and dedication to duty, honor and country.⁠[3]

MacArthur Memorial: Official website: https://macarthurmemorial.org/ (opens in a new window).⁠[8]

Harry S. Truman Library and Museum (statement and order relieving MacArthur): Web page: https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/public-papers/77/statement-and-order-president-relieving-general-macarthur-his-commands (opens in a new window).⁠[6]

U.S. Army (Medal of Honor citations): Web page: https://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/citations22.html (opens in a new window).⁠[4]