General Douglas MacArthur was born on Jan. 26, 1880 at Little Rock Barracks, Arkansas. He died April 5, 1964 in Washington, D.C. He was the general who commanded the Southwest Pacific Theatre in World War II, administered postwar Japan during the Allied occupation that followed, and led United Nations forces during the first nine months of the Korean War. MacArthur was the third son of Arthur MacArthur, Jr., later the army’s senior ranking officer, and Mary Hardy MacArthur, an ambitious woman who strongly influenced Douglas. In fact, she lived at the West Point Hotel within the West Point grounds for the duration of his schooling at West Point.
He graduated from West Point in 1903 with the highest honors in his class and served the next 10 years as an aide and a junior engineering officer, following this with four years on the general staff. He spent several months with the U.S. troops that occupied Veracruz Mex., in 1914. There he earned the Medal of Honor for penetrating deep behind Mexican lines and bringing back three locomotives that were to be used to help the U.S. forces advance to Mexico City. MacArthur brought back the locomotives, but the American occupation of Veracruz turned into a Mexican standoff. Neither side would budge and the occupation of Veracruz was quietly phased out. On the 42nd Division’s staff in 1917-19, MacArthur held the positions of chief of staff, brigade commander, and divisional commander during combat operations in France during World War I and in the Rhine occupation that followed. During the 1920s he initiated far-reaching reforms while serving as superintendent at West Point, served on William (“Billy”) Mitchell’s court-martial, held two commands in the Philippines, commanded two U.S. corps areas, and headed the 1928 American Olympic Committee.
The Essay on Arnold West Point
What changes a military hero from a great patriot to a treasonous traitor? Benedict Arnold is the only man in our history to be a military hero for both sides. He is known to most in our country as a traitor but without his valiant efforts in battle against the British forces our country may not be singing the National Anthem but God Save the Queen. His passion for defeating the enemy in the end ...
Having advanced in rank to Brigadier General in 1918 and to Major General seven years later, MacArthur was promoted to General when he was selected as the Army chief of staff in 1930. His efforts as military head for the next five years were largely directed toward preserving the Army’s meager strength during the Depression. MacArthur was widely criticized in mid-1932 when he sent regular troops to oust the Bonus Army of veterans from Washington. This was perhaps the most controversial event in MacArthurs long career as he took charge of the situation in person. In 1935-41 he served as Philippines military adviser (and field marshal), endeavoring, despite inadequate funds, to build a Filipino defense force. He retired from the U.S. Army in December 1937. MacArthur married Louise Cromwell Brooks in 1922, but the childless marriage ended in divorce seven years later.
In 1937 he married Jean Faircloth. Arthur, their only child, was born in Manila the next year. Recalled to active duty in July 1941, MacArthur conducted a valiant delaying action against the Japanese in the Philippines after war erupted in December. When the order came for him to leave the Philippines, he contemplated disobeying the order. He had promised his troops and the people of the Philippines that reinforcements were on the way. He did this because he had been told that a large American buildup was being conducted in Australia to be used to oust the Japanese from the Philippines. The buildup was in fact, to be used to defend Australia from Japanese invasion.
After consulting with his staff and listening to their views on his idea to disobey his superiors, MacArthur followed orders and departed for Australia in March of 1942. MacArthur vowed to the Filipinos, I shall return. From Australia he commanded the Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific Theater. He soon launched an offensive in New Guinea that drove the Japanese out of Papua by January 1943. In a series of operations in 1943-44, MacArthur’s troops seized strategic points in New Guinea from Lae to Sansapor, while capturing the Admiralties and western New Britain. The simultaneous northward movement of South Pacific forces in the Solomons, over whom MacArthur maintained strategic control, neutralized Rabaul and bypassed many Japanese units.
The Essay on Douglas Macarthur Pacific Japanese Forces
... movement of South Pacific forces in the Solomons, over whom MacArthur maintained strategic control, neutralized Rabaul and bypassed many Japanese units. After winning ... spring he also undertook the reconquest of the southern Philippines and Borneo. Meanwhile, he left the difficult mopping-up ... and was appointed commander of all U. S. army forces in the Pacific four months later. He was in charge of ...
After winning a decision to invade the Philippines next rather than Formosa, MacArthur attacked Morotai, Leyte, and Mindoro in autumn 1944. Not until the Leyte operation did he have overwhelming logistical support; his earlier plans had been executed despite inadequacies of personnel and materiel and with little assistance from the Pacific Fleet. MacArthur seriously questioned his superiors’ decision to give priority to the European war over the Pacific conflict and to the Central Pacific Theater over his Southwest Pacific area. His largest, costliest operations occurred during the seven-month Luzon campaign in 1945. That spring he also undertook the reconquest of the southern Philippines and Borneo. Meanwhile, he left the difficult mopping-up operations in New Guinea and the Solomons to the Australian Army.
He was promoted to General of the Army in December 1944 and was appointed commander of all U.S. army forces in the Pacific four months later. He was in charge of the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945. As Allied commander of the Japanese occupation in 1945-51, MacArthur effectively if autocratically directed the demobilization of Japanese military forces, the suppression of militarists, the restoration of the economy, and the drafting of a liberal constitution. Significant reforms were inaugurated in land redistribution, education, labor, public health, and women’s rights. While he was in Japan, MacArthur also headed the army’s Far East command.
When the Korean War began in 1950, MacArthur was soon selected to command United Nations forces there. After stemming the North Korean advance near Pusan, he carried out a daring landing at Inchon in September and advanced into North Korea in October as the North Korean Army rapidly disintegrated. In November, however, the Chinese joined the war and massive Chinese forces attacked MacArthur’s divided army above the 38th parallel and forced it to retreat to below Seoul. Two months later MacArthur’s troops returned to the offensive, driving into North Korea again. General MacArthur urged that the United States should go to war with China, and advocated the use of nuclear weaponry against China. He openly criticized President Truman, and was relieved of his command for this reason on April 11, 1951 by President Harry S. Truman. Returning to the United States for the first time since before World War II, MacArthur at first received widespread popular support; the excitement waned after a publicized Senate investigation of his dismissal.
The Term Paper on Pacific War – World War Two
... the Pacific islands. With the Army heavily involved in Europe, in December of 1941 the United States were forced into a war that ... insured that the two fighting forces could work together and be successful. Both General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Williams Nimitz ... vehicle, the Amphtrac, which had previously only known combat in North Africa. Two destroyers began to bombard the tiny island ...
In 1944, 1948, and 1952, conservative Republican groups tried in vain to obtain MacArthur’s nomination for the presidency. MacArthur accepted the board chairmanship of the Remington Rand Corporation in 1952; thereafter, except for these duties and rare public appearances, he lived in seclusion in New York City. He died in Washington, D.C., in 1964 and was buried at Norfolk, VA. In personality MacArthur was enigmatic and contradictory. To many he seemed imperious, aloof, egotistical, and pretentious. To others, especially his headquarters staff, he appeared warm, courageous, open minded, and even humble.
Most authorities agree that he possessed superior intelligence, rare command ability, and zealous dedication to duty, honor, and country. For him, I personally am grateful for his liberation of the Philippines. My maternal ancestry is Filipino and if not for this, my mother may have never been born.
Bibliography:
Primary sources: Perret, Geoffrey. Old Soldiers Never Die: the life of Douglas MacArthur. New York: Random House, 1996.
MacArthur, Douglas. Reminiscences. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964 Secondary Sources: Long, Gavin. MacArthur as Military Commander. Great Britain: B.T. Batsford LTD, 1969..
