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This article is about the American soldier; for the municipality in the Philippines, see General MacArthur, Eastern Samar .
Douglas MacArthur GCB ( January 26 1880 – April 5 1964 ) was an American general and Medal Of Honor recipient, who was Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the South West Pacific Area during World War II . He led the defence of Australia , and the recapture of New Guinea , the Philippines and Borneo . He was poised to invade Japan in November 1945 but instead accepted their surrender on September 2, 1945. MacArthur oversaw the occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1951. He led UN forces defending South Korea against a North Korean invasion in 1951. MacArthur was relieved of command by President Harry S. Truman in April 1951 for his preferences in the Korean War effort. (MacArthur wanted "total war" with the communists, but foreign policy forbade his preferred actions) General MacArthur took part in three major wars ( World War I , World War II , Korean War ) and rose to the Rank of General Of The Army , one of only five people to hold that rank in U.S. History . He was a Philippines Field Marshal from 1937, the only American to ever hold such a rank; which MacArthur held until his death. He was one of the most decorated soldiers in the history of the United States military. MacArthur remains one of the most controversial figures in American history. While greatly admired by many for his strategic and tactical brilliance, MacArthur was also criticized by many for his actions in command, and especially his challenge to Truman in 1951. EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION MacArthur was born in Little Rock, Arkansas to Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur Jr. , a recipient of the Medal Of Honor during the American Civil War , who was the son of jurist and politician Arthur MacArthur, Sr. , and Mary Pinkney Hardy MacArthur of Norfolk , Virginia. In his memoir ''Reminiscences'', MacArthur wrote that his first memory was the sound of the bugle, and that he had learned to 'ride and shoot even before I could read or write--indeed, almost before I could walk and talk'. As a child he moved around from fort to fort. As a youth he spent time in Washington with his paternal grandfather, Judge Arthur MacArthur, a member of the high-profile Washington political scene that influenced Douglas. MacArthur's father was posted to , where he became an excellent student. MacArthur entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1898. An outstanding cadet, he graduated first in his 93-man class in 1903, with only two other students in the history of West Point surpassing his achievements. MacArthur became a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers . In the next decade MacArthur was assigned to engineering duties in the Philippines, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan, Texas, and Panama. He served as an aide to his father in Manila and to President Theodore Roosevelt. He attended the Engineer School of Application (1906-1907), receiving a degree in 1908, and worked in the Office of the Chief of Engineers. In 1913-1917, MacArthur served on the general staff of the War Department, with detached-duty assignments on an intelligence mission to Veracruz, Mexico, in 1914. Under the command of General Frederick Funston MacArthur engaged in a long-range reconnaissance mission behind Mexican lines. Although cited for bravery and recommended for a Medal of Honor, his actions had clearly violated Funston's orders. WORLD WAR I During World War I MacArthur served in France , as chief of staff of the 42nd ("Rainbow") Division . Upon his promotion to Brigadier General (the youngest ever in the Army), he became the commander of the 84th Infantry Brigade. A few weeks before the war ended he became division commander. During the war, MacArthur received two Distinguished Service Crosses, seven Silver Stars, a Distinguished Service Medal, and two Purple Hearts. By far the most decorated American soldier in World War I, Douglas MacArthur made it his policy to 'lead my men from the front'. INTER-WAR YEARS MacArthur kept his star after the war primarily because of the support of General Peyton March , the new chief of staff. In 1919 MacArthur became Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, which was out of date in many respects and much in need of reform. MacArthur ordered radical changes in the tactical, athletic, and disciplinary systems; he modernized the curriculum, adding liberal arts courses. From 1922 to 1930, MacArthur served two tours of duty in the Philippines, the second as commander of the Philippine Department (1928-1930); he also served two tours as commander of corps areas in the states. In 1925 he was promoted to major general, the youngest officer of that rank at the time, and served on the court-martial that convicted Brigadier General Billy Mitchell . In 1928 he headed the U.S. Olympic Committee for the Amsterdam games. He married Henrietta Louise Cromwell Brooks, a wealthy divorcee, in 1922; they had no children and were divorced seven years later in 1929. President Herbert Hoover appointed MacArthur army Chief Of Staff in November 1930, with the temporary rank of (four-star) General . He faced severe budget cuts, at the same time there was a surge in enrollments because of unemployment. President Franklin D. Roosevelt renewed his appointment. In October 1935, the army ranked sixteenth in size among the world's armies, with 13,000 officers and 126,000 enlisted men. MacArthur's main programs included new mobilization plans were developed; a mobile general headquarters air force was established; and a four-army reorganization improved administrative efficiency. He supported the New Deal by enthusiastically operating the Civilian Conservation Corps . He brought along many talented mid-career officers, including George C. Marshall , and Dwight D. Eisenhower . His most controversial actions came in 1932, when Hoover ordered him to disperse the ' Bonus Army ' of veterans who were in the capital protesting against the government. MacArthur received negative publicity for using tear gas against the veterans. According to MacArthur, the demonstration had been taken over by Communists and pacifists by the time of his action, with, he claimed, only 'one man in ten being veterans'. Hundreds of veterans were injured, two were killed, and other casualties including children were inflicted among the veterans' families. When the Commonwealth Of The Philippines achieved semi-independent status in 1935, with its own army, the President Of The Philippines Manuel L. Quezon asked MacArthur to supervise the creation of a Philippine Army . With Roosevelt's approval MacArthur accepted the assignment. Among MacArthur's assistants as Military Adviser to the Commonwealth of the Philippines was Dwight D. Eisenhower . When MacArthur retired from the U.S. Army in 1937 , he was made a Field Marshal of the Philippine Army , by President Quezon. In July, 1941 Roosevelt recalled him to active duty in the U.S. Army and named him commander of United States Army Forces Far East (USAFFE), based in Manila. WORLD WAR II After the United States entered World War II , MacArthur became Allied Commander In The Philippines . He "courted controversy" on several occasions, especially when he over-ruled his air commander, General Lewis H. Brereton , who had requested permission to launch air attacks by the US Far East Air Force (FEAF) against Japan ese bases on nearby Taiwan , a plan that MacArthur had labeled suicide. MacArthur instead ordered the planes to be moved, to conserve them from Japanese raids; only half had been when FEAF was all but destroyed on the ground, the prelude to a Japanese Invasion . His headquarters during the Philippines campaign of 1941-42 was on the island fortress of Corregidor , and he making only one trip to the front lines in Bataan led to the disparaging moniker and ditty, "Dugout Doug." Nevertheless, MacArthur's fortress was clearly marked, and was the target of Japanese air attacks, until Manuel Quezon cautioned MacArthur "not to subject himself to danger". In March 1942, as Japanese forces tightened their grip on the Philippines, MacArthur was ordered by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to relocate to Melbourne, Australia , after Quezon and his wife had already left. With his wife and four-year-old son, and a select group of advisers and subordinate military commanders, MacArthur at last fled the Philippines on PT-41 commanded by Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley , and successfully evaded an intense Japanese search for the escaping American general. MacArthur reached the island of Mindanao on March 13, and boarded a B-17 bomber three days later; on 17 March , he arrived at Batchelor Airfield in Australia's Northern Territory , and took The Ghan Railway through the Australian outback to Adelaide . His famous speech, in which he said "I came out of Bataan and I shall return", was made at Terowie , South Australia on March 20 . During this period, President Manuel L. Quezon decorated MacArthur with the Philippine Distinguished Conduct Star. MacArthur was appointed Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA). To remove all ambiguity, the Australian Prime Minister, John Curtin put MacArthur in direct command of the Australian military, which numerically dominated MacArthur's forces at the time, augmented by a small number of U.S., Dutch and other Allied forces. One of MacArthur's first missions was to reassure Australians, who apprehended a Japanese invasion. The fighting at this time was predominantly in and around New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies . On July 20 , 1942 SWPA headquarters was moved to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia , taking over the AMP Insurance Company Building (later known as MacArthur Central). Australian successes at the Battle Of Milne Bay and the Kokoda Track Campaign came in late 1942, the first victories by Allied land forces anywhere against the Japanese. When it was reported that many officers in the U.S. 32nd Infantry Division , a hastily-mobilized National Guard unit, had proved incompetent in the Allied Offensive Against Buna And Gona , the major Japanese Beachhead s in north-east New Guinea, MacArthur told the U.S. I Corps commander, Robert L. Eichelberger to assume direct control of Allied operations: Bob, I'm putting you in command at Buna. Relieve Harding ... I want you to remove all officers who won't fight. Relieve Regiment al and Battalion commanders; if necessary, put sergeants in charge of battalions and corporals in charge of Companies ... During 1943 and early 1944 , MacArthur was ordered by the Allied Combined Chiefs Of Staff to implement a new Allied grand strategy, known as Operation Cartwheel , which aimed to isolate the major Japanese base at Rabaul and let the forces there "wither on the vine", as well as taking strategic points to use as forward bases. In the process, increasing numbers of US Army forces arrived in the theater, including the Sixth Army (a.k.a. Alamo Force), and later the Eighth Army . Allied forces under MacArthur's command Landed At Leyte Island , on October 20 , 1944, fulfilling MacArthur's vow to return to the Philippines and consolidating their hold on the archipelago in the Battle Of Luzon after heavy fighting, and despite a massive Japanese naval counterattack in the Battle Of Leyte Gulf . With the reconquest of the islands, MacArthur moved his headquarters to Manila, to Plan The Invasion Of Japan in late 1945. The invasion was pre-empted by the Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki , and in September, 1945 MacArthur received the Formal Japanese Surrender which ended World War II. MacArthur was awarded and received the Medal Of Honor for his leadership in the Southwest Pacific Theater. Philippine President Sergio Osmeña also decorated him with the Philippines' highest military award, the Medal of Valor. POST-WORLD WAR II JAPAN After World War II, MacArthur served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers ( SCAP ). His first responsibility was overseeing the reconstruction, re-organization and re-supply of the people (most of them were nearly starving) in Japan. Though it was officially an effort of the Allies, the US was firmly in control, and MacArthur was effectively the leader of Japan during this period. In 1946, MacArthur's staff created the Constitution that is in use in Japan to this day and has greatly contributed to the stability and prosperity of the country. MacArthur handed over power to the newly-formed Japanese government in 1949, and remained in Japan until relieved by President Truman on April 11, 1951. Truman replaced SCAP leader MacArthur with General Matthew Ridgway of the US Army. ]] In late 1945, Allied military commissions tried 4,000 Japanese officers for war crimes. About 3,000 were given prison terms and 920 were executed; the charges included the Rape of Nanking, the Bataan Death March, and the sack of Manila. Some critics say that the main Japanese commander in the Philippines General '' (accessed April 21, 2006) KOREAN WAR See Also: Korean War After the surprise attack on MacArthur's army in June 1950 started the Korean War , the United Nations General Assembly authorized a United Nations (UN) force to help South Korea . MacArthur led the UN coalition counter-offensive, noted for a daring and overwhelmingly successful Amphibious landing behind North Korean lines in the Battle Of Inchon . The maneuver successfully out-flanked the North Korean army, which had been trying to annihilate the surrounded and cut-off American forces remaining in Korea. The North Korean forces, containing Chinese soldiers and Russian and Chinese pilots flying Russian-made jets, fled and retreated north, pursued by the Americans and their military allies. Disagreements with Truman As MacArthur's forces approached the Korea- China border, the Chinese warned that they would become involved, rather than watch the North Koreans be defeated. During his trip to Wake Island to meet with President Truman , MacArthur was specifically asked by President Truman about Chinese involvement in the war. MacArthur was dismissive of the danger, advising absolute defeat for the North Korean forces, and famously-advising, "There is no substitute for victory." On October 25, 1950, Chinese military forces attacked across the Yalu River , forcing the U.N forces to embark on a lengthy retreat. MacArthur repeatedly requested authorization to strike Manchuria and major Chinese cities with thirty to fifty nuclear weapons, an action which Truman and the State Department feared would draw China's ally, the Soviet Union , into the conflict. Angered by Truman's desire to maintain a "limited war," MacArthur began issuing dire statements to the press, warning of imminent, crushing defeat. In March of 1951, after a relentless U.N. counterattack commanded by Matthew B. Ridgway turned the tide of the war in the U.N.'s favor, Truman alerted MacArthur of his intention to initiate 'cease-fire' talks. Such news ended any hopes the general had retained of leading a full-scale war against China, and MacArthur quickly issued his own ultimatum to Red China. Mocking the Chinese lack of military power and industrial strength, MacArthur's declaration threatened the expansion of the war, and was by his own aide's later admission 'designed to undercut' Truman's negotiating position. Such an act unquestionably qualified as rank insubordination, and was so contrary to MacArthur's long and distinguished military service that General Bradley later speculated that MacArthur's disappointment over his inability to wage war on China had "snapped his brilliant but brittle mind." David McCullough , ''Truman'' (1992), pg 836. On April 11 , 1951 President Truman relieved General MacArthur of his military command. General Matthew B. Ridgway replaced MacArthur and stabilized the situation near the 38th Parallel . RETURN TO AMERICA MacArthur returned to Washington (his first time in the continental US in 11 years), where he made his last public appearance in a farewell address to the U.S. Congress , interrupted by thirty ovations. In his closing speech, he mused: "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. Good-bye.' On his return from Korea, after his relief by Truman, MacArthur encountered massive public adulation, which aroused expectations that he would run for the US presidency as a Republican in the 1952 Election . However, a U.S. Senate Committee investigation of his removal, chaired by Richard Russell , contributed to a marked cooling of the public mood and MacArthur's presidential hopes died away. (MacArthur, in his ''Reminiscences'' repeatedly stated that he had no political aspirations.) In the 1952 Republican presidential nomination contest, rumors were rife that Sen. Robert Taft of Ohio offered the vice presidential nomination to MacArthur. Had a Taft-MacArthur ticket defeated Democrat Adlai Stevenson in November, the general would have become President upon Taft's sudden death eight months later in July 1953. Taft, who was initially favored to win the GOP nomination, lost the nomination to Dwight Eisenhower . MacArthur later became head of the Remington Rand Coporation. MacArthur spent the remainder of his life quietly in New York , except for a spectacular "sentimental journey" to the Philippines in 1961 , when he was decorated by President Carlos P. Garcia with the Philippine Legion Of Honor , rank of Chief Commander. During one of his visits, the Pan-Philippine Highway was renamed to MacArthur Highway in his honor. President John F. Kennedy solicited MacArthur's counsel in 1961. The first of two meetings was shortly after the Bay Of Pigs fiasco. According to White House staffer Kenneth P. O'Donnell, MacArthur was extremely critical of the Pentagon and its military advice to Kennedy. MacArthur also cautioned the young President to avoid a U.S. military build-up in Vietnam, pointing out that domestic problems should be given a much greater priority. Kennedy was said to have come out of the more than three-hour meeting 'stunned' and 'enormously impressed'. Death and Legacy MacArthur and his second wife, Jean Faircloth , are buried together in downtown Norfolk, Virginia ; their burial site is in a small museum dedicated to his memory, and there is a major shopping mall named for him across the street from the burial site. The couple's son changed his surname and now lives anonymously as a Saxophonist in the New York area. MacArthur's nephew, Douglas MacArthur II (a son of his brother Arthur), served as a diplomat for several years, including the post of Ambassador to Japan and several other countries. SUMMARY OF SERVICE West Point
Early career
World War I
Inter-war years
World War II
Occupation of Japan
Korean War
Later life
Dates of rank
In 1955 , a bill passed by the United States Congress authorized the President Of The United States to promote Douglas MacArthur to the rank of General Of The Armies (a similar measure had also been proposed unsuccessfully in 1945 ). However, due to regulations involving retirement pay and benefits, as well as MacArthur being junior to George C. Marshall (who had not been recommended for the same promotion), MacArthur declined promotion to what many view would have been seen as a Six Star General. Awards and decorations During his military career, General MacArthur was awarded the following decorations from both the United States and other allied nations. The awards listed below are those which would have been worn on a military uniform and do not include commemorative medals, unofficial decorations, and non-portable awards. Decorations
Foreign awards
'' TRIVIA
REFERENCES & NOTES ;Notes ;Bibliography
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