MacArthur vs. Truman The Rocky Road That Lead to the Firing of the Five Star General
... the ranks and eventually becomes a general during World War I. He is 38 when this happens and no one thinks that he will still be around some 35 plus years. MacArthur may seem to have been all military, but he cared for his family dearly. He was married in 1922 to Louise Brooks. Though their marriage lasted only 7 years, MacArthur was becoming a man and understanding that life could not revolve around the military itself. Douglas would soon remarry to Jean Faircloth whom he had had an affair with. He would have a son and would spend time on the battle field writing to them and expressing his love for them. This is the sensitive side of this proud, never fearing, and general. MacArthur was always trusting himself and going against commanding officers who were not there and experiencing the same thing. It had always gotten him in trouble, but most of the time he was right. He had been reprimanded twice for insubordination in 1908. He even went against the Joint Chiefs of Staff and retakes central and southern Philippines. Even so, he never had reached the point of no return until 1951 and the Korean War. The Korean War was forever changed in the early hours of April 11, 1951. Truman said, “With deep regret I have concluded that General of the Army Douglas MacArthur is unable to give his wholehearted support to the policies of the United States Government and of the United Nations in matters pertaining to his official duties. In view of the specific responsibilities imposed on me by the Constitution of the United States and the added responsibility which has been entrusted to me by the United Nations, I have decided that I must make a change of command in the Far East. I have, therefore, relieved General MacArthur of his commands and have designated Lieut. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway as his successor.” MacArthur felt like the lasting effects of this would destroy Asia and their belief in the United States. He says that because “the United States reversed its military doctrine of a century and a half, from the attack to the defense” that Asia freedom was lost. He even went as far as to say that this now jeopardized the situation with Russia. He felt like they never had to fight for anything, just walked in and took it. Hitler did the same thing before someone stopped him. MacArthur suggested that Russia could not send troops in on the Asian side because the terrain was too tuff and Siberia was brutal on armed forces. He felt as if his firing was not as bad for him, but for the people who now were not going to win a winnable “police action.” (Government refused to call it a war.) Truman had a different take on the entire situation itself. MacArthur had committed a crime against his country and had to be removed from office. Truman felt like when MacArthur attacked Chinese forces in Korea that he was taking a bigger risk that the United States wanted to take. The problem is that Truman did not fire MacArthur until Republican House Member, Joseph Martin, read a letter from MacArthur about his view on how the conflict should be handled. Though Truman denies that this played any role in MacArthur’s firing he says in his “Memoirs” that the “clincher” was the third paragraph of the letter. He also later says that “his letter showed that the general was not only in disagreement with the policy of the government, but was challenging this policy in open insubordination to his Commander and Chief.” Now the truth c...