Salem Press

	The Fifties in America follows the publisher’s successful The Sixties in America. The Fifties, however, has expanded coverage with 640 entries that... prove important enough to make this a priority purchase.
Booklist (starred review)

	Overall this is a terrific set.
ARBA

	Your U.S. history teachers will be happy with this purchase. Highly recommended.
Gale

Fifties in America
Douglas MacArthur

Identification: American commander of United Nations forces at the beginning
of the Korean War
Born: January 26, 1880; Little Rock, Arkansas
Died: April 5, 1964; Washington, D.C.

As commander of the United Nations (U.N.) forces in Korea, MacArthur wanted to expand the war in the hope of winning a decisive victory, and his dismissal in 1951 ignited one of greatest controversies of the decade.

Douglas MacArthur was one of the most controversial military commanders in U.S. history. He was a charismatic leader with a majestic countenance and outstanding oratorical abilities. Adept at public relations, he became known for his trademarks of a corncob pipe, a rumpled military cap, an open collar, and sunglasses. Although few people questioned his heroism, his firm convictions and great confidence caused many to view him as arrogant and dogmatic. While he demanded strict obedience from his subordinates, he often resented and sometimes disregarded the authority of his civilian commanders. Critics argued that he tended to underestimate the enemy and was willing to take excessive risks that might have had disastrous consequences.

A Remarkable Career
The son of General Arthur MacArthur, a Civil War hero and military governor of the Philippine Islands, Douglas MacArthur graduated first in his class from West Point in 1903. During World War I, he demonstrated great courage in battle and was promoted to the rank of general. Between the wars, he was superintendent of West Point and then served as army chief of staff for five years. As commander of U.S. troops in the Philippine Islands in 1941, he was criticized for failing to prepare adequately for the Japanese attack, but he skillfully directed the offensive that culminated in the retaking of the Philippines. Promoted to commander of American army forces in the Pacific, he accepted Japan's formal surrender aboard the battleship USS Missouri in 1945.

President Harry S. Truman appointed MacArthur to direct the occupation of Japan as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, a position he held until his dismissal in 1951. Even his critics concede that he helped promote economic reconstruction and successfully oversaw the establishment of a democratic political system. Public opinion polls indicated that he was the second-most respected man in the United States, second only to General Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1948, many Republicans wanted the party to nominate MacArthur for president. However, after he allowed his name to be placed on primary ballots, his candidacy fizzled because of a lack of organization. His partisan activities in 1948 soured his relations with President Truman and other Democratic officials. Given his age, it appeared that his career was coming to an end.

The Korean War
In June, 1950, the unexpected outbreak of the Korean War quickly propelled MacArthur back into the limelight. Recognizing his prestige and knowledge of Asia, President Truman, on July 9, reluctantly appointed the seventy-year-old general as commander of the American-led coalition of U.N. forces. MacArthur directed the operations from his headquarters in Tokyo. Meanwhile, the North Koreans were rapidly occupying all of South Korea, but they were finally stopped at the perimeter around the port of Pusan. On September 15, MacArthur successfully executed a risky amphibious operation at the port of Inchon, two hundred miles behind North Korean lines. Catching the North Koreans by surprise, the operation enabled U.N. forces to break their supply lines and push them far north of the thirty-eighth parallel.

Within a month, U.N. troops began to approach the Yalu River, which acted as the border between China and North Korea. China sent signals that it would intervene if the offensive continued. At the Wake Island planning conference, MacArthur confidently told President Truman that the Chinese were bluffing. The prediction turned out to be mistaken. On November 24, some 300,000 Chinese soldiers attacked U.N. forces in North Korea. By December, the U.N. army had been driven below the thirty-eighth parallel. MacArthur wanted to respond by bombing China, using air bases on Taiwan, and bringing Nationalist soldiers of Taiwan into the war. Truman vetoed such policies, which he feared might result in a third word war.

MacArthur's militant statements in speeches and letters were inconsistent with the limited war measures and objectives of the Truman administration. European allies complained that his comments were creating confusion and anxiety about American intentions. Senator Joseph McCarthy and other Republicans quoted him when denouncing the administration. In March, 1951, MacArthur presented China with an ultimatum, undermining Truman's attempts to negotiate a peace settlement. Then the Republican leader of the House of Representatives, Joseph Martin, publicly read MacArthur's intemperate letter declaring that there was "no substitute for victory." President Truman, finally deciding that the insubordination was intolerable, relieved the general of his command on April 11, 1951.

Impact
In the short-term, Truman's dismissal of MacArthur unleashed a storm of outrage. When the general returned to the United States, he was welcomed as a hero everywhere he went. In New York City, more than seven million people enthusiastically participated in his ticker-tape parade. His "Old Soldiers Never Die" speech before Congress is still recognized as a historic event. However, when the Senate held hearings to review the conduct of the war, almost all military leaders agreed that his proposed policies were excessively expensive and highly risky. Although he gave a rousing keynote speech at the Republican national convention in 1952, the majority of observers viewed him as a romantic figure of the past. The next year, the Eisenhower administration ignored MacArthur's views and negotiated a truce.

For many years, anticommunists and opponents of appeasement would continue to invoke MacArthur's memory. The fallout of the Truman-MacArthur controversy sometimes motivated political leaders to take hard-line positions in opposing communist advances. However, as the United States became bogged down in the Vietnam War during the 1960's, the public increasingly looked upon the Korean settlement in a more favorable light. By the end of the Cold War, few historians were still arguing that the United States should have risked a war with the Soviet Union in an attempt to unite the Korean peninsula. However, in subsequent military conflicts, a significant number of Americans continued to share MacArthur's disdain for the idea of fighting a limited war instead of using all means available and seeking an unambiguous victory.

Further Reading
Clayton, James D. Years of MacArthur: Triumph and Disaster, 1945-1964. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1985. The third volume of a detailed and very scholarly biography.

Leary, William, ed. MacArthur and the American Century: A Reader. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2001. A collection of interesting essays by outstanding historians.

MacArthur, Douglas. Reminiscences. New York: McGraw, 1964. Relying primarily on his speeches, the book gives insight into his character, ideas, and personal egoism.

Weintraub, Stanley. MacArthur's War: Korea and the Unmaking of an American Hero. New York: Free Press, 2000. Presents highly unfavorable interpretations of MacArthur and his ideas about extending the war.

Thomas Tandy Lewis

See Also
Bradley, Omar; Cold War; Gunther, John; Japan; Korean War; Pearson, Drew; Ridgway, Matthew B.; Truman, Harry S.; United Nations.