"MacArthur Reconsidered: General Douglas MacArthur as" Topic

… a Wartime Commander

"In his speech before a joint session of Congress after he was relieved of command in the Korean War, General Douglas MacArthur stated, "I know war as few men living today know it." Apparently, James Ellman, the founder of a hedge fund company with his bachelor's degree in history and economics from Tufts and MBA from Harvard, thinks he knows more. In his new book MacArthur Reconsidered, Ellman pronounces MacArthur a poor wartime commander whose "insubordination" was a threat to the Republic. Ellman's book is not history; it is not even revisionist history. It is a lengthy diatribe against one of America's greatest generals…"

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Armand

My father served in the occupation of Japan and the Korean War had high regards for Gen. MacArthur.

Yes, I would not rate him all that high. But I have a colleague in the History department that absolutely hates McArthur. He would love this book. Me, can still give McArthur his due when he did something right.

Ras Tafari

The commader of the Far east Airforce got caught napping and the failed plan to defend the Phillippines was written by Ike.

The Post WW2 US Army of Occupation had no large base for training and no Money. The Air force got most of the Budget.

The Yalu was a combination of poor local command and the State Department views of weakness of the Chinanese Military.

The air force for 5 years after WW2 Said no one would ever attack us, because we had the Bomb and the planes to drop it anywhere in the World. 2 Chinese Armies attacked the UN force and by their mantra , we should have used the Bomb.

McArthur was a very good commander but he had a ego to go with it.

Seems like a lot of people have opinions and very little knowledge of history.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek

I don't have a high opinion of Mac. He did some things brilliantly but as mentioned above got caught flatfooted on more than one occasion.

Talented commander but as noted his biggest enemy was his own ego

Just finished looking at a unit history of a division which was n the Philippines in 1944. Even the contributors had differing opinions about him.
By the way the Divisions next stop was Okinawa. Very interesting accounts provided to veterans of the division, such as my uncle.

My father was an Evac hospital medic. His opinion was not extreme either way.

I am a big fan of Doug – but I am also aware of his many flaws. Much like Patton.

Thanks

Armand

Up and down career. Moments of brilliance such as Inchon balanced by moments of paralysis such as botching the defense of the Philippines by sending troops into Bataan without moving available supplies. His aggressive personal puffery at the expense of subordinates such as Eichleberger, his consistent refusal to believe intelligence reports not in keeping with his views (Yalu) and his near consistent insubordination to his civilian masters were flaws manifest from 41 until his firing.

MacArthur was seventy when he launched the Inchon operation. Think about that for a second. Most peacetime generals are in their fifties, and most successful wartime generals are younger than that. Most men at seventy consider a day's hunting to be the outside limit of what their system can take- and remember, this is a man whose hands Stilwell had noticed were shaking from palsy during the Japanese surrender five years earlier. But he conceived the operation, argued the Joint Chiefs into it, and saw it carried out. That's no mean feat.

He made mistakes, no doubt about it, but the successful Pacific strategy was as much his as Nimitz's, and he deserves more respect than he got from the reviewer. The failure in the Philippines was far from being solely his fault, just as Pearl Harbor was far from being solely the fault of the commanders on the scene.

Thanks also…

Armand

I'm a Marine so I hold him in contempt for the way he treated the Marines in the Philippines and after. However, I'm very grateful for his decision to not allow the Soviets into Japan. By doing so he saved us from all sorts of troubles including a divided Japan.

not allow the Soviets into Japan.

Kuril Islands? And I think the decision was made at a higher level than His Macness ever reached, but I may be wrong.

(PS I'm a retired ARA and ARes SNCO, so it's not my place to give an opinion on a US general. It's not too different from the one I hold on some Australian generals, though.)