"The MacArthur Revival" Topic

"America's rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region has had many consequences, including a revival of interest in, and appreciation for, the career and worldview of General Douglas MacArthur, whose military exploits spanned fifty years and three continents, and whose reputation for good or ill rests mostly on his campaigns in the Southwest Pacific and the Philippines, his military administration of postwar Japan, and his decision-making during the Korean War.

In 2014, military historian Mark Perry revisited MacArthur's important, productive, and sometimes difficult relationship with Franklin Roosevelt in The Most Dangerous Man in America: The Making of Douglas MacArthur. That same year, Seymour Morris, Jr. wrote Supreme Commander: MacArthur's Triumph in Japan, a thoughtful and admiring re-telling of MacArthur's successful postwar administration of Japan.

Perry views MacArthur as the greatest commander of World War II, and writes that in the Southwest Pacific he "coordinated the most successful air, land, and sea campaign in the history of warfare." Morris calls MacArthur's occupation of Japan "the greatest feat by America's greatest general."…"
From here
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Amicalement
Armand

To quote The Encyclopedia of Military History by Dupuy & Dupuy " In military leadership we believe that one man -- Douglas MacArthur -- may have risen to join the thin ranks of the great captains of history". He's the only man listed for WWII.

His actions against the bonous army in Washington D.C. and his disrespect of presidents will forever cloud my view of the man. He may be a military genius, but he was a terrible human.

he was a terrible human

This is a very strong statement and a great example of the lack of self censorship that characterizes many discussions on TMP. I am no apologist for MacArthur's disregard for the Constitutional role of the President as Commander in Chief, but to say he was a terrible human is at best hyperbole. It is possible for rational humans to disagree on issues without name calling or character assassination.

@surdu2005:
Hear! Hear!

It is not name calling but a truly held opinion of the man. What he did to the men of the Bonus March was cruel and uncalled for. He was advised against it by Eisenhower but still went through with it. His failure to prosecute the Japanese Unite 731 or war crimes is another action I hold against him. And how he could accept a medal of honour while fighting one for general wainwright. I could go on but will leave the final remarked another;

I fired him because he wouldn't respect the authority of the President. I didn't fire him because he was a dumb son of a bitch, although he was, but that's not against the law for generals. If it was, half to three-quarters of them would be in jail.

The Dupuys' endorsement may be due to the fact that the elder Dupuy was a MacArthur protégée.

So "Dugout Doug" is right out?

"He may be a military genius…"

Why?

Amicalement
Armand

MacArthur was a political figure as well as a commander. At the time, many Americans hated him on political grounds, and that time is not yet entirely past. We'll see what his reputation is in another hundred years.

My questions was because I have'nt read nothing about his militar career to point him as a "genious"….

What I miss….?

Amicalement
Armand

He could do a little with a lot.

Tango01, I think most regard the Inchon landings as one of the great feats in US military history. I wouldn't count him among the "great captains of history", though. Napoleon listed the great captains as Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Gustavus Adolphus, Turenne, Eugene, and Frederick. That's a very Western European list that stops in the 1700s, but it's a reasonable starting point. I certainly wouldn't put MacArthur in that tier. That said, I don't regard him as the second coming of Ambrose Burnside as many seem to.