On December 8, , his air force was destroyed in a surprise attack by the Japanese, who soon invaded the Philippines. He spent the next two and a half years commanding an island-hopping campaign in the Pacific before famously returning to liberate the Philippines in October By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil.
That fall, his troops repelled the North Koreans and eventually drove them back toward the Chinese border. The general assured him the chances of a Chinese intervention were slim. Then, in November and December , a massive force of Chinese troops crossed into North Korea and flung themselves against the American lines, driving the U.
Truman flatly refused these requests, and a public dispute broke out between the two men. On April 11, , Truman removed MacArthur from his command for insubordination. In April , Douglas MacArthur returned to the United States, where he was welcomed as a hero and honored with parades in various cities. In , there were calls for MacArthur to run for president as a Republican; however, the party ultimately chose Dwight Eisenhower , who went on to win the general election.
That same year, MacArthur became chairman of Remington Rand, a maker of electrical equipment and business machines. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Stephen A. Douglas was a U. He was re-elected senator from Illinois Douglas in a series of seven debates.
Thousands of spectators and newspaper reporters from around the country watched as Educated at West Point, George S. In December, he was promoted to the rank of five-star General of the Army. Through February and March, Allied forces gained control of a devastated Manila, and soon thereafter completed their conquest of the islands. MacArthur was to lead American forces in the invasion of the Japanese home islands, and he was in the process of preparing for that impending and horrific operation when the atomic bomb brought an abrupt and decisive end to the war.
From his role of military leader in time of war, MacArthur moved on to a new chapter in his life as the commander of the Allied occupation of postwar Japan.
He held that position until , ruling Japan through a series of orders from his headquarters in Tokyo. His rule of Japan in this period in the name of the Allied powers is usually considered both fair and progressive, and MacArthur claimed, a greater source of satisfaction to him than his military successes.
On July 14, the general was named to direct U. Forces in the defense of South Korea. With the few and poorly trained troops that were then stationed in Japan, MacArthur fought a holding action against a powerful North Korean army.
His forces were pushed down the Korean Peninsula until a defense perimeter was finally established at the southeastern segment of the Peninsula around the vital port city of Pusan. MacArthur cavalierly refused to give details of his supposed plan to the State Department, and even waited four days to report to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, nominally his superiors, on this important meeting.
Truman forced MacArthur to withdraw the statement, but mutual ill-will continued to fester between the two leaders. On September 15, MacArthur, now age 70, directed the surprise amphibious landing behind enemy lines at Inchon, just west of Seoul. His plan had been opposed by most high military officers in Washington, but MacArthur was able to convince the Joint Chiefs of Staff of its feasibility and the operation succeeded famously.
By the end of the month, the North Korean forces began to collapse quickly and were rolled back across the 38th Parallel. On October 8, U. MacArthur was, of course, only following the directives of the President and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Many North Koreans collaborated with U. But these forces were divided into two commands, X Corps and Eighth Army, which had practically no communication with each other and which seemed to invite an enemy offensive to destroy them piecemeal.
The once ebullient U. Forces retreated to well below the 38th Parallel. The two U. Instead it was MacArthur who formally received the Japanese surrender in September Between and MacArthur, as Supreme Commander of the Allied powers, was responsible for overseeing the reconstruction of Japan, including creating the constitution promulgated in The new Japanese government took power in However in April he was recalled by President Truman after issuing a unilateral ultimatum to Mainland China.
On 19 April in his farewell address to the US Congress, MacArthur concluded with reference to the old soldiers' barracks ballad, 'Old soldiers never die, they just fade away'. After one unsuccessful attempt to run as a Republican for the US presidency, MacArthur spent his last years in New York apart from one visit to the Philippines in where he was decorated with the Philippine Legion of Honor.
On 5 April he died in Washington, survived by his wife who died in at the age of and was buried in his mother's birthplace-Norfolk, Virginia. To date MacArthur and his father remain as one of only two father-son combinations both to have received the Congressional Medal of Honor. The Sylvanus Thayer Award was awarded annually by the Graduates Association to 'an outstanding citizen of the United States whose service and accomplishments in the national interest exemplifying personal devotion to the ideals expressed in the West Point motto, 'Duty, Honor, Country'.
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