World War II Commanders -- MacArthur

Author: General Douglas MacArthur
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-12-01
Features: Douglas MacArthur, the five-star general of the United States, served as the commander of the U.S. Far East Command and the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers in the Southwest Pacific Theater during World War II. After the war, he held positions such as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers in Japan and the Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Command.
MacArthur was born on January 26, 1880, in a military family in Little Rock, Arkansas. His father, General Arthur MacArthur, was a U.S. Army officer, and his mother, Mary Hardy, was the daughter of a cotton merchant. She encouraged MacArthur to study and research history, read biographies of world figures, and taught him to "never lie or cause trouble." In 1893, MacArthur entered the West Texas Military Academy, calling it "where I started."
In 1899, MacArthur was admitted to the U.S. Military Academy (West Point). During his time there, he studied diligently and focused on physical training. Four years later, he graduated as valedictorian and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, assigned to the 3rd Engineer Regiment in the Philippines.
In 1905, MacArthur followed his father into intelligence work. In 1906, he became a student at the U.S. Army Engineer School and served as the military aide to President Theodore Roosevelt. In 1908, he was transferred to command a company in the Corps of Engineers and was promoted to a staff position for his effective training. Later, he became a cavalry school instructor. In 1911, he was promoted to captain, and the following year, he joined the Army General Staff. In 1915, he was promoted to major. In 1916, he served as the aide-de-camp to Secretary of War Baker, responsible for liaison with the press.
In 1917, after the United States entered World War I, the 42nd Infantry Division was formed from National Guard units from across the states. MacArthur became the division's executive officer and was promoted to colonel, deploying to France for the war. He claimed the division's soldiers came from all over the United States, like a rainbow spanning the sky, earning the nickname "Rainbow Division." In 1918, for his bravery and leadership, he received multiple medals and was promoted to brigadier general, becoming the youngest brigadier general at the time. That same year in November, after the war ended, he served as the acting commander of the Rainbow Division. During the war, he developed a rivalry with the headquarters staff of the Expeditionary Force.
In June 1919, MacArthur was appointed commandant of West Point, becoming the youngest commandant in the school's history. During his tenure, he disciplined the cadets, added new courses, and advocated for training that focused on future warfare, modern military education, which inevitably angered the conservative forces in the military. In February 1922, he married Louise Brooks (they divorced six years later) and, by the end of the year, was appointed commander of the Manila Military District in the Philippines.
In 1925, MacArthur was promoted to major general and served as a corps commander in Atlanta and Baltimore. That same year, he was appointed as a judge in the court-martial of Brigadier General Mitchell (who advocated for an independent air force), which later led him to defend himself in his memoirs.
In the fall of 1927, MacArthur became president of the U.S. Olympic Committee and led the American team to the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, where they won gold medals. The Chief of Staff of the Army sent a congratulatory cable: "You have not only earned the reputation of never retreating, but also the honor of knowing how to win." After this, MacArthur was transferred to command the U.S. Army in the Philippines.
On August 30, 1930, MacArthur received a cable from the Secretary of War, informing him that President Hoover had decided to appoint him as Chief of Staff of the Army. Considering the global economic crisis and the rise of pacifism, which would likely lead to reduced military spending, MacArthur initially hesitated to accept the position. His mother, however, urged him to take the job, saying, "If you show cowardice, your father will be ashamed of you in the afterlife."
In November 1930, MacArthur accepted the temporary rank of general and took office as Chief of Staff of the Army, becoming the youngest person to hold the position in U.S. Army history. During his tenure, he replaced horses with mechanized equipment, improving the mobility and speed of the troops, and developed a war mobilization plan. He established a unified procurement system for all branches to reduce waste and created an Air Force Command to enhance coordination between ground and air forces. He opposed Congress's attempts to cut the Army due to economic reasons and argued against reducing the officer corps, stating, "An army may lack food, clothing, and even equipment, but without trained and competent officers, it is doomed to defeat in war. The difference between victory and defeat lies entirely in whether there is a capable and efficient officer corps." He successfully prevented annual legislation to reduce the Army's size and defended the army's readiness. Notably, in July 1932, during the Great Depression, 15,000 unemployed World War I veterans gathered in Washington, demanding back pay. Under MacArthur's direct command, U.S. troops used tanks to violently suppress these former comrades-in-arms.
After Franklin D. Roosevelt took office as president in 1933, MacArthur continued to serve as Chief of Staff of the Army.
In 1935, MacArthur's term as Chief of Staff ended, and he was appointed as the military advisor to President Quezon of the Philippine government. In August 1936, he was granted the rank of Field Marshal by the Philippines. In April 1937, he married Jeanne Fairchild in the United States. By the end of 1937, MacArthur retired from the U.S. Army and began to organize the Philippine Army.
In June 1941, the U.S. military adopted the "Rainbow 5" plan, deciding to focus on Europe if war broke out with the Axis powers. In July, Washington ordered the merger of the Philippine Army with U.S. forces in the Philippines, placing MacArthur on active duty and promoting him to lieutenant general, with command of the U.S. Far East Command, overseeing the First Army under Walter Krueger and the Second Army under Jonathan Wainwright. On December 8, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces launched an offensive in the Philippines. Due to MacArthur's incorrect judgment and poor handling, most U.S. bombers and fighters in the Philippines were destroyed, leaving the air defense capability completely depleted. Additionally, with limited and poorly trained U.S.-Filipino forces, they could not withstand the Japanese advance. On December 24 and 26, MacArthur moved the U.S.-Filipino command to Corregidor, while all troops withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula to hold out, declaring Manila an open city. On December 24, 1941, MacArthur was promoted to general.
In January 1942, Japanese forces occupied Manila. The Japanese launched multiple attacks on the Bataan Peninsula but failed to succeed. When the Japanese radio program "Tokyo Rose" mocked the U.S. Pacific Fleet, MacArthur requested the Army Air Corps send planes over the Philippines to counter "enemy propaganda" and boost morale. However, this request was never fulfilled. In March, with reinforced forces, the Japanese launched an offensive against the isolated and unsupported U.S.-Filipino forces on the Bataan Peninsula and other areas. To prevent MacArthur from being captured, the U.S. government ordered him to transfer command to Wainwright and take command of the Southwest Pacific Theater as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces. On the night of March 11, as MacArthur boarded a submarine to leave the Philippines, he vowed, "I shall return." On April 9, approximately 75,000 U.S. and Filipino soldiers were forced to surrender to the Japanese. On May 6, after the fall of Bataan, Wainwright, who had been commanding from Corregidor, was forced to surrender and ordered all U.S.-Filipino forces to surrender the next day via Manila radio.
Upon arriving in Australia, MacArthur set up his headquarters in Brisbane with his chief of staff, General Walter Sutherland, before later moving to Morotai, aiming to secure the area and decide the decisive battle against the Japanese beyond Owen Stanley. The Army commander of the Southwest Pacific Allied Forces was Sir Thomas Blamey, the air commander was initially Brigadier General William Brevet, later replaced by General George Kenney (whose air forces were later reorganized as the U.S. Army Fifth Air Force), and the naval commander was Vice Admiral Richmond K. Turner. Later, the U.S. Third Fleet came under MacArthur's command. The U.S. Army units included General Krueger's Sixth Army, General Oscar W. Eveleth's Eighth Army, and General Robert L. Eichelberger's Tenth Army (later commanded by General Joseph Stilwell). Considering the separate Pacific Theater under Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, MacArthur believed, "Of all the mistakes made during the war, the most inexplicable was the failure to establish unified command in the Pacific." After the Battle of Midway in 1942 and the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1943, the Allies shifted from strategic defense to strategic offense.
After the Battle of Midway, Japanese forces occupied New Guinea, attempting to seize Milne Bay through direct attacks and capture Morotai through flanking movements. MacArthur made the correct assessment and formulated a plan. On July 23, the first ground combat of the war began in New Guinea. Australian forces were forced to retreat after fierce fighting. By late August, Japanese forces had crossed Owen Stanley Mountain and approached Morotai. Meanwhile, the Japanese forces attacking the Allied-held Milne Bay were completely destroyed. MacArthur directed the Allied forces to launch a counterattack along three axes toward the Buna-Salamaua-Gona area. After six months of intense fighting, the Allies successfully concluded the Papuan Campaign in January 1943.
Starting in 1943, MacArthur strongly advocated for unified command in the Pacific Theater, but this proposal was hindered by inter-service rivalries.
In April 1943, based on decrypted Japanese codes, MacArthur decided to send fighter planes to intercept the aircraft of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander-in-chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet.
MacArthur's final offensive plan for 1943 envisioned simultaneous attacks from Guadalcanal and Papua to secure northeastern New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, with the focus on recapturing Rabaul. The Allies adopted MacArthur's island-hopping strategy, largely realizing this plan. MacArthur described the island-hopping strategy as "the practical application of this way of war: avoiding frontal assaults with heavy casualties, bypassing Japanese strongholds, cutting supply lines to render them ineffective, and isolating their forces to starve them in the battlefield. This is the guiding principle behind my troop movements and battle plans."
In 1943, Republican politicians intended to make MacArthur the presidential candidate for the 1944 election. However, primary results in some states showed he did not receive significant support, so MacArthur publicly stated he would not run for president.
From spring to summer 1944, the Allies had captured the Aleutian Islands, Gilbert Islands, Solomon Islands, New Britain, New Guinea, Marshall Islands, Caroline Islands, and Mariana Islands. During this period, MacArthur and Nimitz had major disagreements over the strategy for the Pacific War. MacArthur advocated for a campaign centered on New Guinea-Halmahera-Philippines to liberate the Philippines, while Nimitz proposed capturing airfields on Mindanao first, isolating Luzon, then attacking Taiwan and the Chinese coast to strike at the Japanese home islands and shorten the war. Both received support from the Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall and the Navy Secretary Frank Knox. Ultimately, President Roosevelt supported MacArthur's plan.
The campaign in the Philippine Islands began with the Allied landings in Morotai and Halmahera in September 1944. In October, the Allies launched the Leyte landings, marking their advance from Mindanao to Luzon, with continuous support from the U.S. Army Air Forces and the U.S. Third Fleet. On October 20, after landing on Leyte, MacArthur, accompanied by the President of the Philippines, made an emotional announcement from a radio car: "Filipinos, I am back! Let the spirit of Bataan and Corregidor flourish. When the front line reaches your area, fight! Seize every opportunity to strike the enemy! Fight for your homeland and your families! Fight for your sacred dead!" In December 1944, MacArthur was promoted to General of the Army. In January 1945, the Allies began landings in Lingayen Gulf north of Manila on October 10 and in Batangas on October 29, encircling Japanese forces under General Tomoyuki Yamashita. It took fierce fighting until March for the Allies to capture Manila and the Bataan Peninsula, recapturing Corregidor. On March 1, MacArthur returned to Corregidor in a submarine in a symbolic gesture. Yamashita resisted until September, when he surrendered with his forces. In April 1945, MacArthur was ordered to command all U.S. Army operations in the Pacific.
On August 15, 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender, and MacArthur was appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers in Japan by President Truman, responsible for the military occupation and reconstruction of Japan. On September 2, the surrender ceremony was held aboard the USS Missouri. Japanese Foreign Minister Shigenori Tōgō and Chief of Staff Hisaichi Tōjō signed the surrender document on behalf of Japan. MacArthur, who appeared in a tattered hat, with sunglasses on his nose and a corn cob pipe in his mouth, signed the surrender document on behalf of the Allies, followed by representatives from the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and other Allied nations. When signing, MacArthur arranged for General Douglas MacArthur and General Paul Warburg, who had been captured by the Japanese early in the war, to stand behind him in honor. He then used five pens to sign the surrender documents in both English and Japanese. The first pen, after writing "Douglas," was given to MacArthur; the second pen, after continuing "MacArthur," was given to Warburg; the third pen, after signing "MacArthur," was handed over to the U.S. government archives; the fourth pen, after signing his rank and title, was given to West Point; and the fifth pen, a pink one taken from his uniform pocket, after signing his rank and title, was given to MacArthur's wife.
In June 1950, the Korean War broke out, and the United States intervened under the UN banner. MacArthur became Supreme Commander of the United Nations Command and the U.S. Forces in the Far East, leading the invasion of Korea. After the U.S. 24th Infantry Division was destroyed, MacArthur successfully organized the Inchon Landing and directed the UN Command across the 38th parallel, advancing toward the Yalu River. In April 1951, MacArthur was relieved of all duties due to military setbacks and accusations of "not fully supporting U.S. and UN policies."
MacArthur had a wide range of interests, including history, biographies, philosophy, law, and natural sciences, and possessed an extraordinary memory. In informal settings, his conversations were vivid and concise, without hesitation in choosing words or organizing thoughts. However, in public speeches, he always carefully prepared his remarks, which were often lengthy, verbose, and lacking substance, with complex and disorganized sentence structures, making them dull and monotonous. He gave the impression of lacking humor and imagination. MacArthur was arrogant and craved praise, sometimes demanding honors or taking credit for others' work. News releases from MacArthur's headquarters referred to him by name, but he always used phrases like "my army," "my navy," or "my air force." MacArthur was easily emotional, had unrealistic optimism, and often resorted to psychological warfare, believing himself to be always right and often dismissing or ignoring realistic criticism from his staff. Once he made a decision, he did not want to hear "it won't work" or "it might work," leading to capable and efficient staff members being excluded while only those who complied or flattered him remained. MacArthur could not tolerate criticism or admit mistakes and was prone to covering up errors or making bold lies.
After returning to the United States, MacArthur delivered a speech to Congress, continuing to advocate for expanding the war of aggression and imposing economic sanctions on China, urging Chiang Kai-shek to launch a counterattack on the mainland. The U.S. Congress also held hearings on MacArthur. In 1952, MacArthur attempted to secure the Republican presidential nomination but failed. He then served as chairman of Remington Rand Typewriter Company and wrote his memoirs, "Reminiscences."
Throughout his life, MacArthur indeed achieved accomplishments and won. These honors were well-deserved, but they inevitably led to the gradual erosion of his excellent qualities, replacing them with arrogance, self-importance, a desire for the spotlight, vanity, and a penchant for flattery. These flaws, combined with his stubborn personality, often forced his plans through, leading to great success, which in turn reinforced his belief in his own judgment and correctness, further exacerbating these flaws until he eventually reached the point of openly defying authority. In this way, his arrogance and self-importance both contributed to his military miracles and ultimately led to the downfall of his military career.
MacArthur died of illness on April 5, 1964, at Walter Reed Army Hospital.