Douglas MacArthur was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army. He was born on this date in 1880.
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Douglas MacArthur was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and was the youngest of three sons born to Arthur MacArthur, Jr., who’d fought in the US civil war for the Union, and Mary “Pinky” Hardy, daughter of a Cotton merchant whose brothers fought for the Confederacy.
As a military family the MacArthurs moved to various military posts across the United States. MacArthur recorded in his memoirs that “I learned to ride and shoot even before I could read or write—indeed, almost before I could walk and talk." While at the same time, his mother dressed him in skirts and kept his hair curly and long until he was eight!
MacArthur attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and graduated in 1903 with the highest honours in his class.
He was then commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. His first duty assignment was to the Philippines.
On his return to the US, he served as an aide to President Theodore Roosevelt for a while, then got posted to Vera Cruz in Mexico. His mission there was to venture into enemy territory to locate locomotives that the army could commandeer to transport troops and supplies. MacArthur and his guides were attacked by bandits several times. On one occasion MacArthur killed seven attackers with just a .38 calibre revolver, while escaping with no more than four bullet holes in his clothes. This got him nominated for the Medal of Honor, but it was denied.
He married twice. His first wife was Louise Cromwell Brooks, a wealthy socialite. She hated army life, however, and they divorced, citing his inability to provide for her, although she was rich enough to move into an entire floor of a hotel, clearly perfectly capable of providing for herself! In 1937, MacArthur married Jean Marie Faircloth, another wealthy socialite, but she must have been more favourably disposed to army life as they stayed together until MacArthur died. They had a son, Arthur IV.
He was living in the Philippines with his family when the US entered world war II. The Japanese didn’t just attack Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, they also attacked the Philippines. MacArthur found himself in charge of the defence of the Philippines against a Japanese invasion. While he managed to hold off the invasion for a while, it did happen eventually and he led the resistance of the US forces on Bataan Peninsula and the Island of Corregidor.
In 1932, a group of veterans calling themselves the "Bonus Army" marched to Washington. MacArthur supported them at first, supplying them with food and tents, but then President Herbert Hoover ordered MacArthur to "surround the affected area and clear it without delay". As clashes between demonstrators and the army go, it was relatively non-violent, despite the opposing groups facing each other down with bayonets, sabres, Bricks and rocks. They were cleared out using tear gas and the only casualty was someone killed by a fire started by the gas canisters. This event made MacArthur unpopular with the American people but the right wing republicans loved him for it.
After the war, he was placed in charge of the administration of the Occupation of Japan, and helped to rebuild the country. In spite of everything he was quite popular with the Japanese people, as he refused American pressure to strip Emperor Hirohito of his throne and gave women the vote. He also made sure that food and supplies were sent to Japan.
It seemed he didn’t always get on well with the presidents he worked with. He had a flaming row with Roosevelt over cuts to the army, but Roosevelt refused to accept his resignation. The argument was apparently so volatile that MacArthur left the White House and puked on the front steps. It was President Truman who eventually fired him in 1951 for insubordination and differences of opinion over the Korean war. He returned to the US for the first time since he married Jean – their 13 year old son, Arthur, had never visited the US. He gave a parting speech to Congress which became famous as his “Old Soldiers Never Die” speech. It went on for much longer than the 36 minutes it would have taken to say the words, because it was interrupted at least 50 times by applause and standing ovations.
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