DOC Douglas MacArthur: American Warrior by Arthur Herman in History

Review

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful. A Five Star Homage to A Five Star GeneralBy Molo LudanWithout a doubt; Arthur Herman has written a superior; fair - and devastatingly compelling biography of "America's Warrior."Drawing on primary sources; oral history of interviews with MacArthur's widow Jean Faircloth MacArthur; formerly classified files - and the super secret ARCHIVE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION; released in 1991 by President Boris Yeltsin following the fall of the Soviet Union. Using archival evidence as basis; Herman updates; clarifies and puts in proper perspective many crucial passages accepted for decades as conventional wisdom; thus making the book as the new definitive MacArthur biography.Focusing on MacArthur and the Korean war; Herman revisits long-held views in Washington that an impetuous MacArthur; advocating the use of atom bombs; will force Stalin's hand to go to war and open WWIII. Joining Herman in debunking this Cold War mantra is Simon Sebag Montefiore; whose Stalin biography published in 2003 uses archival evidence.Both historians; in fact; vindicate MacArthur's prescient assessment in 1950 that; in contrast to Truman's view; Stalin is unlikely to risk dragging a still recovering WWII-ravaged Russia into another horrific carnage; this time a nuclear war. We now know that the Soviets at the time; and up to the early Sixties; realize they have no adequate atomic arsenal nor strategic delivery system capable of reaching the U.S. mainland (atomic USSR stockpile history:1950- 5 vs. 299 USA; 1955- 200 vs. 2;422 USA; 1960- 1;605 vs 18;638 USA source: Wikipedia).Realizing Russia will be quickly overwhelmed by the U.S. and its allies; Stalin decides to step aside and prudently take a pass; as MacArthur has correctly surmised. Stalin's actual reaction is quoted in Montefiore's book shown in the next paragraph.* After his brilliant success at Inchon and with the path now wide open for a quick and complete victory (MacArthur occupies North Korea's capital city of Pyongyang on Oct.19; 1950); MacArthur repeatedly asks for Washington's approval to continue his pursuit of the enemy and end the war.*Writes Montefiore: In September 1950; the powerful U.S. counter-attack at Inchon; under U.N. flag; trapped Marshal Kim Il-sung's (grandfather of the current leader) North Korean forces in the south and their shattered army. Once again; Stalin's testing of American resolve had backfired badly - but the old man simply sighed to Khrushchev that if Kim was defeated; "SO WHAT; LET IT BE. LET THE AMERICANS BE OUR NEIGHBORS. RUSSIA WOULD STILL NOT INTERVENE" (underscoring provided). Montefiore's "Stalin: The Court Of The Red Tsar." N.Y. Alfred A. Knopf; 2003; pp 207-208.Next; we see Truman; under pressure from the skittish U.N. and British officials; mandating rules of engagement that's tantamount to a judge issuing a restraining order in favor of the perpetrator. A stunned; albeit overjoyed Stalin and Mao cannot believe what has just been handed to them.Truman unilaterally grants "privileged sanctuary" to the enemy. No war is winnable without destroying or neutralizing the enemy's supply line. Yet their main supply lines north of the Yalu River; separating Mao's China and the Korean peninsula; are now off limits to any U.S. military retaliation and shall remain sacrosanct; inviolate. Further; the time-honored practice of "hot pursuit" - to go after an attacking enemy plane returning to its base (as in going after a fleeing criminal crossing city or state line) is hereby suspended - indefinitely. For the first time in U.S. military history; Truman's new rules will force American commanders to fight a war with one hand tied behind their backs.By the time the Panmunjom armistice agreement is signed on June 8; 1953 - two years after MacArthur's dismissal; the war has cost the U.S. over 30;000 killed in action. Tens of thousands more will succumb to injuries; illness; accidents; and other factors directly related to the war. Casualties suffered in Korea are in the same scale as in Vietnam and yet the Truman administration- and the press insists on calling the war "police action" or "conflict."The bloody Korean War festers to this day; setting the stage for future disastrous U.S. "containment" in foreign places: Vietnam; Iraq; Afghanistan. Fact is the Korean War is not technically over. The north and south remain divided ante bellum. The 38th parallel has been turned into a powder keg; fiercely guarded by two heavily armed combatants. From his headquarters in Pyongyang; the current supreme leader; Kim Jong-un; vociferously threatens the U.S.; shaking his fist; as his forebears have before him; and boasting his nuclear-armed country will soon wipe out "American imperialists and their capitalist running dogs."Instead of listening to his field commanders fighting a war halfway around the world; the nation's new commander-in-chief (unlike FDR) will seek the counsel of his aides in the safe confines of Washington DC. The only time - and the closest Truman has ever been to Korea during the 3-year war; and for that matter Asia; is when he meets for a few hours with MacArthur in the mid-Pacific U.S. territory known as Wake Island; some 2;500 miles south of Inchon. It is the same distance between L.A. and Honolulu. As Herman brilliantly points out: Truman missed a one-time only opportunity to make it clear to MacArthur; face to face - and the world what his administration's end game in Korea was.His policy on the war has been painfully ambivalent and demoralizing to the young men on the battlefield; many in their teens; led by the U.S. with Republic of Korea (South Korea) and 14 UN allies. As MacArthur's boss;Truman should have sat down with his field commander to; in Herman's words; "find a way to communicate more directly on what really mattered: how to win in Korea." Which is; in fact; what great winning commanders-in-chief do - like FDR in 1944 at Honolulu with MacArthur and Nimitz in the final stage of the Pacific War.Instead; Truman tragically turns the occasion into a political photo op; hoping it will bolster his party's fortunes in the upcoming midterm elections and; as a desperate personal move; stopping his plummeting popularity. Truman's all-time low of 22% presidential rating remains unmatched to this day. After his defeat at the New Hampshire Democratic Party primary of 1952 by an unknown U.S. freshman senator from Tennessee; Truman decides not to seek re-election. Since then; the sad figure of Truman; like Banquo's ghost; keeps returning to the scene; hovering above the changing; restless landscape of geopolitics below; leaving a legacy that bears the mark of his good intention yet one tainted with lack of strategic vision.In the end; as Herman puts it so poignantly; "What was at stake (that Washington failed to grasp) was far more than victory in Korea; in MacArthur's mind. It was putting the brakes on an incipient Chinese conquest of East Asia before it was too late." (p. 776)"Councils of war bring timidity and confusion;" admonishes MacArthur.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. MacArthur; a great but flawed warriorBy Stephen C. SmithVery thoroughly researched and well written. I was eleven years old when President Truman removed MacArthur and while I was too young to understand the politics of the decision; I soon came to believe Truman made the correct decision; and I have held and re-enforced that view since then. Mac Arthur was a greatgeneral who served this nation well; but his overweening pride seems to have led him to believe he alone could and should determine the destiny of this nation.For me; the most important information in this book was to realize the importance of MacArthur and his father in pointing the way to the significance East Asia would play in America's future. Without them doing so; I would hate to think where we might be today in our East Asian policies.SCSmithscs1939@gmail.com2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Sympathetic but not uncritical biographyBy JBoswell1740To be brief: MacArthur's life is well known; the numerous accomplishments and controversies fully accounted for; pro or con. So where does this new biography fall? It is a comprehensive; well-written and basically sympathetic study of the general; though the author never glosses over MacArthur's shortcomings. And there were plenty. Herman seems to be willing to give the general the benefit of the doubt in many instances (his defense of the Philippines; for example); and without failing to note criticisms; he offers explanations. You may draw your own judgments; of course; but this soundly researched biography merits a lot of praise; not least for its readability.