Click on the headline to link to a Wikipedia entry for Americna author William Manchester.
BOOK REVIEW
AMERICAN CAESAR, WILLIAM MANCHESTER
General Douglas MacArthur is one of the few military figures in American history who, even today, evokes heated partisan responses. The title of the headline for this piece clearly tells where this writer is on the partisan divide. The nickname “Dugout Doug” goes back to the days when after the Japanese invasion of the Philippines General MacArthur got himself out of harms way, with due fanfare, while his subordinates and troops for the most part got left behind to face the brunt of the Japanese forces. It was not pretty. This story and many others are detailed in the late journalist William Manchester’s biography of the general.
The history of the United States has produced a few military figures who were flamboyant. It has also produced a fair number with some military skills. It is, however, unusual to have the two come together as they did in the self-advertised grandeur of MacArthur. Europe has had some familiarity with the ‘man on horse back’. One thinks of France, in particular. In America that notion, at least publicly, has not been presented by military leaders while in uniform. MacArthur was an exception. Manchester is not incorrect to see that if there were such a candidate for the role of Caesar (or the modern variant, Napoleon) in the United States MacArthur by skill, élan and appetite fit the bill. That thread runs through the whole story line here.
No one can question that MacArthur had exceptional military skill in both World Wars, especially his role in the Pacific in World War II. One, however, should note, and note carefully his role in dispersing the Bonus Army in Washington, D.C. in the early 1930’s. That might provide a taste of what the American Caesar had in store if he ever took power. Furthermore, one should note that MacArthur was well out of his element when he faced essentially ‘unconventional’ armies in Korea. Call it ‘limited warfare’ if you will but he totally underestimated his North Korean and Chinese opposites in the age of new ‘warfare’. Later American generals faced, and are today facing, similar conditions. And making the same wrong estimations about the enemy's capacities. That MacArthur’s reputation has mainly survived his Korea debacle owes more to hubris, including his own, than reality. In any case, read this book to get a flavor of the old American Army and its most well known general.
BOOK REVIEW
AMERICAN CAESAR, WILLIAM MANCHESTER
General Douglas MacArthur is one of the few military figures in American history who, even today, evokes heated partisan responses. The title of the headline for this piece clearly tells where this writer is on the partisan divide. The nickname “Dugout Doug” goes back to the days when after the Japanese invasion of the Philippines General MacArthur got himself out of harms way, with due fanfare, while his subordinates and troops for the most part got left behind to face the brunt of the Japanese forces. It was not pretty. This story and many others are detailed in the late journalist William Manchester’s biography of the general.
The history of the United States has produced a few military figures who were flamboyant. It has also produced a fair number with some military skills. It is, however, unusual to have the two come together as they did in the self-advertised grandeur of MacArthur. Europe has had some familiarity with the ‘man on horse back’. One thinks of France, in particular. In America that notion, at least publicly, has not been presented by military leaders while in uniform. MacArthur was an exception. Manchester is not incorrect to see that if there were such a candidate for the role of Caesar (or the modern variant, Napoleon) in the United States MacArthur by skill, élan and appetite fit the bill. That thread runs through the whole story line here.
No one can question that MacArthur had exceptional military skill in both World Wars, especially his role in the Pacific in World War II. One, however, should note, and note carefully his role in dispersing the Bonus Army in Washington, D.C. in the early 1930’s. That might provide a taste of what the American Caesar had in store if he ever took power. Furthermore, one should note that MacArthur was well out of his element when he faced essentially ‘unconventional’ armies in Korea. Call it ‘limited warfare’ if you will but he totally underestimated his North Korean and Chinese opposites in the age of new ‘warfare’. Later American generals faced, and are today facing, similar conditions. And making the same wrong estimations about the enemy's capacities. That MacArthur’s reputation has mainly survived his Korea debacle owes more to hubris, including his own, than reality. In any case, read this book to get a flavor of the old American Army and its most well known general.
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