Douglas MacArthur was born on January 26th, 1880 in Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas. His desire to enroll in the army was not a surprise to anyone, as he was following the example of his father and the military career Douglas Jr. saw unravel before him. His mother played an important role in the military career of her son. She helped him to achieve the next milestone in his career and get an invitation to study at the most prestigious military institution in the United States – West Point Academy. The future general graduated the academy in 1903 with such high scores that he was recognized as the best graduate in the entire history of the school.
After the Academy Douglas MacArthur with the rank of second lieutenant was enlisted in the Engineers Corps. He began his service in the Philippines, and then transferred to Japan as his father at that time served as a military attaché in the country and had the rank of major general. During the Russian-Japanese war, the young MacArthur accompanied his father as an observer (Perry). Many people make a career either through patronage, or making their way up over the heads of others. Douglas MacArthur had such extraordinary abilities that his father's help only slightly accelerated the development of his career and in no way played a decisive role. When a person is talented in this, eventually he will still take his due. Douglas MacArthur’ character was his first major strength that he further development, which enabled him to achieve success (Perry).
In 1906, MacArthur returned to the US and for some time served as a military adviser to the president Theodore Roosevelt. Soon he was promoted to captain. In 1914 MacArthur took part in a military expedition to Mexico. In 1916 he began his service in the Defense Department as head of the information bureau. His legacy at this position was the plan he devised to revitalize the National Guard in the event that the United States will participate in the First World War. In April 1917 after Germany's declaration of war, MacArthur took part in the formation of the Infantry Division "Rainbow" and in the rank of colonel became chief of staff of this division (Perry).
In the fall of 1917, MacArthur was sent to the front in France. On the battlefields of the First World War, his division earned itself well-deserved fame. The military campaign MacArthur finished as brigadier general. After the war, MacArthur for some time remained in Europe as part of the occupying forces, and in June 1919 he was appointed Head of West Point, becoming the youngest head of the Academy (Perry). Besides, his actions greatly benefited the Academy:
“His reforms as West Point superintendent and of the army school system as chief of staff were visionary and based on such goals as increasing the breadth of knowledge taught to students, cross-fertilizing army educational institutions with their civilian counterparts, instilling independence of professional thought while reconnecting cadets and soldiers to the civilian society they guarded,” (Frank).
Given that Douglas MacArthur had the perfect knowledge of East, in 1922, he was appointed commander of US troops in the Philippines. This archipelago was captured by the United States from Spain in 1898. It was the only US possession, located off the coast of Asia. With great natural wealth and excellent strategic position, these islands were of great potential value and played a significant role in American plans to penetrate into Asia (Perry).
In 1930, General MacArthur was appointed chief of staff of the US Army and came back to the US. However, after the US Congress granted independence to the Philippines in 1935, MacArthur returned to the island as a military adviser. When in the Philippines MacArthur worked together with Major Dwight Eisenhower, whom he considered the most talented staff officer in the entire US Army. In 1936, in consultation with the US government the Philippine President Quezon appointed Douglas MacArthur as Field Marshal of the Philippine Army. “MacArthur, who shared Quezon’s thinking, emerged as a most felicitous choice for this role, as his selection bestowed valuable benefits on all the interested parties,” (Frank). The general was temporarily discharged from the US armed forces. The US Defense Ministry has charged MacArthur with the task of creating the National Philippines Army from the local population, who could play the role of auxiliary forces for the US Army and Navy (Groom).
In July 1941, MacArthur was again called up to serve in the US military in connection with the Japanese aggression to active duty in the US Army. He was appointed to the post of commander of US forces in the Far East. On the assumption that the Japanese troops will first hit the islands, he was instructed to assist the Philippines in case of aggression. For the strengthening of defense of the Philippines the US government allocated 10 million USD. Within six months, the number of troops in the Philippines increased from 22 to 180 thousand people. (Often by subordinating poorly trained forces of the natives to the US command). In addition, he received 100 B-17 - "Flying Fortresses". He did not believe in the possibility of the Japanese attack on the Philippines, and even after the attack on Pearl Harbor did not order troops into combat readiness. In his military career, this was his first drawback. His weakness was that at the beginning of the campaign he underestimated the Japanese forces. This led him to make his next mistake. On 12 August 1941 MacArthur commanded the bombing of Formosa. His actions were followed by a counterattack from the Japanese aviation, which in their second raid managed to destroy more than 50% of all American aircrafts located in the Philippines. General MacArthur was too preoccupied with loosing such an immense number of aircrafts that he simply overlooked the fact that the Japanese can organize a landing operation. Right after the aviation counter-attack, the Japanese command began landing of approximately 57 000 men at Luzon. Having succeeded in the first nerve-racking stages of the campaign, the Japanese forces began to advance towards Manila (Groom).
Seeing this MacArthur, we must note this on 2 January 1942 ordered American troops to leave Manila, and focused on the Bataan Peninsula and the Corregidor island fortress. The attempts of the enemy to clear the land from Americans in Batuna failed, and MacArthur managed to surround and annihilate the Japanese division. His first combat genius was shown in this tactical operation. However, the position of US troops was critical. Supply was virtually ceased (Groom). On 11 March 1942, MacArthur left Corregidor passing the leadership and command of troops from D. Wainwright. (On May 6th, the remains of US troops in the Philippines surrendered). Upon arrival in Australia, MacArthur said: "I did what I could, but I will come back." In May 1942 he was appointed the Supreme Commander of the South-West Pacific (with headquarters in Brisbane, Australia). Under his command he had approximately 25 000 men and 260 aircrafts which were located in Australia, New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies (Groom).
He insisted on the priority of the Pacific theater of operations, requiring to stop all preparations for the opening of the second front in Europe and North Africa. MacArthur claimed that the US can assist the USSR drawing the attention of all Japanese troops, and give the Soviet Command the opportunity to use the "Siberian divisions" in the fight against the German Nazis. MacArthur managed to stop the advance of the Japanese in the direction of Australia, and then to gain a number of victories in Port Moresby on Guadalcanal. This was the breaking point in the whole Pacific campaign. MacArthur timely realized the threat that the Japanese were, and seeing through their cunning tactics, stopped their advance. His most important strength is the development of the new “Leap frog” tactic, when in cooperation with the Commander of the Navy in the Pacific, Admiral Nimitz the American troops captured all the island bases of the enemy one by one (Borneman). On the 22 of April 1944 he landed troops in New Guinea and by the end of July created a springboard for operations to recapture the Philippines, and in September established control over the whole island. On 20 October 1944 MacArthur landed together with his troops on the island of Leyte and said: "I'm back," (Groom).
On 9 January 1945 the American troops landed on the main island of the Philippines archipelago - Luzon, and after a month of fierce battles took control of the Philippines. US losses amounted to 8 thousand people, whereas Imperial Japan lost 192 thousand people. It was the strength of the command to develop the assault operations bearing in mind the importance of the lives of the soldiers (Groom). The human factor and understanding of its importance was the main strength of the commander of the Pacific front. On 4 January 1945 the American troops (about 155 thousand people and by the end of the operation there were approximately 300 thousand) had landed on Okinawa. The capture of Okinawa cost the US Army 49 thousand people. (however, only 12,520 were killed, whereas the Japanese lost approximately 110 thousand.). On 6 and 9 August 1945 the Americans dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing approx. 100 thousand people (Borneman). This, together with the skill of US command have forced the Japanese Emperor Hirohito to announce defeat and cessation of all hostilities. General MacArthur on 2 September 1945 on board the "Missouri" in Tokyo bay accepted the surrender of Japan (Groom).
For seven years of the American occupation of Japan, all the supreme power was actually in the hands of General Douglas MacArthur. During this time, he had earned the respect of the Japanese themselves. Without changing the political elite of the country, he was able to destroy the remnants of the old regime. In Japan, he even earned a nickname - "the uncrowned emperor" for his humane policies (Borneman).
General Douglas MacAthur during his service in the US army, managed to show both his best possible strengths, which were somewhat marred by a few of his weaknesses. From his campaign, we see that he was an intelligent officer ready for serving his country. He was among the few whom men really loved and were ready to die for. Though he did have a very specific way around his subordinates: “As a motivator within his command, MacArthur’s favorite tool was to create rivalries among subordinates and then to play one off against the other,” (Frank). His small weakness was his underestimating the Japanese prior to the start of the war. Even after the attack on Pearl-Harbor, MacArthur did not believe the Japanese had it in them to attack the Philippines (Borneman). This shortsighted weakness cost him all too dearly and the rest of his time, he spent trying to fix what had to be done – which is to eradicate the Japanese, throw them off and lock up on their islands. Despite the warlike manner of command, MacArthur showed his humane side when the Japanese surrendered. This is another strength, to be humane and civil towards your enemy. His actions in Japan allowed him to be nicknamed “the uncrowned emperor”.
Works Cites
Borneman, Walter R. MacArthur at war: World War II in the Pacific. New York, NY Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2016. Print.
Frank, Richard B. MacArthur. New York, N.Y: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Print.
Groom, Winston. The generals: Patton, MacArthur, Marshall, and the winning of World War II. Washington, D.C: National Geographic, 2015. Print.
Perry, Mark. The most dangerous man in America: the making of Douglas MacArthur. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2014. Print.
