Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur commanded in the Pacific and in Korea and was dismissed for insubordination. Born in Arkansas in 1880, the son of a Medal of Honor winner and later military governor of the Philippines, he graduated top of his class at West Point and won a Medal of Honor of his own, making them the first father and son to hold it. He commanded a brigade in France in 1918, was superintendent of West Point at thirty-nine, and became army chief of staff in 1930, where he personally directed the clearing of the Bonus Army camp of unemployed veterans in Washington in 1932. He retired to build the Philippine army and was recalled in July 1941. His aircraft were destroyed on the ground nine hours after Pearl Harbor, and he withdrew to Bataan and Corregidor and was ordered out to Australia, promising to return. He directed the south-west Pacific campaign on the principle of bypassing Japanese strongpoints and letting them wither, which saved a great many lives, and returned to Leyte in October 1944. He accepted the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay in September 1945 and then governed Japan for nearly six years, overseeing the constitution, land reform, women's suffrage and the dissolution of the zaibatsu — a genuinely constructive occupation. In Korea he executed the Inchon landing in September 1950, a hazardous operation almost everyone opposed, which reversed the war in days. He then advanced to the Yalu, dismissed warnings of Chinese intervention, and was driven back. He publicly demanded escalation against China, and Truman relieved him in April 1951.
- Lived: 1880 CE – 1964 CE
- Nationality: American
- Roles: general, military_leader
