Korean War and the Removal of MacArthur

 

Korean War and the Removal of MacArthur

General Douglas MacArthur was a highly decorated soldier that embodied the true American spirit and served his country loyally. He was the commander of all the UN forces in Korea. President Truman had been categorical in his foreign policy, vehemently opposing communism. This was reflected by the speed with which he galvanized support for European countries like Britain, Turkey and Greece after the Second World War to prevent them from being overrun by the communist regime in the USSR. The Truman doctrine was largely anti-communistic and was opposed to the spread of communism around the world (Merrill, 2006). However, the president seemed to have a much softer stand on the communist regime in China and treated it far more cordially than he did that of the USSR.

While the president advocated for peaceful negotiations in both China and Korea, General MacArthur seemed to favor war. He was vindicated in a statement he gave where he issued a veiled threat to expand the war into China if the communist regime did not come to laid out terms. He communicated directly with like-minded congressmen in advocating for rearming UN forces so that they could be embroiled in an all out war to achieve local success and test the effectiveness of the newly developed weapons. On the contrary, the president was of the opinion that American global strategy should not have been sacrificed at the altar of local engagement. Where General MacArthur felt there was need to hasten American engagement, the president felt there was more than enough time for a comprehensive solution to the Korean War and the achievement of a far greater victory in presenting America as a true superpower to the world at large.

General Macarthur therefore differed in principle with both the president and the members of the Joint Committee on Armed Services and Foreign Relations of the United States Senate who were consulted by the president and advocated for the general’s removal. Since the American foreign policy was not in favor of war with China, the Secretaries of State and Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff and president Truman felt that General MacArthur was out of line with the foreign policy and thereby relieved him of his command on April 11, 1951 (Merrill, 2006). The ensuing debate was whether the president was justified in terminating the services of such a decorated general with different factions supporting both sides of the discussion. Those that felt the president was not justified sighted inadequate grounds and a hurting national pride whereas others felt that the president was justified as he was ultimately the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and on whose back the responsibility for war and policy squarely lay.

This paper supports the president’s decision as MacArthur rather crudely and deliberately sought to sabotage the president’s effort for peace by issuing contradictory statements. Proponents of this stance argue that no sane person, devoid of a hero-worship complex, can fail to grasp the consequences of going against the policy of a commander in any scenario where war is a possibility. The only negative from the Truman decision was that it lacked tact in presentation to the public. The president could have used a little political education in broaching news of removal of a people’s hero for what seemed to many as trivial reasons.

 

 

References

Merrill, D. (2006). The Truman Doctrine: Containing Communism and Modernity. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 36(1), pp. 27–37

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