Ultimately, the committee found that MacArthur's dismissal was justified. By early , Truman really wanted to end the Korean War, of which Americans were becoming more and more weary.
MacArthur's unilateral decision to threaten the PRC angered Truman because it only made the Chinese more resolved to stay in the war. MacArthur, acting without consulting Washington first, was becoming more and more undependable, although his assumption that Stalin and the USSR would stay out of fighting with the US ended up being correct.
It is hard to say why MacArthur acted so haphazardly, although it might be the case that since he knew he was nearing the end of his career, he wanted to make himself into a martyr. Some may argue that he was deliberately trying to be dismissed so that he would become a Republican hero who could then run for President.
Regardless, MacArthur went against his President's orders, given in person at Wake Island, to use tact and caution. Oddly, MacArthur decided to violate his constitutional duty to serve his commander-in-chief in order to protect his country, a country whose politics is largely based on the sanctity of that constitution. MacArthur, hero of the Republican Party and wildly popular with the American public, could not be fired on a whim. Truman's consultation with the JCS proved to be extremely wise, for after MacArthur's dismissal, many Republican congressmen began to suggest removing Truman through impeachment.
Fortunately for Truman, his support within the JCS, the American military's most senior group, saved him from impeachment. While personally wise, Truman's actions also had political effects. President Franklin D. Roosevelt picked him as his running mate in 1s, replacing Vice President Henry Wallace for Roosevelt's fourth term in office.
Inexperienced and unknown to most Americans, Truman assumed the presidency when Roosevelt died suddenly in As president, Truman immediately faced many difficult situations.
He negotiated the German surrender. He decided to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. To stop Soviet expansion, he instituted a policy of containing communism. As part of this policy, he set up the Marshall Plan to send economic aid to Europe, and he established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to provide military security for Europe. In , the Republicans gained control of Congress, and Truman seemed likely to lose the next election. Yet in the presidential election, Truman pulled an upset victory.
In , war broke out in Korea. During this war, a major confrontation took place between Truman and MacArthur over the conduct of the war.
MacArthur was the top commander of the American and other U. Truman, as president, was MacArthur's superior. The U. Constitution designates the civilian president as the commander in chief of the armed forces and the one who sets American foreign policy. Korea had been a Japanese possession since Following the defeat of Japan in , Soviet troops occupied Korea north of the 38th line of latitude usually referred to as the 38th parallel.
American troops occupied the area south of this line. By agreement, both Soviet and American forces withdrew from Korea in By this time, Korea as a practical matter had separated into two countries.
In , the Chinese Civil War ended. Soon after the victory of the Communists in China, news arrived that the Soviet Union had tested an atomic bomb. President Truman's containment policy sought to stop Communist aggression, especially against Europe and Japan.
But Truman administration officials made public statements that seemed to exclude Formosa and Korea as areas to be defended by the United States. Moving quickly, and without seeking a declaration of war from Congress, President Truman ordered U. Several days after the invasion began, the United Nations passed a resolution calling for its members to aid South Korea in repelling the attack and restoring peace. This resolution should have been vetoed by the Soviet Union. Eventually, more than a dozen U.
By the fall of , the war was going badly for South Korea and its allies. Defeat seemed inevitable. But General MacArthur devised a bold and risky plan. The North Koreans had taken most of the Korean peninsula. He proposed landing troops from the sea at the port of Inchon far behind enemy lines.
The troops would cut off enemy communications and supply lines, retake Seoul the capital , and "hammer and destroy the North Koreans. But Inchon seemed an improbable site. The approach was narrow and could be easily mined. The currents ran swift and made it hazardous for landing troops. Mud flats prevented any amphibious landing. The landing would have to be made on one of the three days each month when the tide covered the mud flats.
Once ashore, the troops would have to climb sea walls and cliffs. The enemy could defend the port from the heights surrounding it. For all these reasons, many of the high command opposed an Inchon landing and proposed other sites. But MacArthur believed that because Inchon was such an awful place for a landing, his troops would take the enemy by surprise, which they did on September At the same time, the besieged U.
The combined forces drove the North Koreans above the 38th parallel in 15 days. Next came perhaps the most fateful decisions of the Korean War. Pressed by MacArthur, Truman authorized him to pursue the North Korean troops north of the 38th parallel.
But MacArthur, used to ruling in Japan, ignored the chain of command, and began writing letters about what the United States should do in Korea. He sent a letter to the Veterans of Foreign Wars saying that Formosa would be a fine place to launch an aggressive campaign against China. After the Chinese entered the war -- something MacArthur had assured Truman would never happen -- MacArthur wrote to Speaker of the House Joe Martin saying the United States could only win by an all-out war, and this meant bombing the Manchurian bases.
So Harry Truman fired him, and evoked a firestorm of criticism from conservatives who believed Truman to be soft on communism. But there is no question that Truman was absolutely correct. Whether his overall policy was right or wrong, the American Constitution commits control of foreign policy to the president and not to the military. As Truman explained, avoidance of World War III while containing aggression was a difficult line to walk, but that was the policy the United States had decided upon.
No soldier, not even a five-star general, could unilaterally challenge that policy without disturbing an essential element of democratic government.
For further reading: Richard Rovere and Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. I want to talk plainly to you tonight about what we are doing in Korea and about our policy in the Far East. In the simplest terms, what we are doing in Korea is this: We are trying to prevent a third world war. I think most people in this country recognized that fact last June.
And they warmly supported the decision of the Government to help the Republic of Korea against the Communist aggressors. Now, many persons, even some who applauded our decision to defend Korea, have forgotten the basic reason for our action. The Communists in the Kremlin are engaged in a monstrous conspiracy to stamp out freedom all over the world. If they were to succeed, the United States would be numbered among their principal victims. It must be clear to everyone that the United States cannot -- and will not -- sit idly by and await foreign conquest.
The only question is: When is the best time to meet the threat and how? The best time to meet the threat is in the beginning. It is easier to put out a fire in the beginning when it is small than after it has become a roaring blaze. And the best way to meet the threat of aggression is for the peace-loving nations to act together.
If they don't act together, they are likely to be picked off, one by one This is the basic reason why we joined in creating the United Nations. And since the end of World War II we have been putting that lesson into practice -- we have been working with other free nations to check the aggressive designs of the Soviet Union before they can result in a third world war.
That is what we did in Greece, when that nation was threatened by aggression of international communism. The attack against Greece could have led to general war. But this country came to the aid of Greece. The United Nations supported Greek resistance.
With our help, the determination and efforts of the Greek people defeated the attack on the spot. Another big Communist threat to peace was the Berlin blockade. That too could have led to war. But again it was settled because free men would not back down in an emergency
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