Douglas MacArthur

At 84 years old, Douglas MacArthur has this physical status:

Douglas MacArthur, a soldier of the Philippine Army from 1880 to 1964, served as the Philippine Army's Field Marshal.

He was Chief of Staff of the United States Army in the 1930s and played a central role in World War II's Pacific theater. He was given the Medal of Honor for his role in the Philippines Campaign, making him and his dad Arthur MacArthur Jr. the first father and son to be honoured with the award.

He was one of just five people to rise to the rank of General of the Army in the United States Army, and the only one to be awarded the rank of field marshal in the Philippine Army. MacArthur, a boy raised in the United States Military Academy in the United States, was vain's vain of the West Texas Military Academy as a First Captain and First Captain at the United States Military Academy in West Point, where he graduated first in the class of 1903.

He undertook a reconnaissance mission during the reign of Veracruz, 1914, for which he had been nominated for the Medal of Honor.

He was promoted from major to colonel and became the chief of staff of the 42nd (Rainbow) Division in 1917.

He rose to the rank of brigadier general in World War I and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross twice and the Silver Star seven times. MacArthur served as Superintendent of the United States Military Academy in West Point, where he introduced a string of reforms from 1919 to 1922.

Early life and education

Douglas MacArthur Jr., a US Army captain, and his wife, Mary Pinkney MacArthur, were born 26 January 1880, at Little Rock Barracks, Arkansas, to Arthur MacArthur Jr., a U.S. Army colonet, and his wife, Mary Pinkney MacArthur (nicknamed "Pinky"). Arthur MacArthur Sr. Arthur Jr., a Scottish-born jurist and politician, would later be awarded the Medal of Honor for his service with the Union Army in the Battle of Missionary Ridge during the American Civil War, and he would be promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. Pinkney's family came from a wealthy Norfolk, Virginia, family. Two of her brothers served for the South in the Civil War and were unable to attend her wedding. MacArthur is also closely related to Matthew Perry, a US Navy Commodore. Arthur and Pinky had three sons, of whom Douglas was the youngest, after Arthur III, who was born on August 1st. 1876 and Malcolm, born on October 17th. In the American Old West, the family was housed on a succession of Army posts. Malcolm died of measles in 1883, and the circumstances were primitive. "I learned to ride and shoot even before I could read or write," MacArthur wrote in his memoir, Reminiscences; indeed, well before I could walk and talk."

MacArthur's time on the frontier came to an end in July 1889, when the family migrated to Washington, D.C., where he attended the Force Public School. In September 1893, his father was posted to San Antonio, Texas. MacArthur spent time at the West Texas Military Academy, where he was given the gold medal for "scholarship and deportment." He was also a member of the school tennis team and played quarterback on the school football team and shortstop on the school's baseball team. He was named vain dictorian, with a final year average of 97.33 out of 100. MacArthur's father and grandfather both unsuccessfully tried to get Douglas a presidential appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, first from President Grover Cleveland and then from President William McKinley. Gertrude Hull, a Milwaukee high school teacher, was given mentoring and private tutoring after these two rejections. He then passed the examination for an appointment by Congressman Theobald Otjen, scoring 93.3 on the exam. "It was a lesson I never forgot," he later wrote. The key to success and triumph is preparation.

MacArthur and his mother, who also migrated there, to a suite at Craney's Hotel, which overlooked the academy's grounds. At this time, harping was prevalent at West Point, and MacArthur and his classmate Ulysses S. Grant III were singled out for extra attention by Southern cadets as sons of generals with mothers who lived in Craney's. Cadet Oscar Booz left West Point after being hazed and then die of tuberculosis, triggering a congressional probe. MacArthur was summoned to appear before a special Congressional commission in 1901, where he denied cadets implicated in hazing but downplayed his own hazing even though other cadets testified against the procedure. However, congressional act "of a harassing, tyrannical, sexual, shameful, insulting, or humiliating nature" was later outlawed, although hazing continued. MacArthur was a corporal in Company B for his second year, his first sergeant in Company A in his third year, and First Captain in his final year. He played left field for the baseball team and academically earned 2424.12 merits out of a possible 2470.00 (96 percent) rank, which was the third-highest score ever recorded. On June 11, 1903, he finished first in his 93-man class. MacArthur was sent as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Corps of Engineers at the time, so it was normal for the top-ranking cadets to be commissioned into the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Later life

MacArthur and his family travelled to Washington, D.C., where they were due to address a joint session of Congress the day after his arrival in San Francisco from Korea on April 18th. It was his and Jean's first trip to the continental United States since 1937, when they were married; Arthur IV, now aged 13, had never been to the United States Congress; MacArthur, who had died in a farewell address to the U.S. Congress on 19 April, explaining his side of his differences with Truman over the conduct of the Korean War. He was interrupted by fifty ovations during his address.

MacArthur ended the address saying:

MacArthur received public adulation, which sparked concerns that he would run for president but he was not a candidate. MacArthur toured Asia in 1951-52, criticizing the Truman administration for "appeasement in Asia" and mismanaging the economy. Initially attracting large audiences, MacArthur's speeches were drawing smaller and smaller audiences, as some said that MacArthur appeared more concerned about settling scores with Truman and praising himself than in giving the nation a positive vision. MacArthur was uneasy running for the Republican nomination, and hoped that a confrontation between Senator Robert A. Taft and General Dwight Eisenhower for the presidential nomination would break out at the 1952 Republican National Convention. MacArthur's dream was to step in and offer himself as a compromise candidate, with Taft possibly selected as a running mate. However, his inability to run for the nomination seriously damaged his esteem as a candidate. MacArthur supported Taft and was the convention's keynote speaker. Taft lost the nomination to Eisenhower, who went on to win the general election in a landslide. Eisenhower, after being voted, spoke with MacArthur, his former commanding officer, about ending the Korean war.

Douglas and Jean MacArthur spent their remaining years in the Waldorf Towers' penthouse, which was a part of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. He was elected chairman of Remington Rand's board. He earned $68,000 (equivalent to $612,000 in 2016), as well as $20,000 pay and allowances as a General of the Army. On January 26, the Waldorf's former deputy chief engineer, Major General Leif J. Sverdrup, held a birthday party. Many of MacArthur's friends were startled by the general's apparent deteriorating health at his 80th birthday. He collapsed and was admitted to St. Luke's Hospital on the next day to treat a severely swollen prostate. He was presented by the Japanese government with the Grand Cordon of the Rising Sun in June 1960, the highest Japanese order given to an individual who is not a head of state. MacArthur wrote a letter describing his citation.

MacArthur began to perform the closing acts of his life after recovering. He returned to the White House for a last reunion with Eisenhower. In 1961, an eighty-one-year MacArthur made a "sentimental journey" to the Philippines, where he was honoured by President Carlos P. Garcia with the Philippine Legion of Honor and welcomed with roaring crowds. MacArthur also accepted a $900,000 (equivalent to $7.25 million in 2016) advance from Henry Luce for the right to his memoirs, and he also wrote the volume Reminiscences, which would eventually be published as Reminiscences. In the months leading up to his death, sections of Life magazine began to appear in serialized form.

In 1961 and 1962, President John F. Kennedy solicited MacArthur's counsel. The first of three meetings took place immediately after the Bay of Pigs invasion. MacArthur was extremely critical of Kennedy's military advice and advised him not to allow a US military build-up in Vietnam, pointing out that domestic problems should take precedence. Later, MacArthur gave President Lyndon B. Johnson similar advice. After Kennedy was advised that the Soviets were planning to transport nuclear arms to Cuba, Kennedy summoned MacArthur for counsel at the White House in August 1962, while MacArthur met with members of Congress in Washington. After a lengthy discussion of how to deal with the Soviets and Chinese, MacArthur advised Kennedy, "the best weapon of war is the blockade." During the Cuban Missile Crisis two months later, Kennedy used the naval blockade option, assuaging MacArthur's advice. Because Kennedy was always advised to increase US involvement in Laos and Vietnam by generals, politicians, and consultants, he'd be convinced.

The Sylvanus Thayer Award for outstanding service to the country was given to West Point in 1962 for outstanding contribution to the nation, although the country had never gone to Eisenhower the year before. "Duty, Honor, Country" was MacArthur's address to the cadets in accepting the award.

MacArthur returned to Washington, D.C., to receive a special award from a joint session of Congress in August 1962. This award was unanimously approved by Congress in a special resolution. This was his first trip to Congress since being postponed in April 1951. He received a engrossed copy of the resolution that commended him for his military service during and after World War II, as well as "for his many years of effort to improve the ties between the Philippines and the US." This award dates back to the American Revolutionary War, and it has never been given to anyone since the Civil War. MacArthur was given the Congressional Gold Medal for his "gallant service to his country" two months later.

President Kennedy asked MacArthur to assist in the mediating of a controversy between the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Amateur Athletic Union over the control of amateur sports in the United States in 1963. The controversy threatened to derail the participation of the United States in the 1964 Summer Olympics. His presence helped to broker a settlement, and participation in the games went as expected.

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