President Truman's Dismissal of General MacArthur

President Truman's Dismissal of General MacArthur PDF

Author: National War National War College

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2015-04-16

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781511727389

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President Harry Truman's dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur from Korea In 1951 occurred as a result of bureaucratic politics. For forty years, historians have portrayed this decision as a straight-forward conflict between two strong-willed individuals. In reality, the President's decision was a result of a breakdown in communication due to misconceptions, inadequate third party advice, and partisan politics.'The decision to dismiss General MacArthur will be analyzed using Graham T. Allison's Governmental Politics Paradigm. The model views government decisions as products of "compromise, conflict, and confusion of officials with diverse interests and unequal power. Using the bureaucratic politics paradigm. This work will examine the President's decision by presenting players' positions, perceptions, motivations, preferences, the compromises and actions which resulted in General MacArthur's dismissal.First, the background of the controversy. On June 25, 1950, the Korean People's Army of North Korea invaded the Republic of Korea In the first phase of the war, American forces under General Douglas MacArthur, deployed from Japan, to reinforce the small South Korean Army. Initially, the allies were driven back .

President Truman's Dismissal of General MacArthur: A Case Study in Bureaucratic Politics

President Truman's Dismissal of General MacArthur: A Case Study in Bureaucratic Politics PDF

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 23

ISBN-13:

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President Harry Truman's dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur from Korea in 1951 occurred as a result of bureaucratic politics. For 40 years, historians have portrayed this decision as a straight-forward conflict between two strong-willed individuals. In reality, the President's decision was a result of a breakdown in communication due to misconceptions, inadequate third party advice, and partisan politics. In this paper, the decision to dismiss General MacArthur is analyzed using Graham T. Allison's Governmental Politics Paradigm. The model views government decisions as products of "compromise, conflict, and confusion of officials with diverse interests and unequal power." Using the bureaucratic politics paradigm, the paper will examine the President's decision by presenting the players' positions, perceptions, motivations, preferences, compromises, and actions that resulted in General MacArthur's dismissal.

The General vs. the President

The General vs. the President PDF

Author: H. W. Brands

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2017-10-03

Total Pages: 482

ISBN-13: 1101912170

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, bestselling historian, and author of Our First Civil War comes the riveting story of how President Harry Truman and General Douglas MacArthur squared off to decide America's future in the aftermath of World War II. "A highly readable take on the clash of two titanic figures in a period of hair-trigger nuclear tensions.... History offers few antagonists with such dramatic contrasts, and Brands brings these two to life." —Los Angeles Times At the height of the Korean War, President Harry S. Truman committed a gaffe that sent shock waves around the world, when he suggested that General Douglas MacArthur, the willful, fearless, and highly decorated commander of the American and U.N. forces, had his finger on the nuclear trigger. At a time when the Soviets, too, had the bomb, the specter of a catastrophic third World War lurked menacingly close on the horizon. A correction quickly followed, but the damage was done; two visions for America’s path forward were clearly in opposition, and one man would have to make way. The contest of wills between these two titanic characters unfolds against the turbulent backdrop of a faraway war and terrors conjured at home by Joseph McCarthy. From the drama of Stalin’s blockade of West Berlin to the daring landing of MacArthur’s forces at Inchon to the shocking entrance of China into the war, The General and the President vividly evokes the making of a new American era.

The Decision to Dismiss General MacArthur

The Decision to Dismiss General MacArthur PDF

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 1966

Total Pages: 33

ISBN-13:

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In April 1951, President Truman dismissed General Douglas MacArthur from four military assignments of great responsibility, including the Commander in Chief of United Nations forces in Korea. At that time, the decision was received with great emotional reaction among members of the Administration, the Congress, the American public, and U.S. allies. Now that 15 years have passed, it is possible to see with greater clarity that the dismissal was due to a head-on collision between the followers of two quite different national strategies. Today the world is giving its attention to a strategic debate over whether U.S. policy in Southeast Asia will lead us to direct confrontation with Communist China and result in war with that nation. Today's debate is linked to the Great Debate of 1951, which took place immediately following President Truman's dismissal of General MacArthur. Editorialists occasionally quote from the Senate hearings on U.S. strategy which followed that event. Now voices are raised once again on behalf of General MacArthur's strategy, asserting that he was right and that we should have fought China in 1951, when China was relatively weaker and not a member of the atomic club. Frequently MacArthur is misquoted, and his strategy misunderstood. The reasons for the President's drastic action also are misinterpreted and incorrectly stated. The immediate cause for MacArthur's dismissal was his calculated insubordination. To discover the other military, political, international, and psychological causes, it is necessary to go back to 1951 and look at the forces which came to bear on the problem. This is useful in gaining an understanding of the forces that bear on our current problems with Communist China.

General MacArthur and President Truman

General MacArthur and President Truman PDF

Author: Richard H. Rovere

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2022-02-14

Total Pages: 267

ISBN-13: 1000677028

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This book was first published in 1951 as The General and the President after President Harry S. Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur in the midst of the Korean War -a memorably explosive incident in American political history. But its significance extends far beyond a dramatic episode in the nation's past. This literate and ironic work continues to be an invaluable guide to the conflict between civilian and military authority, and it illuminates later and currentcontroversies over the role the United States should play in Asian affairs. This new edition is graced by a remarkable introductory essay by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. The text is reprinted from the 1965 republication under the title The MacArthur Controversy, that is, the book as originally written with a few tenses altered and a few topical allusions deleted. General MacArthur and President Truman will be of special interest to students of American diplomacy, politics, and culture and to all concerned with the relationship between the armed forces and larger society.

The General Vs. the President

The General Vs. the President PDF

Author: World Watch Media

Publisher:

Published: 2016-12-23

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13: 9781541138827

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The General vs. the PresidentGeneral MacArthur vs. President TrumanBook Preview:Truman relieving General Douglas MacArthur caused a bit of an uproar amongst the American public. His motives were to limit the conflict in Korea, resulting in his decision to remove MacArthur. General MacArthur was full of ego and flair, and issues between the two were inevitable. When the Korean war first began in June of 1950, MacArthur had fantastic military strategies and maneuvers up his sleeve. He used these to keep South Korea protected from communist invaders in North Korea. MacArthur urged to enact a policy to defeat North Korean forces entirely. Truman agreed, but did so warily, as he was aware the People's Republic of China may feel threatened and join the fight. During October of 1950, MacArthur assured Truman that the Chinese wouldn't interfere. Directly afterwards, in November and December, Chinese troops burst into the American lines, hundreds of thousands of soldiers preventing American forces from entering North Korea. MacArthur requested the use of bombs against communist China, as well as to utilize Taiwanese forces to fight the People's Republic of China. When Truman denied him these requests, their public disagreement began.

Macarthur's War

Macarthur's War PDF

Author: Bevin Alexander

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 2014-03-04

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 0425261212

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General Douglas MacArthur was highly skilled and world famous as a military commander. Under his leadership after World War II, Japan was rebuilt into a democratic ally. But during the Korean War, in defiance of President Harry S. Truman and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he pushed for an aggressive confrontation with Communist China—a position intended to provoke a wider war, regardless of the consequences. While MacArthur aspired to stamp out Communism across the globe, Truman was much more concerned with containing the Soviet Union. The infamous clash between them was not only an epic turning point in history, but the ultimate struggle between civil and military power in the United States. While other U.S. generals have challenged presidential authority, no other military leader has ever so brazenly attempted to dictate national policy. In MacArthur’s War, Bevin Alexander details MacArthur’s battles, from the alliances he made with Republican leaders to the threatening ultimatum he delivered to China against orders—the action that led directly to his downfall. INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS

Truman, MacArthur, and the Korean War

Truman, MacArthur, and the Korean War PDF

Author: Dennis Wainstock

Publisher: Praeger

Published: 1999-09-30

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13:

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A general history of the critical first year of the Korean War, this study deals primarily with relations between General Douglas MacArthur and President Harry S. Truman from June 1950 to April 1951, a period that defined the war's direction until General Mark Clark, the final U.N. Commander, signed the Armistice two years later. Although the ever-changing military situation is outlined, the main focus is on policymaking and the developing friction between Truman and MacArthur. Wainstock contradicts the common view that MacArthur and Truman were constantly at odds on the basic aims of the war. In the matter of carrying the fight to Communist China, MacArthur and the Joint Chiefs differed only on timing, not on the need for such action. The end of the Cold War has provided historians with a better opportunity to study the forces that shaped the thinking of America's leaders at the time of the Korean War. The sheer quantity of material now available, while daunting, is filled with colorful and outstanding personalities, dramatic action, and momentous actions that have had an impact on world events even to the present day. Wainstock ultimately concludes that Washington placed too much emphasis on anti-Communist ideology, rather than long-term national interest, in the decision first to intervene in the war and later to cross the crucial 38th Parallel. He also emphasizes the important contributions of General Matthew B. Ridgway in stopping the Chinese offensive and in influencing Washington's decision not to carry the war to Communist China.