Douglas Macarthur Essay

Have you ever heard about Douglas Macarthur? Douglas Macarthur commanded the Southwest Pacific as an American General. Macarthur was raised on the western frontier outpost where his father an Army officer, Arthur Macarthur, was stationed. Here is where he learned the basics he was going to need throughout life. “It was here I learned to ride and shoot ever before I could read or write-indeed, almost before I could walk or talk” (Douglas Macarthur).
Douglas Macarthur was commander of all United States army forces. While he was preparing the military for the Philippines, Macarthur found out how cunning and powerful the Japanese would be in the pacific. Macarthur did not have the resource to build a force capable of holding off the Japanese. The breaking point of Macarthur’s army in the Philippines was the attack on Pearl Harbor. Under cover of night, a U.S. Navy torpedo boat spirited Macarthur and his family from Corregidor to the southern Philippines.
Directing the fighting from an underground tunnel on Corregidor, he was given the nickname “Dugout Doug” (militaryhistory.about.com). While traveling south, Macarthur broadcast to the Philippines “I shall return” (Douglas Macarthur), which became famous. Later on, Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall awarded Macarthur the Medal of Honor. Once Douglas Macarthur returned home to the United States, he settled in Washington, D.C. He was welcomed back as a hero, but Truman continued to be openly critical of his actions. Macarthur was considered a potential Republican presidential candidate, though none of these exploratory campaigns ever developed further. MacArthur met with Dwight Eisenhower, who had just been elected president, and advised him on how to end the Korean War. His decidedly extreme strategy, which included the use of atomic weapons, was