Douglas MacArthur

Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army. He served with distinction in World War I; as chief of staff of the United States Army from 1930 to 1935; as Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area, from 1942 to 1945 during WWII; as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers overseeing the occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1951; and as head of the United Nations Command in the Korean War from 1950 to 1951. MacArthur was nominated for the Medal of Honor three times, and was awarded it for his WWII service in the Philippines. He is one of only five men to rise to the rank of General of the Army, and the only one to hold the rank of Field Marshal in the Philippine Army.

MacArthur, the son of Medal of Honor recipient Arthur MacArthur Jr., was raised on Army posts in the Old West. He was valedictorian of the West Texas Military Academy and First Captain at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he graduated first in his class in 1903. During the 1914 U.S. occupation of Veracruz, he conducted a reconnaissance mission for which he was nominated for the Medal of Honor. In 1917, he was promoted from major to colonel and became chief of staff of the 42nd (Rainbow) Division. On the Western Front during World War I, he rose to the rank of brigadier general, was again nominated for a Medal of Honor, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross twice and the Silver Star seven times. From 1919 to 1922, MacArthur served as Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy, where he initiated a series of reforms. His next posting was in the Philippines, where in 1924 he was instrumental in quelling the Philippine Scout Mutiny. In 1925, MacArthur became the Army's youngest major general at the age of 45, and in 1930 was appointed Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army. He was involved in the controversial expulsion of the Bonus Army protesters from Washington, D.C., in 1932, and took charge of the Civilian Conservation Corps. In 1935, MacArthur became the Military Advisor to the Commonwealth of the Philippines. He retired from the Army in 1937, but continued as advisor and was Field Marshal of the Philippine Army from 1936.

MacArthur was recalled to active duty in July 1941 as commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Far East. A large portion of his air forces were destroyed on 8 December 1941 in the Japanese attack on Clark Field, and an invasion of the Philippines followed. MacArthur's forces withdrew to Bataan, where they held out until May 1942. In March 1942, MacArthur left nearby Corregidor Island and escaped to Australia, where he became Supreme Commander of the Southwest Pacific Area in April. He famously promised that he would return to the Philippines, and for his defense of the islands was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1942. From Australia, he commanded the New Guinea campaign, and in October 1944 returned to the Philippines and led the campaign which liberated the islands. In December 1944, he was promoted to General of the Army.

At the end of the war, MacArthur accepted the surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945. As the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers and effective ruler of Japan, he oversaw the war crimes tribunals and the demilitarization and democratization of the country under its new constitution, introducing women's rights, labor unions, land reform, and civil liberties. In 1948, MacArthur made a brief bid for the Republican Party's nomination in that year's presidential election. During the Korean War, he led the United Nations Command with initial success, but suffered a series of major defeats after China's entry into the war in October 1950. MacArthur was contentiously removed from his command in Korea by President Harry S. Truman in April 1951. He later became chairman of the board of Remington Rand, and died in Washington, D.C., in 1964. Provided by Wikipedia