Compare And Contrast Truman And Macarthur

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The Korean War was not only a battle between the communist and nationalist forces, but was also a battle between President Harry S. Truman and General Douglas MacArthur. The two individuals were very prominent figures in the Korean War, however both individuals were viewed differently in the eyes of the public. Truman was consistently failing as a result of his independent and pessimistic-like behaviour, while MacArthur was already successful due to his command in World War II. Despite the differences, the two individuals had more in common regarding their personality as they were both exiled from their position in power and they both had mutually assured public destruction and this was a result of the misconceptions of minor events during …show more content…

As a result, popular pressures provided the influence of expanding the war into China and to use atomic weapons, therefore MacArthur’s strategy against China became very clear and that was to: invade, blockade and bomb. This caused a disruption simply because taking “Korean action had become a war with Communist China” and the focus was not on Korea anymore and containing the spread of Communism. This event proves that “policy is made through politics” since the dire need to attack China was immensely present, it contradicted the peacekeeping policy regarding the Korean War and could have caused a WWIII. Ultimately, MacArthur had to be relieved of his command because not only did he have the need to attack China in order to prevent communist action and preserve Formosa, but his own purpose which was “to serve for the US” was persistently hindered due to the excess power he carried. This made it difficult for him to attack issues at an appropriate time rather than trying to concentrate on everything simultaneously. Therefore, the wrong focus on China and Formosa went against the nation’s foreign policy, thus resulting in the dismissal of Douglas MacArthur’s command in the

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