Compare And Contrast Truman And Macarthur

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

the Korean War, thus causing a disruption in the flow of events. Therefore, the events of the Korean War heavily contributed to the underlying tension between Harry Truman and General Douglas MacArthur by resulting in the dismissal of Douglas MacArthur’s command in the war. This is a result of the release of the press statements, the withdrawal of troops, and the wrong focus being on China and Formosa.
Foremost, Truman and Washington held specific orders and that was to consult with them prior to the release of any public statements regarding the war. Meanwhile, the State and Defence department approved the idea of a peace initiative and concluded that it would be best to appeal directly to the Chinese. Despite the presidential request, MacArthur’s egotistical behaviour and his disbelief that the war would be less than a victory caused him to make an unauthorized statement criticizing the stagnation of the Eighth Army’s advance at the 38th parallel. On March 24, he proceeded to make another statement which would be later reprimanded by Washington and he taunted and threatened the Chinese implying that the war could expand to China and subsequently, three more statements would be obtained by the press on April 5, six days before MacArthur’s dismissal. As a result, this became the opposite of the US’ peace initiative and there was a potential buildup of Chinese and Communist air forces waiting to attack, thus not benefiting the UN ground forces and causing a possible, but unwanted World War. MacArthur “defied policy” and although he envisioned a possibility where China would surrender, his wish was not granted as a result of his continuous defiance behind the President’s back and his lack of ability to be obedient towards the peace initiative, Truman had no choice but to relieve MacArthur from his command. Therefore, the release of the press statements without getting approval from Truman contributed to the underlying tension between Harry Truman and General Douglas MacArthur by resulting in the dismissal of Douglas MacArthur’s command in the war.
Moreover, Truman and Douglas consistently fought over Formosa, which is now addressed as Taiwan, because MacArthur believed that the US had shown too much of a concern for European Affairs and that the US had the obligation to preserve Formosa and its leader, Chiang Kai-Shek, against the possible attack by Communist China.

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

war.
Additionally, the first issue that Truman had to face post-WWII were troop levels and he tried to slow the immediate post-war rush in order to downsize the army. However, MacArthur announced that only 200 000 troops were needed since occupation in Japan was going so well and individuals often thought that this was done on purpose. As a result, MacArthur got ahead of his plans and contradicted his own allies in Washington. As the war prolonged, MacArthur said he had more troops than needed and refused to take any troop suggestions from anyone else. Once the withdrawal of troops from the Peninsula took place, Stalin told North Korea to attack and a great deal of the criticism of the war resulted due to the limited war which the US failed to achieve. It was time to relieve MacArthur when he claimed he didn’t need troops and this goes to prove the very fact that people always had to play by his rules and he always had the need to be right. This often showed individuals that things can go wrong with democratic process and there would always be limits to the president. This decision made it impractical to clear North Korea due to MacArthur’s will to make his own decisions without observing future concerns and criticisms of the war, thus resulting as another reason to why and how MacArthur is abusing his position of authority. Therefore, the withdrawal of the troops contributed to the underlying tension between Harry Truman and General Douglas MacArthur by resulting in the dismissal of Douglas MacArthur’s command in the war.
In conclusion, the events of the Korean War heavily contributed to the underlying tension between Harry Truman and General Douglas MacArthur by resulting in the dismissal of Douglas MacArthur’s command in the war. This became the result of the release of the press statements which was not approved or coordinated through Truman or Washington, the focus being on the protection of Formosa and the fight against the Chinese Communists instead of keeping the issues in Korea and the withdrawal of the troops at the wrong time resulting in a North Korean invasion. The reasoning behind these issues often lie upon speculations regarding their inherent characteristic and how these individuals had differences regarding how to approach and conclude the war, but these reasonings are likely to fluctuate as it passes on from different historians who each carry different interpretations. Despite that, one thing that was a fact and strikingly present was the lack of communication and effort to keep personal issues aside and have the nation’s interest first. In terms of potential wars in the future, differences have to be put aside when there are more important matters lying at stake.