America's Reluctant Entry into World War II

The neutral United States could no longer resist neutrality in the deadly war that had broke out two years before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Up until then, former President Franklin D. Roosevelt had done everything he could to prevent the participation of his country in what is now known as World War II. When the United States declared war on Japan, Germany declared war on the United States, which transformed the war into a global conflict. At a conference code-named “Arcadia” with Churchill, Roosevelt had agreed to make the war with German the major priority and the Pacific theater second. By the time Roosevelt and General George C. Marshall, the army chief of staff, had decided to create a unified command structure

in the Pacific, Japan had already conquered much of the islands in the Pacific as well as Southeast Asia. The long battle between America and Japan in the Pacific War was one of the bloodiest that has been fought, but the American military had forced Japan to surrender on August 14, 1945 but was made official on September 2, 1945. The leaders and military generals played a huge role in the success for the United States during World War II, along with the relationships among the these important figures. George Marshall was one of the most important leaders, and the top American generals were under his command during the period of World War II.
Douglas MacArthur was one of the greatest American generals of World War II, as he was responsible for the victory in the battle for control of the Pacific with Japan. Following the victorious battle, he was then tasked to help oversee the recovery of Japan after their surrender to the Allies. Many would say MacArthur exhibited qualities of courage, military character, leadership and administrative skill, all of which assisted in the success with his achievements throughout his career in the United States’ military. Even leaders from around the world had used words and phrases such as brilliant, exceptional, greatest, last of the great figures, an inspiration, gallant, heroic, and so on to describe MacArthur and his leadership. Douglas MacArthur was the son of Arthur MacArthur, Jr., one of the most outstanding and dedicated officers that served the United States starting from the Civil War to up until the Spanish-American War. MacArthur was born into a military background, and had been introduced to the military scene at a very young age and as MacArthur grew up, his father noticed that MacArthur had the potential to be a fine soldier. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he was the top of his class for three out of the four years he spent there and first in his corps during his final year. Upon graduation from West Point, MacArthur traveled to the Far East with his family to follow his father, graduated from the Engineer School of Application in 1908, and was appointed to general staff in 1917. Events that lead up to MacArthur’s rank as a five star general in 1944 include serving as chief of staff to the Rainbow Division in 1917, fighting in World War I in 1918, being posted in Philippines to become Field Marshal in 1936, where he then leads his forces to win a bloody battle in the Pacific.
The relationship between General MacArthur and General Marshall was strained; they were not fond of each other, mainly because no one could control MacArthur, as he did whatever he pleased.

It is clear that the two generals did not care for each other before World War II even started, as they “rubbed each other the wrong way” when they first met while stationed at Fort Leavenworth together from 1908-1911. When Marshall became MacArthur’s superior, MacArthur would say, “My worst enemy has always been behind me.” The two had their quarrels from the time they met up until the end of World War I, which had been evident for many spectators to witness. However, both MacArthur and Marshall were able to put their hostility towards each other aside when they had to focus on the task at hand in order to help the American military progress. There were times in which General Marshall would encourage and support the decisions MacArthur made, and there were times in which Marshall would not support the actions of MacArthur during the course of World War II. The support for MacArthur endured during the first half of America’s participation in World War II, whereas Marshall’s support and encouragement had become minimal towards the end when MacArthur’s “egotistic” attitude had taken the best of

him.
Encouragement and support from Marshall was apparent throughout the relationship between Marshall and MacArthur. Some would try to say that Marshall had tried to guide MacArthur through decisions and actions made in the Pacific, but MacArthur was not the type of person to be “guided,” he made decisions based on what he thought. Despite this flaw, Marshall had supported MacArthur with his leadership, as he believed MacArthur was the only general who knew what it took to fight the Japanese and had significant knowledge of the Far East. It was Marshall who had requested that MacArthur lead the “Army Forces in the Far East” as overall commander to former President F. Roosevelt, even though MacArthur had already retired from the military. MacArthur had accepted the request, and was designated as commander of “United States Army Forces in the Far East” (USAFE).” This was an extremely important call by Marshall, as the outcome of the Pacific War could have been disastrous if the wrong person were to lead the USAFE.
When the Japanese had decided to attack Pearl Harbor and cease multiple islands in the Pacific, Marshall knew he had to get MacArthur to safety before he would lose the most valuable asset in the Pacific War. However, MacArthur was not so eager to leave his post in the Philippines yet. He wanted to fight with his men, and this was something Marshall did not like, but he knew there was nothing he could say to convince MacArthur from fleeing the battle in the Philippines. Marshall had decided to aid MacArthur in this battle by doing whatever he could to help MacArthur and claimed he would “make every effort at whatever risk to keep MacArthur’s line open.” Conversely, the aid was not forthcoming at the time because of the Japanese blockade of the Philippines. This cutback on materials and such was a main reason as to why MacArthur and his party had to retreat from the Philippines on March 11, 1942. The whole situation had infuriated MacArthur, and was probably the start of his obsession that Marshall was trying to sabotage him.
Leading up to the retreat from the Philippines, it was clear to MacArthur that the battle between the Allies and Japan in the Pacific was not the first priority of former President F. Roosevelt, and this infuriated MacArthur. General Marshall was there to support MacArthur though, and wrote this to MacArthur when deliveries were postponed to MacArthur:
“You should be aware, that the pressures to meet the growing dangers of the situation in the Aleutians, to build up again the depleted air force in Hawaii, to meet the debacle in the Middle East, not to mention Russia, China, the losses in ocean tonnage, and the urgent necessity of creating new air squadrons sufficiently trained and equipped to go overseas, make our problem exceedingly difficult and complex.”

This was Marshall’s way of trying to explain the priorities of the war along with the complex situation in which sending supplies to the Philippines was extremely difficult due to a decrease in planes and ships. Another factor to why Roosevelt wanted to stop sending supplies was because the many attempts to supply MacArthur’s forces largely failed due to the Japanese convoys patrolling the Pacific.
Following this upset to MacArthur, the praise and support of Marshall had become less prominent in MacArthur’s eyes. MacArthur had believed that Marshall was “working against him at all times” and had released statements about his dislike for General Marshall, along with dislike for former President F. Roosevelt and General Eisenhower. MacArthur misunderstood though, because Marshall tried to do everything he could to send supplies to the Pacific, but the problem was a lack of naval resources to break the Japanese blockade. Aircrafts and submarines were the only mode of transportation for supplies, therefore leaving MacArthur stripped of certain supplies that could only be delivered on ships.
After the disastrous retreat MacArthur was forced to do from the Philippines to Australia, MacArthur was harshly criticized around the globe for his “cowardly” actions so Marshall decided hat the best propaganda counterblow would be to award MacArthur with the Medal of Honor. On March 25, 1942, Marshall had sent a recommendation to former President Franklin Roosevelt to award MacArthur with the Medal of Honor; the award was approved and given to MacArthur the next day at a dinner with the Australian prime minister. This support from Marshall had kept the spirits up for MacArthur and his crew because they knew they could not stay in the Philippines or they would have been killed. The Medal of Honor meant nothing to MacArthur, as his first priority was to defeat Japan and regain Bataan of the Philippines. The feeling of defeat and the treatment of the captured Americans and Filipinos in Bataan had “made MacArthur a leader driven by hatred for his enemy.”
General Douglas MacArthur’s drive to defeat the Japanese in the Pacific War had caused him to steer off path a little as he decided to make decisions himself, sometimes without getting the approval of superiors. When MacArthur reported to his superiors, he sometimes did what they requested. For example, when MacArthur wanted to attack the Philippines to get to Tokyo, Marshall had informed MacArthur in June of 1944 that he should attack on Formosa or Japan directly. Marshall wrote to MacArthur, “We must be careful, not to allow our personal feelings and Philippine political considerations to override our great objective which is the early conclusion of the war with Japan.” This was Marshall’s way of showing MacArthur that he too felt the need to liberate the Philippines again, not by attacking there but at the heart of the problem: Japan. The sooner Japan was defeated, the sooner Manila would be free. The reason why MacArthur had such an emotional tie to the Philippines was because his father, Arthur MacArthur, Jr., had been military governor of the Philippines and Douglas MacArthur himself had resided in the Philippines for years and even called it home.
MacArthur had led the USAFE through victorious battles, island by island, until the Allies had gained back much of the territory lost during December 1941-January 1942. Marshall and MacArthur had worked together, with Marshall sending the supplies he could and MacArthur creating offensive and defensive tactics for the battles in the Pacific. Although they did not like each other, their work ethics had made them able to achieve the common goal of winning the war. After World War II had ended, the task of restoration and rebuilding of nations was named the Marshall Plan. Secretary of State George Marshall said, “Europe must have substantial additional help or face economic, social, and political deterioration of a very grave character.” MacArthur was tasked with the restoration of Japan, and MacArthur was furious when he learned that Roosevelt and Marshall had made Germany the first priority in rebuilding, and could not meet the aid and reinforcements demanded by MacArthur.
Overall, the success of the Pacific Theater War was largely due to the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur and his dedication to the Pacific. The actions and decisions throughout his career in the Pacific were both supported and reprimanded by his superior, Army Chief of Staff George Marshall. The relationship between them was a rocky one, with both of the men expressing dislike towards one another. However, the tension between MacArthur and Marshall did not have a huge impact on the outcome of the war, as the Allies had taken the victory from the Axis countries. Although both MacArthur and Marshall had made mistakes during the battle of World War II, they were able to put their differences aside and work alongside each other when the times presented it