MacArthur, Douglas

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Douglas MacArthur

born Jan. 26, 1880, Little Rock, Ark., U.S.

died April 5, 1964, Washington, D.C.

U.S. general.

Son of Gen. Arthur MacArthur (1845–1912), he graduated from West Point, of which he became superintendent (1919–22). He rose through the ranks to become general and army chief of staff (1930–35). In 1932 he commanded the troops that evicted the Bonus Army. In 1937 he took over command of the Philippine military. At the outbreak of World War II he was recalled to active duty; he led the combined Philippine-U.S. forces in the Philippines until it was overrun by the Japanese (1942). From Australia, he commanded U.S. forces in the South Pacific and directed the recapture of strategic islands, returning as promised (“I shall return”) to liberate the Philippines in 1944. Promoted to general of the army, he received Japan's surrender on Sept. 2, 1945. As Allied commander of the postwar occupation of Japan (1945–51), he directed the restoration of the country's economy and the drafting of a democratic constitution. As commander of UN forces in the Korean War in 1950, he stemmed the advance of North Korean troops. His request for authority to bomb China was rejected by Pres. Harry Truman; when MacArthur made the dispute public, Truman relieved him of his command, for insubordination. He returned to the U.S. to a hero's welcome, though many deplored his egotism. He was twice (1948, 1952) seriously considered for the Republican Party nomination for president.

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World War II: UnitedStates in the Pacific Theater

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Bonus Army - World War I veterans who gathered in Washington, D.C., in summer 1932 to demand payment of their promised bonuses.

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Roxas (y Acuna), Manuel - First president (1946-48) of the Republic of the Philippines.

United States Military Academy - Institution for the training of commissioned officers for the U.S. Army.

Occupation (of Japan) - (1945-52) Military occupation of Japan by the Allied Powers after its defeat in World War II.

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MacArthur, Douglas - U.S. general who commanded the Southwest Pacific Theatre in World War II, administered postwar Japan during the Allied occupation that followed, and led United Nations forces during the first nine months of the Korean War.

Mydans, Carl Mayer - American photojournalist (b. May 20, 1907, Boston, Mass.-d. Aug. 16, 2004, Larchmont, N.Y.), was celebrated for his war photography for Life magazine, which he joined in 1936. He first gained notice for his photos of farm families during the Depression. During World War II he and his wife (a Life reporter) were captured by the Japanese and held for almost two years. After their release (1943), he ...

Jayapura - city and capital of Papua propinsi (province), eastern Indonesia, on the northern coast of the island of New Guinea. It is a port on Jos Sudarso (Humboldt) Bay at the foot of Mount Cycloop (7,087 feet [2,160 metres]). During World War II the Japanese established an air base there; Allied forces took the area in 1944, and Hollandia became the headquarters of General Douglas MacArthur. Industries ...

Kades, Charles Louis - U.S. lawyer who, as a lieutenant colonel under Gen. Douglas MacArthur during World War II, oversaw the drafting of Japan's postwar constitution (adopted May 3, 1947), in which the quasi-divine emperor was replaced with a constitutional monarchy and the nation made a formal renunciation of war (b. March 12, 1906--d. June 18, 1996).

Ormoc - chartered city, western Leyte, Philippines. The city lies at the head of Ormoc Bay, an inlet of the Camotes Sea. It serves the only commercial sugarcane district in the eastern Visayas. Rice, copra, and sugar are exported, and sugar, rice, and corn (maize) milling are important. Ormoc has an airport and is the headquarters of Tongonan Hot Spring National Park.

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