Macarthur's War: The Flawed Genius Who Challenged The American

by Bevin Alexander

Overview

General Douglas MacArthur was highly skilled and world famous as a military commander. Under his leadership after World War II, Japan was rebuilt into a democratic ally. But during the Korean War, in defiance of President Harry S. Truman and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he pushed for an aggressive confrontation with Communist China—a position intended to provoke a wider war, regardless of the consequences.
 
While MacArthur aspired to stamp out Communism across the globe, Truman was much more concerned with containing the Soviet Union. The infamous clash between them was not only an epic turning point in history, but the ultimate struggle between civil and military power in the United States. While other U.S. generals have challenged presidential authority, no other military leader has ever so brazenly attempted to dictate national policy.
 
In MacArthur’s War, Bevin Alexander details MacArthur’s battles, from the alliances he made with Republican leaders to the threatening ultimatum he delivered to China against orders—the action that led directly to his downfall.
 
INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101622414
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/07/2013
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	946,583
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Bevin Alexander has published numerous works of military history, including the international bestseller How Hitler Could Have Won World War II. With honor degrees from The Citadel and Northwestern University, Alexander was awarded the Commendation Medal for his service as a combat historian in the Korean War, where he also won three battle stars for action at the front. He has appeared often on special programs on the History, Discovery, and Military channels. He has provided testimony before the House Committee on International Relations, advised the Rand Corporation on military strategy, and taken part in a war game at the Army War College. 

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction: Who Will Rule: A General or a President? 1

1 Origins of the Far East Dilemma 17

2 The American Attempt at Stability 47

3 War and the Quarantine of Taiwan 59

4 MacArthur Visits Chiang Kai-shek 80

5 MacArthur Openly Defies Truman 94

6 Inchon 98

7 The Attempt to Conquer North Korea 107

8 Return to Containment 136

9 The Search for a Way Out 146

10 MacArthur Stops a Cease-Fire 164

11 Return of the Hero 177

12 No Vindication in Congress 183

Epilogue: The Triumph of Civilian Control 198

Notes 203

Selected Bibliography 231

Index 235

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“A very interesting account of Douglas MacArthur’s initial brilliant Inchon assault....Fascinating, factual, and well-documented . . . Overall, a fair portrayal of history.”—General Frederick J. Kroesen, former vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army and commander in chief, U.S. Army Europe
 
“A stirring and insightful account of General Douglas MacArthur’s controversial role in the Korean War that culminated . . . in one of the most dramatic incidents in American military history.”—Carlo D’Este, author of Patton: A Genius for War
 
“Bevin Alexander’s MacArthur’s War is a superbly written, blow-by-blow account of the most controversial civil-military clash in American history. His riveting narrative pulls no punches as it reveals how the feisty U.S. president confronted America’s most revered military hero against the backdrop of brutal Korean War combat.”—Colonel Jerry D. Morelock, PhD, U.S. Army (Ret.), and editor in chief of Armchair General
 
“Alexander’s hard-hitting narrative captures in vivid detail the elements of that contest, as well as the chain of significant events that produced it . . . MacArthur’s War is a valuable account of a chapter in the Cold War that we must never forget.”—Harry J. Middleton, founding director of the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library at the University of Texas, and author of LBJ: The White House Years

Editorial Reviews

A very interesting account of Douglas MacArthur’s initial brilliant Inchon assault....Fascinating, factual, and well-documented . . . Overall, a fair portrayal of history.”—General Frederick J. Kroesen, former vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army and commander in chief, U.S. Army Europe
 
“A stirring and insightful account of General Douglas MacArthur’s controversial role in the Korean War that culminated . . . in one of the most dramatic incidents in American military history.”—Carlo D’Este, author of Patton: A Genius for War
 
“Bevin Alexander’s MacArthur’s War is a superbly written, blow-by-blow account of the most controversial civil-military clash in American history. His riveting narrative pulls no punches as it reveals how the feisty U.S. president confronted America’s most revered military hero against the backdrop of brutal Korean War combat.”—Colonel Jerry D. Morelock, PhD, U.S. Army (Ret.), and editor in chief of Armchair General
 
“Alexander’s hard-hitting narrative captures in vivid detail the elements of that contest, as well as the chain of significant events that produced it . . . MacArthur’s War is a valuable account of a chapter in the Cold War that we must never forget.”—Harry J. Middleton, founding director of the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library at the University of Texas, and author of LBJ: The White House Years

From the Publisher