MacArthur was once the god of war in the hearts of Americans in the last century, and he is still active on the battlefield at the age of 70. However, this god of war, who had distinguished himself in battle, suffered a very undignified dismissal in the Korean War, which led to his disgrace.
The young MacArthur was impressive and ambitious
Someone once described him this way, and MacArthur had "four kinds of qi" in him: fame, madness, mania, and domineering.
He achieved impressive and record-breaking results in his lifetime, consistently holding first place at West Point, the cradle of American generals. He is also the youngest headmaster since the history of West Point, the youngest army chief of staff and the only four-star general.
The success of his youth also made MacArthur's ambitions expand rapidly, enjoying the thrill of starting a war and pursuing victory by any means. Holding a corn pipe all the time is also a manifestation of his incomparable self-confidence.
At the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, Truman appointed MacArthur through Congress as supreme commander of the U.S. Far East Army to assist In Korea in the war.
Before the war began, Truman made it clear that macArthur was asked to control the Korean War in a localized area to ensure the security of the United States and international interests after World War II.
But MacArthur ignored it, insisting that "to fight a war, you must achieve the most comprehensive victory" and was not satisfied with limiting the war to Korea.
MacArthur cast the flames of war everywhere in a vain attempt to make the fire burn in China outside of North Korea.
So he led this "United Nations Army" to force the Korean People's Army back from Busan back to the north, approached our country's Yalu River, and even crossed our country's 38th line and continued to push north in the subsequent battle.
This was the beginning of MacArthur's disobedience to Truman, but it didn't end.
It may be that china in 1950, just standing in the forest of the world in its own name, was too reclusive, and in MacArthur's mind, it was just an "old country" that was not worth mentioning and had not yet recovered after World War II.
So when questioned by reporters, he arrogantly and arrogantly replied, "If China sends troops, the US Air Force will let the Yalu River bleed into a river."
What the United States did not expect was that the Korean War in 1950 was an opportunity for them to "teach" communism a lesson, but they ended up losing themselves in the quagmire of defeat.
Obviously, persecution by force will not bring our brave Chinese soldiers to their knees.
Under the leadership of Comrade Peng Dehuai, commander of the Volunteer Army, the volunteer army, which rose to the challenge, made a covert and rapid advance, caught the US army and the South Korean army by surprise, and not only successfully struck the so-called "general offensive to end the Korean War before Christmas" launched by the "United Nations Army."
The great volunteer army also annihilated more than 36,000 US troops, which was a major rout and retreat in the history of the US army, which immediately caused dissatisfaction among all walks of life in the United States, especially political officials.
MacArthur wanted to start a nuclear war, but Truman refused
Even after many defeats, the U.S. army had been seriously injured and insufficiently advantaged, MacArthur was still unwilling to give up, and hoped to continue to use force to win the final victory in the war.
MacArthur proposed to Truman, then President of the United States, to launch a nuclear war, by dropping atomic bombs at China, repeating the mistakes of the Fukushima nuclear tragedy in Japan, and reversing the endgame of the defeated and retreating at that time.
Ironically, Truman approved of MacArthur's suggestion when he first heard it. And in an interview with reporters at the time, he also said, "We have been actively considering the use of atomic bombs." ”
President Truman's words caused panic around the world and caused an uproar among the members of the United Nations.
The power of the atomic bomb is well known, and the harm caused by nuclear war is even more obvious to all, once this step is reached, it will inevitably make the war expand and will be condemned again by the world.
The "allies" of the United States at that time expressed strong dissatisfaction with Truman's statement, believing that this was not the best way to deal with the war issue.
Faced with many doubts from many countries in the world, Truman began to realize that MacArthur's proposal would make his country more mired in the quagmire, and even end up unable to extricate himself.
Therefore, Truman explicitly rejected his proposal to start a nuclear war and asked MacArthur to hold talks with the North Korean side and the Chinese side, but MacArthur only thought it was a "cowardly move" and ignored it.
Faced with the refusal of his immediate superiors to start a nuclear war, MacArthur went so far as to say that the defeat of the war was really due to Truman's military order prohibiting bombing, believing that it was unjustified and ineffective in the war, and that it was "the most unwise decision since the founding of the country."
Subsequently, MacArthur even took it upon himself to continue to drive the reconnaissance plane into China's airspace to monitor the Chinese nationalist forces, trying to seek "loopholes" in China and attack again.
At this time, he did not take Truman in his eyes at all.
Even after Truman's attempts to negotiate with MacArthur were rejected, he had to meet him in person on Wake Island, more than 7,000 kilometers from the U.S. mainland and closer to South Korea.
MacArthur did not take the initiative to greet Truman, and after seeing Truman, he did not salute the president at the time, but only took the initiative to shake Truman's hand.
Such arrogance was described by later recorders as "a meeting of two evenly matched leaders", which seemed calm and calm, but in fact the waves were turbulent.
And this is also a manifestation of MacArthur's apparent disobedience.
MacArthur constantly challenged Truman's authority, causing several quarrels
At the same time, the world order of the 1950s became very different with the Soviet Union's possession of its own atomic bomb.
The two superpowers gradually formed a situation of mutual checks and balances because of the mastery of nuclear technology, and the Soviet Union at that time was not on the same front as the United States, let alone an ally.
The hasty use of nuclear weapons at this time will not only fail to help the war be won, but is also likely to lead to more serious consequences.
And Truman made it clear from the beginning that he "only wanted to fight a limited war" and "picked up the leaks" by resorting to the Korean war.
If the United States took the initiative to launch a nuclear war to anger the Soviet Union, and also made itself the core of the war, it would never be a wise choice to be attacked on all sides.
Truman was still able to soberly think about the interests of his own country and make relatively correct decisions.
What's more, the election of the next president of the United States is also a matter of great concern to Truman, and once he allows MacArthur to use nuclear weapons, even if he finally wins the war, he will lose his heart.
After all, a president who recklessly used nuclear bombs shortly after the end of World War II would not be willing to vote for it.
But MacArthur, who was 70 years old at the time, was still silent on his once-remarkable record.
Not only did he challenge President Truman's authority, but he also made a big fuss about saying that "he will soon be able to fully counterattack China."
Not only did MacArthur disobey Truman's advice and advice, but he also blamed the president for the "temporary" defeat of the U.S. military in front of everyone.
He also used his actions to embody the "two whatevers," all the strategies that Truman drew up, which were openly opposed, and all policies related to the "Korean War" that were not observed.
MacArthur was arrogant and eventually removed from his post
The domineering spirit of solipsism and arbitrariness eventually became an important reason for MacArthur's frequent mistakes.
MacArthur's personal arrogance, impatience in dealing with problems, his old-fashioned war mentality, and various disagreements with Truman in the Korean War made Truman and his cronies very angry.
For this "wild horse that has lost its reins", Truman said that he really can't continue to endure and compromise, and helplessly said that "I have no way."
But MacArthur did not rein in his ambitions, but instead suffered serious disagreements with the U.S. government's national strategy.
He went so far as to preempt the U.S. government by issuing a public statement boasting of the economic and military prowess of the United States and once again advocating the expansion of military operations to China's coastal areas and inland bases.
This arrogance blatantly put the U.S. government in a very awkward position, making Truman jump to his feet in anger, feeling that his authority as president was rubbed on the ground by MacArthur.
Thus, on April 11, 1951, Truman formally removed MacArthur from his post on the grounds of "failing to fully support U.S. and United Nations policies" and was replaced by Ridgway. The beginning of any war should not have been.
In this wrong war, MacArthur's wrong thinking and wrong practices left a "stain" on his famous life and a sigh of regret for the rest of his life.