Truman wanted to go to West Point, but was rejected because of poor eyesight. He later joined the Missouri National Guard and when the U. While fighting in France, not a single man died under his command. Harry Truman understood that integrity equaled strength. Despite a business failure after the war, Truman did not give up. There, he earned a reputation for hard work and honesty by building new roads and public buildings without any corruption. Senate, and he was elected in He was well respected and liked by his fellow senators as he was a man of honor.
In , President Franklin Delano Roosevelt prepared to run for an unprecedented fourth term, choosing Truman to be his running mate. The duo easily defeated their Republican opponents, but Roosevelt died only 82 days into his term. Truman suddenly found himself thrust into leading the nation through World War II as the 33rd president of the United States.
Truman wanted to run his administration with integrity. Truman needed to be brought up to speed on every facet of World War II. Ultimately, Truman decided to use the atomic bomb against Japan in order to end the war. His goal was to stop the spread of communism while keeping the Cold War from turning into a third world war. It was this strategy that led Truman to become involved in Korea.
Unlike Truman, MacArthur never surrounded himself with anyone who might disagree with him. In the military, people of superior rank require those beneath them to follow their orders. On a battlefield, anyone who does not follow orders might cause others to die.
This inability to hear he was wrong and a strong sense of superiority ultimately led to tension between the president and his leading general.
The Constitution makes the president the commander-in-chief of all military forces of the United States. This means that a civilian leader who is elected by the American people controls the military, not professional generals. Word of his firing spread quickly, and the American public found the news upsetting. The Firing of MacArthur. Would you have fired General MacArthur? MacArthur Lesson Procedures and Goals opens in a new window. April Diary entry of Harry S. Nigel Bruce, May 15, MacArthur Background Information opens in a new window.
MacArthur Documents to Examine opens in a new window. MacArthur Graphic Organizer opens in a new window. Unwilling to risk all-out war with China, which he believed would draw in the Soviet Union as well, Truman had to take the brunt of public and political criticism for keeping the war in Korea limited. As the President saw it, total war in Korea could mean war with the Soviet Union. However reluctant Truman was to fire him, MacArthur finally went too far. I was ready to kick him into the North China Sea at that time.
I was never so put out in my life. Matthew B. Ridgway, on April 11, At first, the firing of MacArthur looked like a political disaster for Truman. Truman received angry telegrams and letters criticizing the firing.
Across the country, the president was burned in effigy, and state legislatures passed resolutions condemning his action. In Korea, a bloody stalemate set in, and truce talks that finally began in July were not resolved until an armistice was signed on July 27, It left the Korean peninsula divided close to the 38th parallel. But while little changed in terms of territory, the human consequences of the war were substantial; more than thirty-six thousand Americans lost their lives, and some historians estimate that over four million people died as a result of the conflict.
Manchester, William. American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur: New York: Dell Publishing Co. Schaller, Michael. New York: Oxford University Press, Weintraub, Stanley.
New York: Free Press, You may reproduce the documents shown here in any quantity. Remind students that Article II, section 2, of the U. Discuss the meaning of this role with students. Assign students to read, or share with them the background information in, this article. Then distribute copies of the document contained in the article.
Tell them the date of the document April 11, , and ask them the following questions:. Ask two or three volunteers to read their editorials aloud and invite students to respond to their arguments.
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