by H. W. Brands
What was intended, at its origin in the 1860s, to be the definitive account of American foreign relations is Foreign Relations of the United States, compiled and edited by the Department of State. By the 1950s, U.S. foreign policy had become too extensive and complicated for the series to be considered definitive, but the volumes of the series that cover the Korean War contain many pertinent memoranda, reports, cables and letters. The Department of Defense produces nothing like the Foreign Relations series, but for the present account two works have been very helpful: The History of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and United States Army in the Korean War.
Transcripts of the Senate hearings on the MacArthur dismissal were published almost in their entirety within hours of the testimony. The crucial portions that were withheld then—the portions that silently torpedoed MacArthur’s political ambitions—were released only a quarter century later. They are in the National Archives.
Most of the principal actors in the Truman-MacArthur drama wrote memoirs; these give voice to their authors’ strong opinions. Truman’s memoir tends to be dry; MacArthur’s melodramatic. Dean Acheson is admiring toward Truman and condescending toward many others; Courtney Whitney is fawning toward MacArthur and conspiratorial toward the world at large. Omar Bradley and Matthew Ridgway take pride in their professionalism as soldiers.
Of the biographies of Truman, David McCullough’s stands out. Alonzo Hamby’s is excellent too. Of the lives of MacArthur, D. Clayton James’s is the most thorough and William Manchester’s the most entertaining.
Accounts of the Korean War are numerous. Marguerite Higgins was the best of the contemporary correspondents; her reporting won her a Pulitzer Prize. Many other journalists covered aspects of the war; their reporting, like Higgins’s, often appeared first in the press and subsequently in book form. Histories of the war range from the popular to the academic. David Rees, Korea: The Limited War (1964), is an early retrospective. William Stueck, The Korean War (1995), places the conflict in international context. David Halberstam, The Coldest Winter (2007), is history as journalism. Bruce Cumings, The Korean War (2010), distills a career of close study. Other histories examine the different facets and phases of the war.
NOTES
PROLOGUE
“Is it World War III?”: New York Times, Dec. 3, 1950.
“on the basis”: New York Times, Dec. 1, 1950.
“We would veritably be playing”: Los Angeles Times, Dec. 1, 1950.
“We will take whatever steps”: Truman news conference, Nov. 30, 1950, Public Papers of the Presidents.
CHAPTER 1
“Of all the amazing deeds”: D. Clayton James, The Years of MacArthur (1970–85), 2:785.
“Years of overseas duty”: Douglas MacArthur, Reminiscences (1964), 270.
“We circled the field”: Courtney Whitney, MacArthur (1956), 270.
“Bob, this is the payoff”: James, MacArthur, 2:785.
“The turning away of faces”: Ibid., 786.
“Our first wave”: Ibid., 785.
Toonerville Trolley: Whitney, MacArthur, 215.
“He is a man of light”: William Manchester, American Caesar (1978), 457.
“Look at Mac”: Ibid., 450–52.
“I was on my own”: MacArthur, Reminiscences, 272.
“We are gathered here”: New York Times, Sept. 2, 1945.
“For me, who expected”: Manchester, American Caesar, 452.
“His white hands”: William M. Leary, ed., MacArthur and the American Century (2001), 244–46.
“I shall wait”: MacArthur, Reminiscences, 287.
“I offered him an American cigarette”: Ibid., 288.
“Destroy the military power”: Ibid., 282–83.
“I don’t think”: Manchester, American Caesar, 507.
“It is undoubtedly”: Ibid., 499.
“I regret to say”: MacArthur, Reminiscences, 305.
“I am the humble Japanese carpenter”: Manchester, American Caesar, 475–76, 518–20.
CHAPTER 2
“Dear Margie”: Truman to Margaret Truman, March 3, 1948, in Letters from Father, ed. Margaret Truman (1981), 103–8.
“Boys, if you ever pray”: Harry S. Truman, Memoirs (1965), 1:31.
“General, there is nothing”: David McCullough, Truman (1992), 430.
“Great White Jail”: Truman diary, Aug. 3, 1948, in Off the Record: The Private Papers of Harry S. Truman, ed. Robert H. Ferrell (1980), 146.
“The main difficulty”: Truman to Ernest W. Roberts, Aug. 18, 1948, in ibid., 146–47.
“double-crossers all”: McCullough, Truman, 634–36.
“Senator Barkley and I”: Truman acceptance speech, July 15, 1948, Public Papers.
“We’ll stay in Berlin”: Truman diary, July 19, 1948, in Ferrell, Off the Record, 145.
“We had to face the possibility”: Truman, Memoirs, 2:149.
“Absolutely impossible”: Richard Reeves, Daring Young Men: The Heroism and Triumph of the Berlin Airlift, June 1948–May 1949 (2010), 34.
“I have a terrible feeling”: Truman diary, Sept. 13, 1948, in Ferrell, Off the Record, 148–49.
“It will be the greatest campaign”: Truman to Mary Jane Truman, Oct. 5, 1948, in ibid., 149–50.
“I don’t have to give ’em hell”: Truman remarks, Oct. 22, 1952, Public Papers.
“It wasn’t, in my opinion”: McCulloch, Truman, 717–18.
“The Soviets had declared”: Willy Brandt, My Road to Berlin (1960), 197.
CHAPTER 3
“If this system”: New York Times, April 14, 1944.
“I request that no action”: New York Times, April 30, 1944.
“The humiliation”: James, MacArthur, 2:527.
“One officer was conspicuously absent”: H. W. Brands, Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (2008), 773–74.
Gallup poll: James, MacArthur, 3:197–98.
“The need is not” and “We must DRAFT”: Manchester, American Caesar, 521.
“Your career”: James, MacArthur, 3:201.
“No man could fail”: Manchester, American Caesar, 521–22.
“MacArthur sentiment”: Ibid., 522.
CHAPTER 4
“I believe the American people”: Truman statement, Sept. 23, 1949, Public Papers.
“It is part of my responsibility”: Truman statement, Jan. 31, 1950, Public Papers.
“The atom’s power”: Truman, Memoirs, 2:356.
“M’Carthy Charges Reds Hold U.S. Jobs”: Wheeling Intelligencer, Feb. 10, 1950.
“We know of no Communist members”: Washington Post, Feb. 12, 1950.
“In a Lincoln Day speech”: McCarthy to Truman, Feb. 11, 1950, Truman Papers, Harry S. Truman Library.
“This is the first time”: Undated draft of Truman to McCarthy, Truman Papers.
CHAPTER 5
“There is not the slightest doubt”: New York Times, Jan. 12, 1950.
“Secretary Johnson also strongly pointed”: New York Times, Jan. 14 and 15, 1950.
“General Bradley said”: New York Times, Jan. 27, 1950.
“The decision to withdraw”: MacArthur, Reminiscences, 320–22.
“After the war”: New York Times, Jan. 13, 1950; Washington Post, Jan. 13, 1950; “Secretary Acheson and the Defense of Korea,” undated memo, George Elsey Papers, Truman Library.
“The Ambassador expressed”: Memo of conversation, Jan. 28, 1950, Dean Acheson Papers, Truman Library.
CHAPTER 6
“President Truman is a rather simple”: Oliver Franks oral history, Truman Library.
“You all start”: Dean Acheson oral history, Truman Library.
“I look at that fellow”: Eric Goldman, The Crucial Decade (1956), 124.
“I had a long meeting”: Dean Acheson, Present at the Creation (1969), 104.
“I do not intend to turn my back”: New York Times, Jan. 26, 1950.
“turn his back”: Washington Post, Jan. 26, 1950.
“screen out a Dr. Fuchs”: New York Times, Feb. 14, 1950.
“worth a tinker’s damn”: New York Times, Feb. 23, 1950.
CHAPTER 7
“better than a Rembrandt”: Manchester, American Caesar, 515–17.
“No one seems to know”: MacArthur, Reminiscences, 8–9.
“Handsome as a prince”: Manchester, American Caesar, 50–51.
“I met all the great Japanese commanders”: Ibid., 30.
“Here lived almost half”: Ibid., 32.
“My whole world changed”: Ibid., 36.
“I had never before met”: James, MacArthur, 1:254.
“He has no superior”: MacArthur, Reminiscences, 70n.
“Marriage of Mars”: Manchester, American Caesar, 130.
“It’s all damn poppycock”: Ibid.
“incompetency, criminal negligence”: Alfred F. Hurley, Billy Mitchell (1975), 101.
“one of the most distasteful orders”: MacArthur, Reminiscences, 85–86.
CHAPTER 8
“It’s a very lonely thing”: McCullough, Truman, 45.
“If I succeeded”: Ibid., 49.
“Politics is the sure ruination”: Truman to Bess Wallace, date illegible, in Dear Bess: The Letters from Harry to Bess Truman, 1910–1959, ed. Robert H. Ferrell (1998), 132.
“Have only seen one”: Truman to Bess Wallace, April 17, 1918, in ibid., 259.
“I could just see my hide”: The Autobiography of Harry S. Truman, ed. Robert H. Ferrell (1980), 46.
“Never on the front”: McCullough, Truman, 117–18.
“It isn’t as bad”: Truman to Bess Wallace, Oct. 8, 1918, in Ferrell, Dear Bess, 274.
“It made me feel”: McCullough, Truman, 134.
“The Boss wanted me”: Ibid., 184–85.
“Work hard”: Ibid., 213.
“I was a New Dealer”: Truman, Memoirs, 1:171.
“I am hoping”: Truman to Bess Truman, June 28, 1935, in Ferrell, Dear Bess, 365.
“Mr. President”: Truman, Memoirs, 2:377–78; McCullough, Truman, 773–75.
CHAPTER 9
“None of us got much sleep”: Margaret Truman, Harry S. Truman (1973), 455.
“It would appear”: Muccio to State Department, June 25, 1950, in Foreign Relations of the United States (1950), vol. 7, Korea, 125–26.
“Don’t make it alarmist”: New York Times, June 26, 1950.
“During the afternoon”: Acheson, Present at the Creation, 405.
Acheson now made this last case: Memo of conversation, June 25, 1950, Acheson Papers.
“The three of us”: Omar N. Bradley and Clay Blair, A General’s Life (1983), 429, 444, 523, 534.
“We must draw the line somewhere”: Memo of conversation, June 25, 1950, Acheson Papers.
“unprovoked aggression”: Truman statement, June 26, 1950, Public Papers.
“I stayed behind”: Elsey memo for the record, June 26, 1950, Elsey Papers.
CHAPTER 10
“in pretty good shape”: Memo of telephone conversation, June 26, 1950, Acheson Papers.
In another conversation: Memo of telephone conversation, June 26, 1950, Acheson Papers.
“The President said”: Memo of conversation, June 26, 1950, Acheson Papers.
“offer the fullest possible support”: Memo of conversation, June 26, 1950, Acheson Papers.
“In these circumstances”: Truman statement, June 27, 1950, Public Papers.
“This act”: Memo of conversation, n.d. (June 27, 1950), Elsey Papers; memo of conversation, June 27, 1950, Acheson Papers.
Stalin’s approval: William Stueck, The Korean War: An International History (1995), 31–41.
“vitally essential”: Memo of conversation, n.d. (June 27, 1950), Elsey Papers; memo of conversation, June 27, 1950, Acheson Papers.
CHAPTER 11
“The strategic interests”: MacArthur memo, June 14, 1950, in Foreign Relations of the United States (1950), vol. 7, Korea, 161–64.
“Not more than one in ten”: Ibid., 94.
“incipient revolution”: James, MacArthur, 1:399.
“He said he was too busy”: Dwight D. Eisenhower, At Ease (1967), 217.
“Had he waited”: Manchester, American Caesar, 152.
“Well, Felix”: Brands, Traitor to His Class, 259.
“Douglas MacArthur”: Ibid., 259–61.
“General, you have been”: Stephen Ambrose, Eisenhower (1983), 1:107.
“The time is ripe”: H. W. Brands, Bound to Empire: The United States and the Philippines (1992), 191–92.
“disastrous debacle”: Ibid., 193–94.
“losing his nerve”: Ambrose, Eisenhower, 1:139.
“American forces will continue”: Brands, Bound to Empire, 194–95.
“These people are depending on me”: Ibid., 196–97.
“I came through”: James, MacArthur, 2:109.
“It is a strange thing”: Ibid., 3:426.
“The moment I reach Tokyo”: Marguerite Higgins, War in Korea (1951), 33–34.
“The Korean army and coastal forces”: MacArthur to Joint Chiefs of Staff, June 30, 1950, Truman Papers.
CHAPTER 12
“Mr. President”: Truman news conference, June 29, 1950, Public Papers.
“Even then”: MacArthur, Reminiscences, 330.
“I do not want”: Notes of meeting, June 29, 1950, Elsey Papers; Kirk to Acheson, June 29, 1950, Elsey Papers.
CHAPTER 13
“Your authorization”: Memo of Teletype conference, June 30, 1950, in Foreign Relations of the United States (1950), vol. 7, Korea, 251.
“Time was all-important”: Truman, Memoirs, 2:390.
“The net result”: Acheson, Present at the Creation, 412.
“The President announced”: Washington Post, July 1, 1950.
“the boss”: Memo of meeting, June 30, 1950, Elsey Papers.
“Move the 24th Division”: MacArthur to Walker, June 30, 1950, Elsey Papers.
“I don’t understand this order”: Truman note, n.d., Elsey Papers.
“I was already up and shaved”: Truman memo, June 30, 1950, Elsey Papers.
CHAPTER 14
“The Red invasion”: Higgins, War in Korea, 15–49.
CHAPTER 15
“At long last”: New York Times, July 1, 1950.
“We are now actually engaged”: New York Times, June 29, 1950.
“When you are in”: New York Times, July 1, 1950.
“whitewash”: New York Times, June 29, 1950.
“There is in Washington”: New York Times, June 28, 1950.
“As the American people”: New York Times, June 29, 1950.
“When orders to attack”: Higgins, War in Korea, 61–70, 82–89.
“I recall so vividly”: MacArthur to Truman, July 11, 1950, Douglas MacArthur Papers, MacArthur Memorial Library and Archives.
“I deeply appreciate”: Truman to MacArthur, July 11, 1950, Truman Papers.
“This chance he has now lost”: MacArthur to Truman, July 19, 1950, Truman Papers.
“The issue of battle”: Truman radio address, July 19, 1950, Public Papers.
“To meet the situation”: Truman message, July 19, 1950, Public Papers.
“It is a great state paper”: MacArthur to Truman, July 19, 1950, Truman Papers.
CHAPTER 16
“General Douglas MacArthur”: New York Times, July 9, 1950.
“An agreement was reached”: New York Times, Aug. 2, 1950.
“Harriman and I”: MacArthur, Reminiscences, 341.
“General MacArthur met me”: Harriman report, in Truman, Memoirs, 2:397–402.
“If he has horns”: Sebald diary, July 24, 1950, William J. Sebald Papers, U.S. Naval Academy.
CHAPTER 17
“Walker, you can make”: Geoffrey Perret, Old Soldiers Never Die: The Life of Douglas MacArthur (1996), 544–45.
“General MacArthur was over here”: Roy E. Appleman, South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (
1961), 207–8.
“We hope you can talk”: Higgins, War in Korea, 101, 107, 117, 120–21, 130.
CHAPTER 18
“General burst”: Sebald diary, July 26 and Sept. 4, 1950, Sebald Papers.
“This visit”: New York Times, Aug. 10, 1950.
“General MacArthur says”: Truman news conference, Aug. 10, 1950, Public Papers.
“Look at him now”: New York Times, Aug. 20, 1950.
“From senior commanders”: MacArthur to Clyde A. Lewis, Aug. 20, 1950, MacArthur Papers.
CHAPTER 19
“When we filed”: Acheson, Present at the Creation, 423.
“In obvious consternation”: Memo for file, Aug. 26, 1950, Elsey Papers; memo for the record, Aug. 26, 1950, Acheson Papers.
“The President of the United States”: Johnson to MacArthur, Aug. 26, 1950, Truman Papers.
CHAPTER 20
“My message”: MacArthur to Johnson, Aug. 27, 1950, Truman Papers.
“complete confidence”: New York Times, Aug. 29, 1950.
“That’s the day”: Merle Miller, Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman (1974), 291–92.