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Originally Posted by Suki
MacArthur was fucking insane. Go ask the Koreans.
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MacArthur's performance during and after WWII in Japan and the Philippines was famously and spectacularly successful, but yes, by the time of the Korean war he seemed to have gone mad, threatening China with nuclear attack against the US governments demands and eventually having to be removed from power by Truman.
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Angered by Truman's desire to maintain a "limited war," MacArthur began issuing important statements to the press, warning them of a crushing defeat. In March of 1951, after a painful U.N. counterattack commanded by Matthew B. Ridgway turned the tide of the war in the U.N.'s favor, Truman alerted MacArthur of his intention to initiate 'cease-fire' talks. Such news ended any hopes the general had retained of leading a full-scale war against China, and MacArthur quickly issued his own ultimatum to Red China. Mocking the Chinese lack of military power and industrial strength, MacArthur's declaration threatened the expansion of the war, and was by his own aide's later admission 'designed to undercut' Truman's negotiating position. Such an act unquestionably qualified as rank insubordination, and was so contrary to MacArthur's long and distinguished military service that General Omar Bradley later speculated that MacArthur's disappointment over his inability to wage war on China had "snapped his brilliant but brittle mind." On April 11, 1951 President Truman relieved General MacArthur of his military command. General Matthew B. Ridgway replaced MacArthur and stabilized the situation near the north 38th parallel.
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