Caught by surprise by the Korean War
Also in Tokyo was informed that a new war had begun, this time in Korea. He himself tells how he knew this new conflict: It was early when, on the morning of June 25, 1950, the phone rang at the Embassy. I recognized the voice of an aide who told me: "General, a considerable number of North Koreans crossed the 38th parallel.».
The UN Security Council appointed MacArthur supreme commander of UN forces in Korea. This war, the last in which he participated, one would leave bitter memories.
Not the America of 1950 was the same America of yore or as little, the White House had a guest Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The Cold War, with all its attendant fears, reservations and complicities, conditioned all political and military acts, anyone wanting to call themselves the burden of a decision binding. MacArthur recalled, then, a phrase he had heard his father: My son, the decisions of war generate fear and defeatism.
The general did not understand the strategy outlined by Washington did not want to win but, rather, a hero of the Second World War did not create awkward situations, especially with Chinese and Russians on the other side of the barricade.
Wars, as MacArthur discovered, were no longer made to be won but they are not lost. A logic that went against everything he had learned and had executed before. Not understood, also, the fugitive Washington their order or, in extreme cases, formal and turned down, for example, to force Taiwan to participate in the conflict.
Bitterness and dismissal
When he announced the intention to bomb the Chinese troops on the Yalu, Washington began to regard him as a threat. I wanted to then resign, being prevented from doing so by some of his friends. One day, one of the pilots asked: My General, after which side is the United States and the United Nations.
The April 11, 1951, President Truman, who harbored no great sympathy for the general, announced the dismissal of MacArthur. Chance to dismiss God, that day said to his daughter Margaret Truman.
In 1952, some of his Republican friends have proposed - as he had done in 1948 - the MacArthur who ran for president. Once again made it clear that he had no political ambitions.Truman, who questioned about a possible candidacy for the White House, MacArthur heard the following answer: If, in his way, stumbling in general is certainly not in me but Eisenhower.
MacArthur, who returned to his home in New York, died on April 5, 1964. He was 84 years and fought in three wars that marked the twentieth century.
The english version of this article will be available soon. In the meanwhile, the text above was the result of a Google translation from portuguese version to english.