American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964 (1978) - Plot & Excerpts
This book has been sitting on my shelf for years waiting to be re-read; its pages discolored, its cover cracked but its story as fresh in 2009 as it was in 1984.Undoubtedly, the greatest military mind in the history of the United States, Douglas MacArthur can only be understood by the standards of the late 19th Century. He was a chivalric warrior who could not begin to comprehend the war on terror and the other limited wars of today. In his mind, you fought a war to conquer the enemy, completely eliminating their ability to strike back, then you treated them with the understanding and kindness due a gallant foe. His conduct in WWII and his treatment of the Japanese at its conclusion is a model of how to win a war with as few casualties as possible and how to win the respect of your former enemy after you occupy their lands. His conduct during the Korean War was totally consistent with his philosophy and in the end caused his firing by President Truman. He could not understand nor could he remain silent about his conviction of what it would take to defeat and occupy North Korea and eliminate China's ability to strike back. In many ways he was his own worst enemy and never understood the subtleties of politics. He blew his own horn but, as brilliant as he was, he lacked the humility to see himself as others might see him. To those who did not know him, he was either an unblemished hero, an enigma, or a power hungry demagogue. To those who did know him he was a military genius and a great leader.Did he ever make a mistake? Of course he did, many of them, but the balance sheet was heavily weighted on the positive side. His bravery was legendary and drove his staff crazy. It was almost as if he knew he was fore-ordained to die in bed, not on a battlefield. His nickname in WWII of "Dugout Doug" was totally inappropriate and just plain wrong.Manchester does a masterful job of building the story so that the reader can see how the child foretold the man. Many of his actions later in life are revealing of how he was brought up. Manchester's skill as a biographer is to let those conclusions come to the reader as implications and doesn't hit us over the head with them.As we all struggle with our own attitudes towards the "War on Terror", this book provides a clear picture of a man and a time when there were far fewer gray areas and when far more events were seen in black and white then is possible today. It's a long book of 960 pages including footnotes and an extensive bibliography but it is worth reading if only to try and understand the differences between the world MacArthur lived in and the one we are faced with today.
This is, I believe, the best historical biography I have ever read...and I've read some great ones. Part of that may be due to the subject at hand, Douglas MacArthur, one of the more complicated personalities of history out there. A brilliant man, but flawed in several respects, he was such a major figure of American history and, indeed, world history. He was at once, a genius, a great leader of men, a supreme strategist, as well as an incredible egoist capable of monumental mistakes in judgement. I have heard numerous anecdotes throughout my life about this man but had never developed a complete picture of him or his life. William Manchester certainly satisfied that for me. The book itself is delightful to read, packed not only with the facts of MacArthur's life and times, but also making a compelling case for MacArthur being one of history's greatest generals. We get a close-up look at his development of brilliant warfare strategies and how they came about. We see his tactics in war and we see how he reacts to his superiors, subordinates, and family. We see his entire life, starting, actually before his birth with a good look at his father, a great general in his own right and we progress through his childhood and then his amazing career at West Point. We see how the major women in his life have affected him, from his mother to his two wives. We see his success in WWI and then spend a lot of time with him in the Pacific during WWII, and his ultimate shining moments as the near-emporer of Japan after the surrender. MacArthur seems to be mostly remembered for his time in the Korean War and his ultimate firing by Truman and that is truly unfortunate given his numerous remarkable accomplishments for so many decades prior. But this book is far more than historical facts. The author gets behind the public personna and shows us the man himself. While reading the book, I felt like I knew MacArthur personally and was able to understand how and why he reacted to the great and tragic events of the 20th century. The book's title says it all...MacArthur was, indeed, the American Caesar. The author does a superb job of showing us all aspects of his character, making the reading of this book a truly great experience. Highly recommended.
What do You think about American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964 (1978)?
Amazing book. Amazing man!Very complex, nuanced man. He was a truly superior man, akin to the antihero in Trevanian's fictional Shibumi. He spent much of his life in The Philippines, and did a fantastic job on the occupation and reconstruction of Japan.Many reviewers note that this is one of the best biographies written. I tend to agree. I'm hard pressed to think of a better one.MacArthur will probably be remembered in history long after most American presidents are long forgotten. Fascinating man.If you're interested in history, you've got to read this!
—Erwin
My, oh my, what a book, what a man!Most fascinating is perhaps his years as proconsul in Japan, and how he was able to be the gentle, wise ruler of which Lao Tse and Plato spoke (Republic), and in fact he was an avid reader of Plato's Republic. His magnanimity and wisdom in that role were a historical achievement for which there are few if any precedents.The infamous flap in Korea which eventually led to his unceremonious dismissal is in and of itself a multi-faceted situation, which will not easily yield a clear view. The administrative muddle in his instructions from above have as much to do with it, as his ambition, and possible hubris. The entire situation at the very least was fraught with lapses on all sides, and seen objectively is a big question mark, not about the necessity of civilian control of the military, which is a highly desirable and noble goal, but about whether civilian control is even possible in the end.The whole episode sheds a lot of light on the question if a democracy will ever be able to carry on wars of aggression, let alone colonial wars, for a long time (even if they were someone else's as was Vietnam). It should be required reading if we are ever to learn from history. The final conclusion may be that a democracy ultimately can only have a defensive military posture, since a democratic executive under scrutiny of public opinion can never sustain an unpopular war. Sadly, he allowed himself to be exploited for cheap Republican politics in the end, as part of an orgy of rage at President Truman. The platitudes he permitted himself in those years seem to belie the grandeur of the vision he exhibited in post war Japan.In the end both biographies of Patton and MacArthur for me have been an enormous enrichment of my reading on World War II, which drove my interest, but these were both towering figures whose significance reaches well beyond their role in the war.
—Rogier
Read this some time ago, but it popped upon my list of recommendations. I recall it fairly well. It's a very detailed biography of MacArthur that talks about his personal life in considerable detail. It is also quite good through World War II. The book falls short a bit with regard to his time in Japan as SCAP. That is a bit of a shame because so much happened during his tenure there to include the (American) writing of the Constitution that Japan uses today. John Dower and others have covered that in excellent detail.Two things that I found fascinating about MacArthur were his time with his father, Arthur MacArthur, when the senior man was the senior US military official in the Philippines and Douglas was a newly commissioned Lt. out of West Point. They traveled extensively throughout China and other Asian countries. Also fascinating was MacArthur's time as Commandant at West Point. His mother was there with him and never tired of writing letters to assorted Washington officials on his behalf.With the exception of the time in Japan this is a very well researched book.I just reread the opening of this book, "Reville" and the recounting of the Pearl Harbor conference with FDR and Nimitz. I erred, this book deserves a 5 star rating. It still stands as a landmark study, particularly in view of the shoddily researched more recent publications speaking of MacArthur like those of Max Hastings.Manchester's work has to remain the landmark piece on MacArthur. Loved this especially: "Between marriages he kept an exquisitely beautiful Eurasian mistress ... Terrified that his mother would find out about her -- he was fifty-four years old and a four-star general at the time -- he sent another officer to buy the girl off with a sheaf of hundred dollar bills, in the mezzanine of the Willard Hotel on Christmas Eve, 1934." P. 17 ... Ah, the reference was to Isabel Rosario.
—Joseph
