The last straw for Truman came on March 8, 1951, when MacArthur’s letter to House member Joseph Martin Jr. was released.
In the letter, MacArthur offered veiled criticism of Truman and his policy of limiting the war, particularly the line: “I think it is imperative to the security of our nation and for the safety of the world that the policies of the United States embrace the broadest possible strategy and that in our earnest desire to protect Europe, we not weaken our position in Asia.”
Truman wrote in his diary about the incident:
“Thursday, April 5, 1951
The situation with regard to the Far Eastern General has become a political one.
MacArthur has made himself a center of controversy, publicly and privately. He has always been a controversial figure.
He has had two wives – one a social light he married at 42, the other a Tennessee girl he married in his middle fifties after No 1 had divorced him.
He was chief of staff in the Hoover regime, made the front pages in the bonus affair. He was advisor to the President of the Philippines and Supreme Commander in the Pacific in World War II.
I made him Allied Commander in Chief in Japan to sign the surrender documents for the United States.
Made Chief of the occupation forces and Allied Commander for the United Nations forces in Korea in June 1950.”
Truman considered MacArthur’s statement a direct attack against the administration’s policies and ultimately decided to terminate the General’s command on April 11, 1951.
Years later Truman would recall the incident:
“I fired him because he wouldn’t respect the authority of the president. That’s the answer to that. I didn’t fire him because he was a dumb son of a bitch, although he was, but that’s not against the law for generals. If it was, half to three-quarters of them would be in jail.”
If you had been in President Truman’s shoes would you have fired General MacArthur?