Douglas MacArthur: Warrior as Wordsmith

From I Shall Return to Old Soldiers Never Die, General MacArthur's phraseology invariably captured an audience's attention. The MacArthur persona may be familiar to many Americans more because of his oratory than because of his military deeds. Covering both his martial and his political oratory, this book provides a balanced, full-length study of MacArthur's oratorical accomplishments and their impact. Part I is a critical analysis of MacArthur and his speeches, while Part II contains the texts of the addresses discussed.

In their analysis, the authors avoid extremes of praise or blame. The highlight of the book is its account of MacArthur's rhetoric persuading Army and Navy chiefs to undertake the Inchon landing, arguably his finest hour. When MacArthur challenged Truman, taking policy differences to Congress, his rhetoric enabled more than one congressman to see deity in the general. Duffy and Carpenter analyze well the measured cadences of that speech as well as the platitudes of the keynote speech at the 1952 Republican National Convention. If 'Old Soldiers Never Die' polished his halo, the convention address tarnished it. This book captures both the brilliant flashes and the arrogant stupidities of the man. (Quoted from the foreword by Robert P. Newman)

Provides a balanced analysis of MacArthur's oratory from his "Old Soldiers Never Die" speech to the platitudes of his 1952 Republican convention address.

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Part I is a critical analysis of MacArthur and his speeches, capturing both his brilliant flashes and arrogant stupidities and discussing the Truman-MacArthur controversy and his oratory on behalf of Inchon. Part II offers seven speeches made between 1935 and 1962, some edited. Includes a chronology of speeches. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

BERNARD K. DUFFY is Professor of Speech at California Polytechnic State.

RONALD H. CARPENTER is Professor of English at the University of Florida.