Overview
Douglas MacArthur is best remembered for his ability to adapt, a quality that catalyzed his greatest accomplishments. Adaptability has become an indispensable trait for military leadership in an era of technological leaps that guarantee the nature of war will radically change during the span of an ordinary career. One of the first proponents of a new dimension in warfare—the Air Force—MacArthur was also unmatched historically for his management of peace during the U.S. occupation of Japan. For generations to come, MacArthur's legacy will yield profitable—and entertaining—examples to Americans in and out of uniform.
Synopsis
Douglas MacArthur is best remembered for his adaptability that hoisted him to his greatest accomplishments. Adaptability now reigns as the most indispensable trait for high military leadership in an era of technological leaps that guarantee the nature of war will radically change during the span of an ordinary career. No American figure better exemplifies this trait than the man who was commissioned before the Wright Brothers' first flight but became a keen exponent of an entirely new dimension in warfare. He was also in charge of the U.S. occupation of Japan, the most successful occupation in history.
Kirkus Reviews
In-depth analysis of the enduring paradox of America's most revered five-star insubordinate-an installment of the Great Generals biographical series for which retired General Wesley K. Clark is nominal editor and provides a foreword. Frank (Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire, 1999, etc.), who has written commendably on World War II in the Pacific, here offers an intensive dissection of Douglas MacArthur's decisions, good and bad, both as a field general and administrator of the U.S. occupation of Japan. A review of MacArthur's role as the latter is particularly timely given the current failures in Iraq of pacification, democratization and reconstruction-not to force a direct parallel-over which he then successfully presided (although Frank stresses that the overall plan was wholly the Truman administration's). That this is specifically a military biography is illustrated by the relatively sparse treatment-a mere page-given to one of the biggest risks MacArthur ever took: Summoned in 1930 as the Army's new Chief of Staff, he brought from the Philippines a 16-year-old girl named Isabel (he was then 50) and stashed her in Washington for some months until she grew restless and, discovered by a MacArthur media nemesis, columnist Drew Pearson, was paid off to disappear. Frank is, however, candid at length in recounting some of the general's consistent failings, such as blatant self-promotion in communiques (most Americans believed he was outnumbered by Japanese forces in major actions, which was not the case), plus deflecting blame on subordinates while taking credit for their achievements. His operational brilliance, including the "leapfrogging" strategy in the Western Pacific,which undoubtedly shortened the war, is also well covered. Frank also enumerates cases where MacArthur's insubordinations were, in retrospect, essentially the right move. Admirably punctures the mythology and goes to the wall with an irresolvably complex personality. Agent: Robert Gottlieb/Trident Media Group