Rise to Prominence & Bonus March Controversy
In military terms, MacArthur enjoyed a relatively rapid rise to the top. He became the Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1919; the youngest man to land the role in over a century. By 1925, he had become the youngest major general in the Army, and he became President of the American Olympic Committee in 1927. By 1930, MacArthur was back in America having spent years in the Philippines. At this point, he began referring to himself in the third person and was intent on presenting a positive image of himself to the American public.
He made a few enemies during the Bonus March of 1932. The Great Depression led to cuts in the Army’s budget and staffing and in July 1932, a large group of down-on-their-luck veterans descended on Washington in search of bonuses they were not yet entitled to. Although he wasn’t in charge of the operation, MacArthur led the troops, and they used tear gas to disperse the veterans. It was a PR disaster as the distasteful incident made MacArthur unpopular with a large segment of the American people.
World War II – Was MacArthur Flawless or Foolish?
The notion that MacArthur succeeded in his command positions in World War II is severely challenged when you dig into the facts. He had been made Field Marshal of the Philippines Army in 1935 and was named commander of the United States Army Forces in the East in 1941 during World War II. He ultimately became general on December 20, 1941. His conduct during the Philippines Campaign is mired in controversy.
Somehow, despite receiving more than adequate warnings from Washington, and after hearing about the attack on Pearl Harbor, MacArthur was caught by surprise. Rather than allowing his air commanders to strike enemy bases in Formosa, he did nothing, and his air force was almost destroyed on day one. Despite holding a numerical advantage, MacArthur failed to hold the Philippines.
Rather than facing punishment or at least criticism, he received $500,000 from the President of the Philippines for pre-war service and the Medal of Honor from his own country. Instead of showing heroism during the campaign, MacArthur had hidden in an underground bunker and earned the derisive nickname ‘Dugout Doug.’
His performance in the New Guinea campaign was little better. MacArthur was arrogant toward the Australian and American forces he commanded and his failure to anticipate Japanese moves led to the needless deaths of thousands of troops. He was notorious for not learning from his mistakes which caused frustration amongst his men.
After his failure in the Philippines, MacArthur claimed that “I will return” and he was true to his word by coming back in 1944. The problem was, that it was a selfish move with no real strategic value. Bizarrely, he declared the island of Leyte as ‘secure’ in December 1944 even though there were over 280,000 enemy soldiers left. It took months and tens of thousands of deaths to secure the island finally. If Dugout Doug made blunders in World War II, it got a whole lot worse.