There has been a spate of books published during the last few years about the life and career of General Douglas MacArthur. The latest to appear, H. W. Brands’ The General vs. the President, focuses on the circumstances that led to President Truman relieving MacArthur of command during the Korean War.
During the early morning hours of April 11, 1951, President Truman, worried that MacArthur would beat him to the punch by resigning, issued an order relieving the general of his command of U.S. and UN forces in Korea, as well as his command of U.S. army forces in the Far East.
MacArthur in Tokyo subsequently learned of his firing when an aide heard about it from a radio report—a more undignified way to inform one of America’s greatest and most decorated soldiers would be hard to imagine.
The dispute that led to Truman’s action had been building since communist China’s armed forces massively intervened on the side of North Korea in October–November 1950.
