Should President Truman have fired Gen. Douglas MacArthur? by Doug Banwart https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz Let's hear it! en-us 2018-03-15 13:03:33 UTC 2024-07-18 14:17:13 UTC hello@padlet.com aaustill https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242478393 Dismissal

The dismissal of Douglas MacArthur was a good choice made by president Harry Truman. President Truman gave him orders and MacArthur deliberately disobeyed him, made public announcements about engaging nuclear war with China and North Korea, and was selfish. 
While he may have had experience under his belt in other wars, he had not yet experienced a total nuclear war. The general had great success in pushing the North Koreans back, but pushed his limits with China. Since China had gone communist and had the backing of the Soviet Union, the United States did not want to engage them int the Korean War. MacArthur had his own agenda in how he planned to win the war. Had he done so, the possibility of Word War III would have increased drastically. The reading said “...the enduring legacy is that Truman took great political risk, and he did it immediately to prevent World War III...” This proves how imperitive it was to rid the military of Mac Arthur.
I believe if MacArthur wouldn’t have been removed a total war, including nuclear weapons, would have started, his disobedience and bold public statements could have cost us thoisands upon thousands of deaths, not only in the United States but in much of Europe. Removing MacArthur was the right decision. 

Allysa Austill]]> 2018-03-15 16:50:41 UTC https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242478393 tskersick https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242611895 Last week, during the Cold War, we learned of a mad-man with an army, Stalin. This week, the mad-man with an army is none other than American hero, Douglas MacArthur. However, instead of allowing a situation to worsen, MacArthur was taken away from his position by President Truman. Truman refused to let a war-monger succeed when war was not necessary. Not only was war unnecessary, the United States could not join another war. After WWII, the US's resources were too depleted to go into another world war.  
And another world war is exactly what MacArthur wanted. He threatened to drop nuclear bombs on China because he could not bear the thought of settling with freeing South Korea. And his motives of war were not to liberate more countries, but to kill more people. He planned on bombing factories so that the radioactivity would be so potent that China wouldn't even be able to think about fighting in Korea. Truman saw the MacArthur's "tactical brilliance" was actually sadism to an extreme, and so he fired the general when he had overextended his work. And in doing so, Truman saved potentially thousands of lives. Truman was not blinded to what MacArthur would do by admiration of what MacArthur had done; he saw that the path the general was treading would lead to total war, and he didn't stand for that. In short, President Truman made the right decision when he fired war-monger General Douglas MacArthur.
  -Tracy Skersick
]]> 2018-03-15 21:46:05 UTC https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242611895 nlandreth https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242619318 MacArthur Madness or Truman Tyranny?
In my opinion, President Truman was entirely justified in his decision to fire General Douglas MacArthur, for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, while MacArthur's military plans were strategic and well thought out, his statements often were not. On many occasions, MacArthur expressed ideas without worrying about the consequences. In one case, he spoke openly of marching on the Yula River, despite the president's warnings to avoid antagonizing China. His thoughtless speech did just that, which provoked 300,000 Chinese troops to aid North Korea in driving American forces back into South Korea.
In addition, while MacArthur excelled at giving orders, he struggled with following them. After the aforementioned incident, instead of admitting his mistake, he suggested utilizing the United States' supply of atomic bombs against China. When Truman shot down the idea, MacArthur attempted to overrule him by taking his plans to the press and Congress itself. At the end of the day, it was MacArthur's way or the highway.
Because MacArthur acted as though his plan had already gained Truman's approval, talk of a third World War spread across the globe. People lived in fear, for they knew that if a nuclear war broke out, its capacity for destruction would far surpass anything the pre-Modern Era world had seen. MacArthur argued that total war was necessary to secure the same victory that America had in ages past. However, he lacked the caution, humility, and insight to see that the world was no longer the way it once was, and proceeding as though nothing had changed could have devastating consequences. Having already given MacArthur several chances, Truman knew nothing could change his dangerous mindset. Thus, to prevent engaging his country in a what could be an utterly disastrous war,  Truman made the wise choice to fire MacArthur. -Natalie Landreth
]]> 2018-03-15 22:31:05 UTC https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242619318 lbrunaugh https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242636491 In my opinion, the dismissal of MacArthur way fully justified. MacArthur disobeyed orders and wanted to start World War III when World War II just ended. He was acting greedy and power hungry which could have cost more American lives than what was necessary. Truman did the right thing when he fired him.

MacArthur was a well know general in both the United States and Japan and was well respected. He played a large role in the Pacific Theatre in World War II and rose to be a five star general. During his command in the Korean War, MacArthur wanted to bomb China so they could further push back Communism. Even though he may have a great deal of experience in war, he wouldn’t be prepared for all out nuclear warfare, which could have been a result if he attacked China. He had no respect for authority when it came to President Truman warning him to not provoke China, but despite all the cautions, MacArthur talked of marching troops to the Yalu River. After his failed march to the Yalu River, he was later dismissed by President Truman and replaced by General Matthew Ridgeway.
Logan Brunaugh



]]> 2018-03-16 00:33:27 UTC https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242636491 rscrivner https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242643718
  I believe Truman justified MacArthur's dismissal fairly and for a good reason. Truman did what he thought was best for the people, but so did MacArthur. Truman knew the United States could not win another World War. If we had went into one, the United States might have been destroyed or beaten down badly. MacArthur went behind Truman's back with his plans and then publicly announced them to the public. After MacArthur did this a few times, Truman knew he would go against what Truman had said and put the USA into war. 
       Not only did Truman fire MacArthur, he also lost the support of many people, people who loved MacArthur. Because of this, Truman's presidential career ended which set up the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower. Truman did what he thought was best for his people and ended up with a big consequence-losing his job. This didn't upset him much because he knew it was for a good reason-not putting the USA into World War III. Maybe MacArthur truly believed he was doing what was best or maybe he was just trying to fight because that's what he wanted to do. Either way, Truman made an executive decision to fire MacArthur, securing the lives of many people and securing the position of the United States in worldwide affairs. 
~Rikki Scrivner ]]> 2018-03-16 01:15:22 UTC https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242643718 https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242648374 President Harry Truman, in my opinion, made a good decision firing Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur made multiple decisions, such as going against Truman's orders and pushing an extremely intense war when Truman wanted a "simple" war. 
MacArthur may have been a “war hero” and seen as almost god-like by the Americans and Japanese, but the decisions he made in relation to the North Koreans and Chinese showed his true side: disobedient. MacArthur was elected by the American civilians as the commander in battle, which was the first bad decision because it gave him a strong feeling of power over everyone else, including the President of the United States, which led him to think he could do whatever he wanted in the war. His decisions to go against Truman’s orders and to plan to use all of the energy of the American troops, also using atomic weapons is a very good reason as to why Truman decided to fire MacArthur, and those two reasons, even though there were many more, were two big pushes into doing what was right.
By Emma Wilkinson

]]> 2018-03-16 01:48:25 UTC https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242648374 https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242651901 I believe that the dismissal of Douglass MacArthur was a wrong and selfish act by President Truman. I understand that the Presidents job is to make sure that his people were safe and sound. But, Truman had never been in war. MacArthur had won battles in previous wars and had proven his intelligence when it comes to victory. He was trusted by the United States and never would have put the U.S in a plan that he did not believe would succeed. 
Truman had the safety of the U.S on his mind, but didn't consider the fact that Korea had been damaging them as well. MacArthur wanted to not let Korea walk all over them, so he was ready to prove a point. MacArthur was a smart man who wouldn't do anything to put the U.S in danger. He knew he could knock them out while benefiting the United States as well. 
~Daphne Devall]]> 2018-03-16 02:10:56 UTC https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242651901 https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242665043 Firing Douglas MacArthur

I believe that Truman made the correct decision when firing Douglas MacArthur. As we learned today, MacArthur was a very trusted leader that many people were inspired by. But, there were also many reasons why Truman was justified in firing him. 

Douglas opposed the opinions of President Truman because he believed that his plans would create more success. Truman said “ We are trying to prevent a world war, not start one”. MacArthur believed that it was okay if the US entered war because they were ready. MacArthur did not take the President’s opinion into consideration and decided to try and overrule him by going to the Congress about bombing Yalu power plants. This scared Americans because they thought that the bombing was approved and that World War III would soon begin. I believe that it is one thing to have an opinion and freedom of speech but you cannot go against the President of the United States just because you don’t agree with how he wants to deal with the Korean War. Douglas thought that it would be a good idea to use bombs and create a total war but that was not a possible solution considering the amount of other countries that had created their own model of the atomic bombs. 

Overall, I think that President Truman made the right choice when it came to firing Douglas MacArthur. The plans that he had for the US could have caused extreme danger and would had led us to a completely different outcome. 

-Grace Kiffmeyer ]]> 2018-03-16 03:43:22 UTC https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242665043 https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242671505 I believe Truman and MacArthur acted immaturely and could have handled the situation in a far better way such as talking among themselves to find a solution that would please both men. While the situation wasn't ideal, I believe that Truman did the right thing in terms of firing Douglas MacArthur. 

  Truman fired Douglas because of the threat he posed for the nation, for the most part. MacArthur wanted to take control of the US military to make the war decisions. Truman didn't approve of most of MacArthur's actions and war plans, causing Truman to feel as though Douglas was being defiant and acting irrationally. Douglas wanted to bomb China, an action that could have made tensions grow and make the US a likely place to be targeted which could have started WW3. Truman was justified in his firing of MacArthur because he was just trying to do what he thought was best for the people, not because he was personally offended of a "lower rank" trying to take control. Truman was scared, as anyone else in his position would have been, because he didn't want to make the wrong choice. Truman did what he had to do to ensure the safety of Americans, is that so wrong? 
                            -Emily Buckley-Prior
]]> 2018-03-16 04:43:39 UTC https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242671505 hburris1 https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242672984 The Dismissal of Gen MacArthur                        The decision that President Truman made, firing MacArthur, was pure and true with all good intentions in mind. Douglas MacArthur was very popular, the three-fourths of letters towards the white house after he was fired, proved that. Anyone knew that Truman firing the General, was "political suicide," as stated in the article, "MacArthur vs Truman: The Showdown that Changed America." Truman knew that what he was doing was not going to sit well with some people, but he was willing to take that chance for the sake of the country, not himself.                    Another reason MacArthur being fired was a good idea is what he was saying, us joining and controlling the war, was "air talk," we did not have a stable military or the ability to control and seize other countries. With him wanting to use the atomic bomb, he was asking for America to be bombed and that would be catastrophic. President Truman was looking out for the well-being of our country before trying to help other countries, we could not stop other countries from drowning if we ourselves were having trouble staying above the surface. ]]> 2018-03-16 05:05:37 UTC https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242672984 https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242790150       Looking at this issue in the present time, I feel like MacArthur shouldn’t have been dismissed. MacArthur did go against President Truman but MacArthur knows war, he served in WWI and WWII. MacArthur is known as a hero, everyone knows him, even in Japan. Truman was restricting MacArthur and MacArthur didn’t like that so he took matters into his own hands. 
       As Braden said yesterday, if MacArthur would have done what he wanted to do then we wouldn’t have to worry about North Korea now. However, they couldn’t see that back then so I can’t really hold that against Truman. Truman did what he thought was right and MacArthur was trying to do what he thought was right and best for the country. Truman just happened to have more authority at the time and dismissed MacArthur. ]]> 2018-03-16 13:02:19 UTC https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242790150 https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242790461       Looking at this issue in the present time, I feel like MacArthur shouldn’t have been dismissed. MacArthur did go against President Truman but MacArthur knows war, he served in WWI and WWII. MacArthur is known as a hero, everyone knows him, even in Japan. Truman was restricting MacArthur and MacArthur didn’t like that so he took matters into his own hands. 
       As Braden said yesterday, if MacArthur would have done what he wanted to do then we wouldn’t have to worry about North Korea now. However, they couldn’t see that back then so I can’t really hold that against Truman. Truman did what he thought was right and MacArthur was trying to do what he thought was right and best for the country. Truman just happened to have more authority at the time and dismissed MacArthur. Elijah]]> 2018-03-16 13:02:58 UTC https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242790461 https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242909271 See ya MacArthur]]> 2018-03-16 16:32:58 UTC https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242909271 https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242915177 See ya MacArthur 
The dismissal of MacArthur in my opinion was justified. While many people loved him for his work in other wars and his good deeds, he did step over the line with the threat of using atomic weapons to scare enemies. Perhaps he believed that since he was so popular, he could get away with anything                       It was a shame he got fired though because he did have great potential to do much more as previously demonstrated in his previous acts as a general and field marshal of the Philippine army previous to 1964. He actually had done so much that people in both America and China, and when he was fired, many people were highly upset.          ~Steven Thyer]]> 2018-03-16 16:44:14 UTC https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/242915177 https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/243260309 I don’t think Truman did the wrong thing by firing Douglas MacArther. President Truman did what was right for the long run not for the opinions people had for what he did. MacArther was in the wrong for what he was doing, disregarding every order he got almost and going behind president Truman’s back. Even if it would have worked and ended the war a whole new war would have been started, a much much worse war. 

MacArther could have ended the ordeal in Korea with what he had and no more. They had what they wanted but MacArther wanted to hurt them for good. That is not the way we do things in America unless absolutely necessary. Ending WWII is a totally different thing. Truman made a hard decision and it was the right one
-Jacob Weidner 


]]> 2018-03-18 21:43:02 UTC https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/243260309 https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/245137453 I believe the decision President Truman made was very smart on his part. MacArthur would have brought the war in Korea and made it into World War 3. The war in Korea was already on the brink of breaking out into other countries, China helped out the North Koreans and would have gotten more involved to block us off from going into the YULA River. 
Truman decided to fire MacArthur because of MacArthur's in mature actions that he wanted to portray, MacArthur wanted to use nuclear weapons against the North Koreans because he thought it would have been a quick and easy way out of the war even though it would have started something bigger.
- Braden Morris ]]> 2018-03-22 17:29:47 UTC https://padlet.com/dbanwart/jkvk6qds4cnz/wish/245137453