MacArthur relieved 4/11 to Ticker Tape parade on 4/20--what happened?

[whitehall]

The 65 year old Truman's war aka the Korean Conflict is center stage these days so it's interesting to note that General MacArthur aka the "Old Soldier" was relieved of duty on 4/11 1951 for gross disrespect and negligence but he received a ticker tape parade on 4/20 1951 sponsored by the NYC based media. Was the parade a political stunt designed to cast President Truman in a bad light or was it an indication of how out of touch the media was with the reality of the "Forgotten War"? Was there some sort of conspiracy to save MacArthur's legacy at the expense of a seemingly popular democrat president?

 

[Ringel05]

The 65 year old Truman's war aka the Korean Conflict is center stage these days so it's interesting to note that General MacArthur aka the "Old Soldier" was relieved of duty on 4/11 1951 for gross disrespect and negligence but he received a ticker tape parade on 4/20 1951 sponsored by the NYC based media. Was the parade a political stunt designed to cast President Truman in a bad light or was it an indication of how out of touch the media was with the reality of the "Forgotten War"? Was there some sort of conspiracy to save MacArthur's legacy at the expense of a seemingly popular democrat president?

MacArthur was a very popular war hero, primarily due in large part to his own self promotion to the public but also his successful retaking of Seoul and the Korean peninsula. His firing caused an uproar here at home and yes, many of Truman's political enemies tried to capitalize on the public mood by putting MacArthur on show. Eventually the public finally came to realize that Truman had done the right thing by getting ride of MacArthur and not widening the war.
What's interesting is at the beginning of WWII MacArthur was warned of a probable Japanese attack on the Philippines and to take appropriate action primarily with proper dispersal of aircraft on the ground. He did nothing and the Japanese basically destroyed most of our aircraft on the ground as they had done in Hawaii. General Short (Hawaii) was relieved of command for dereliction of duty and reduced in rank after the attack on Pearl Harbor, MacArthur who made the exact same mistake was not.

 

[JakeStarkey]

^^^ That

 

[Sunni Man]

Gen. Douglas MacArthur was a mixed bag of military genius and arrogant A-hole deluxe.

Bug-out-Doug, as he was known for ignobly fleeing the Philippines after the defeat by Japanese forces. Would later be awarded the Medal of Honor do to his constant self promotion.

He masterfully helped create modern day Japan; and basically wrote and crafted their Constitution.

His invasion of Inchon during the Korean war was a stroke of genius. But the follow up, mop up operation was a U.S. military disaster of epic proportions.

He needed to be sacked; and the no nonsense Pres. Truman was just the man to do it. ....

 

[whitehall]

After Korea the Republican party thought about putting MacArthur on the presidential ballot but later withdrew the offer and for some reason the Old Soldier decided to run as an independent which would siphon votes from fellow U.S. General Eisenhower.

 

[harmonica]

....a WW2 ''hero''/popular personality/.....WW2 was HUGE, so this was part of the reason for the parade.....he finally came ''home'' for good
...he really hadn't been back to the US at all during WW2 and after....
...and the US really sees him as the WW2 ''winner'', not a Korean War loser, not a disobedient general .....

Polls showed that the majority of the public disapproved of the decision to relieve MacArthur.

Douglas MacArthur - Wikipedia

MacArthur returned to the United States and settled in Washington, D.C. The American public welcomed him back as a hero

https://www.biography.com/people/douglas-macarthur-9390257

 

[whitehall]

You don't see much about MacArthur's Medal of Honor award, probably because the Old Soldier knew it was a bogus political present from the FDR administration. It's perhaps the most embarrassingly short and non specific citation in the book.

 

[del]

You don't see much about MacArthur's Medal of Honor award, probably because the Old Soldier knew it was a bogus political present from the FDR administration. It's perhaps the most embarrassingly short and non specific citation in the book.

should have given him a green hornet and called it a day.

i think he got it for propaganda purposes more than anything else

 

[whitehall]

Korea was the topic of the post with the liberal media's taking sides between democrat icon "Give 'em Hell Harry Truman" and the "Old Soldier" Doug MacArthur. It doesn't make sense politically that the media would snub the President of the United States who did the right thing in relieving MacArthur from duty and honor a general who was relieved of duty with a ticker tape parade. How could General MacArthur's connection with the media be that strong?