Douglas Macarthur Biography

Douglas MacArthur was born on January 26, 1880 at a military base in Little Rock, Arkansas. His dad, Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur, was a war hero. His mother was Mary Pinkney Hardy MacArthur, and her brothers had fought during the civil war. Douglas MacArthur was born into a military family and was expected to be great. He had two brothers, both of whom died when he was fairly young. As a child, Douglas and his family moved around to different army stations very often. MacArthur said, “It was here I learned to ride and shoot, before I could read or write-indeed, almost before I could walk or talk.” Fighting for his country is all he knew, it’s all he was ever exposed to. When his family moved to Texas in 1893 Douglas attended the West Texas Military Academy. After he graduated from high school, he went on to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1903 near the top of his class. Douglas MacArthur was described as an extraordinary student who showed great promise. He first entered the army as a junior officer in the Army Corps of Engineers. Quickly, he gained many promotions and was stationed throughout the world. He was promoted to Major in 1915, and in 1916 MacArthur became the army’s first public relations coordinator. Shortly after World War 1 began and the …show more content…
Shortly after the war began, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and his air-force was destroyed, causing his army to crumble. This forced MacArthur to retreat to Australia, but he vowed to return. In April of 1942, Douglas MacArthur was awarded the Medal of Honor for his defensive team in the Philippines. In 1944, he fulfilled his vow and returned to the Philippines to grasp his revenge. That same year he was promoted to a five-star general and was given the authority to command all army forces in the Pacific. It became his job to rule