General Macarthur, A Bad Leader Of The Korean War

Many people today look back on General MacArthur and the war in Korea and view him as a bad leader, a leader who did not follow the current Army Values. After his short campaign during the Korean War, General MacArthur gained a very negative reputation. He is now looked upon as a leader who did not lead by example. This paper explores that question. General MacArthur up to the start of the Korean War had already immortalized himself in American history. As a General, he was known as one of the most decorated Generals in American military history after various victories in the Philippines and the Pacific during World War II. In 1947, President Truman reinstated General MacArthur into the army to lead his troops into battle during the Korean War. Conflict started to arise when General MacArthur had different ideologies and a different …show more content…
President Truman and the UN were more for a conservative battle focusing on containment, in attempt to get the war over and stop the spread of Communism as a whole. President Truman wanted a limited amount of money, troops, supplies and warfare to be used on the fight in the Korea, and believed that since he was the president he had the final say in what happened. The Goal of General MacArthur on the other hand was to win the Korean War at all cost, no matter what. General McArthur did not believe of going into a war for containment, he stood by his ideologies that you are always in a war to win. His ideology was to use large bombings, the use of nuclear weapons, and to blockade China believing it contained a large amount of hostile forces that would pose even more of a threat to U.S. troops located in the Korea. As a General, he thought the generals should have the final say in military decisions. Even though General Macarthur thought this, many of the other generals were still against his plans when he presented