American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964

Media:	Paperback
Author:	William Manchester
Publisher:	Laurel
Release date:	01 February, 1983
Our price:	$8.99

American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964

Average rating: Stars

Essential Biography in Understanding a Leader

William Manchester examines the life of General Douglas MacArthur. AMERICAN CAESAR, DOUGLAS MACARTHUR, 1880-1964 begins with his birth and ends with his death. For anyone that has an interest in reading about military leaders, or in general, leaders of the twentieth-century, AMERICAN CAESAR and its 793 pages, is an excellent starting point. One thing that comes to mind when one thinks of General Douglas MacArthur is how he has been misunderstood by those who have not spent the time to read or understand who the man really was. For every leader that has passed through history, one always finds a way to tarnish the image of a leader and to debunk the myth and legend. Writers and critics have written about MacArthur's downfall as well as his own self-interest and egotism or juicy tidbits of his personal life. Where would the label of greatness be without those traits? AMERICAN CAESAR contains all those subjects, but with much respect to the man.

However, AMERICAN CAESAR portrays General MacArthur's unique personality as an individual with much emphasis on the man and the compassion and determination he possessed with the people and countries he associated with. It is these traits, which hold much prestige over the one controversy in Korea that existed near the end of his service. Manchester carefully paths MacArthur's life , and takes from other scholarships, archival material as well as from MacArthur's memoir, REMINISCENCES, to acquaint readers with the man and the many experiences he encountered during his tenure as one most of the highly decorated generals in US history. Manchester uses the moniker of "Caesar" and historical references to great leaders throughout the book, such as Napoleon, Lincoln, U.S. Grant in comparing and paralleling MacArthur's life to particular conflicts these leaders overcame or not to his own. As an avid reader of history, MacArthur thrived on history. Manchester states that MacArthur once told a reporter that his only advisors were Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, and emphasized that "one founded the United States, the other saved it" (479). This may have been suggesting that he was in good company with men of great acclimation and sought to reach the levels that they had achieved.

Manchester does a fine job presenting all aspects of MacArthur's life and the players that brought him up as well as brought him down. For a man who greatly helped rid the world from imperialistic tyranny by the Japanese during the war in the Pacific, he helped Japan to reconstruct its government and country to what it is today. Who could predict what may have happened if MacArthur maintained his position in Korea? For a man that lived in the Pacific and Asian theatre for 14 years, and took more precedence over the study of this region of the world, he may have known more about how the people thought militarily than the men in Washington. Many hypotheses will pop-up while reading this immense book. Nonetheless, MacArthur was led on a mission to rid the world of war and accomplished it, and later in his life spoke against it.

American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964 - William Manchester

PROBABLY THE BEST OF THE BUNCH

While I certainly have not read them all (a great many though), I would have to say this is probably one of the better biographies on MacArthur in recent times. Manchester has presented MacArthur the General and MacArthur the man in an even handed way, i.e. warts and all. Like most great men, Douglas MacArthur certainly had his dark side and the author has accomplished the telling of this in a good way. On the other hand, he, MacArthur was indeed one of our greatest military leaders and certainly must receive acknowledgement for that. Again, the author has done this well. This is a good work for anyone interested in the life of Douglas MacArthur and anyone interested in the history of that time. This is one of those books you will want to add to your collection as it deserves more than one read. I did not that a couple of reviewers gave the book a few hits simply due to the subject matter. Might I suggest that if you do not like the man, MacArthur, that much, they probably you might want to try a biography on some other individual...goodness know there are plenty of them out there. All in all, recommend this one highly. It is difficult to go wrong with Manchester.

William Manchester - American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964

Great Book:

Niles review made me smile to say the least. At least he is honest. He states, "He reminds me of everything not to be in a man: a phony, self-important, idiotic, posing, clownish, arrogant, amoral, self-centered, publicity hogging, insubordinate half ass. I see everything in the man I never want to be." Reads like a recipe for greatness. And "( I was probably a lot like the man not too long ago...)" Do we ever really change at our core?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I learned many things about the man and the legend. I found most interesting that, contrary to what I had always heard (I am a reader, not a historian), McArthur did not cross over the 38th parallel against orders, but was in fact following orders. The argument between he and Truman was whether all out war should be waged against China. McArthurs only mistake/character flaw (Niles) was continuing to run his mouth (which of course only made Truman mad and look bad), when he should have kept it shut. He would not accept or failed to recognize at this point in time that his power (which was indeed great) was limited. He lost.

I see him as a great man no matter the flaws;one of those of whom it can be said there really is no recipe. His greatest strengths which supplied him with the tenacity to forge ahead where ordinary men would not, were also his greatest weaknesses. It has been a while since I read the book so examples do not readily come to mind, but there are many where this tenacity paid off greatly in lives saved and victories won.

Ultimately, because of his losing battle with Truman, and subsequently his famous "fade away" speech at West Point , he seems to be remembered, by most, as a tragic figure. While, his efforts in the reconstruction of Japan are mostly forgotten. For me, this book went a long way toward setting the record straight on both McArthur's grandiosity and his genius.

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