Evening star., 1951-04-10

moSATtuuf.
than Gen. Macarthur. He was 8
|, broader person, with more socia
vision. Yet it would be unwise to
think of Gen. Macarthur as a
lreactionary, and-strange as il
may seem-there are strong traces
of the New Deal in the General.
Gen. Macarthur has several
times been compared to Caesar
and there are several analogies
worth making. even if they are a
bit farfetched - prolonged alb
sences from his native country;
|subordinates not in his own class;
strong will, imperiouSneSS, narcis-
sism; an acute interest in history;
great military skill and valor; +;
patriotism complicated by merci-
less ambition: the ability to make
use of conquered peoples; ad-
ministrative capacity; desire to
leave behind him a structure of
law; and a taste for benevolent
autocracy.
General Has Great Virtues.
| Even though he may be as vain
as the Earl of Essex (another pro-
conSul-in Ireland), Gen. Mac
Arthur has great virtues. Mainly
they are virtues of a somewhat
antique type, more notable in
classic ages than our own-strict
honorableness, belief in the right.
moral courage. and dedication to
an ideal. But he has plenty of
defects. and is f1ercely hated as
well as loved. Nobody in Ameri-
can public life is so controversial.
One reason is. I think, something
that Gen. Macarthur cannot help
that he comes of a military
family. We do not have many
generals who seem, both in back
ground and career, to personify so
Irigidly. SO f1amboyantly, the ideas
of military caste. This is still a
Icivilian country. Another reason
lis Gen. MacArthur's theatricality:
What can only be called his ham,
miness. If you pin down people
who dislike him. it is this the
Iatricality that they dislike most.
Still another. since the disaster
implicit in Chinese intervention in
Korea, is that Gen. Macarthur is
too dangerous" Many Ameri-
cans felt in the grim days of
early December. 1850, that his
strutting and bombast, his i'm
periousness and dislike of adjust
ing himself to external advice
together with shockingly gross
blunders by his subordinates in
the realm of information-might
get us deeper into war. This is
largely unfair. His patriotism is
indisputable, and his military
acumen rich; above all he did
not want to get us embroiled In a
full-scale China war. And he
was in an extraordinarily diff
cult position, since he could not
bomb the enemy above the Man
churian frontier. Even so, he
was caught by surprise and can
hardly be excused.
What does Gen. Macarthur be.
lieve in most? The defense of the
United States. Is he a truly great
man? At least he performed the
extraordinary feat of conquering
an enemy, occupying its territory.
and making its people like it.
Does Wear Several Hats
Once he told an American in
terviewer, "Only God or the Gov
ernment of the United States can
keep me from the fulfillment of
my mission" So we must investi-
gate carefully what he thinks his
mission is.
First let us put straight certain
technical and chronological mat
ters. Gen. Macarthur wears, as
the saying goes, several hats. He
lis:
Supreme Commander for (not
"of") the Allied powers, or soap.
In this role he has become Curl
ously depersonalized, since he is
an institution as well as a man:
Commander in Chief, Far East
CINCFE). AS such he is COM
Imander of all United States Army.
Navy and Air Forces in the area
of the Far East Command: Com
manding General, United States
Army, Far East.
To whom is Gen. Macarthur
responsible in his United States
Army function? It is often as
sumed that he has no boss at all.
but this is not correct. Like any
American general in the field he
has at least four superiors: Gen.
Collins (Chief of Staff, Gen.
Bradley (Joint Chiefs, Gen. Mar
shall (Secretary of Defense) and
Mr.. Truman, the President of the
United States. A five-star general
can, OF course, pretty well make
his own rules. and nobody has ever
Iexcelled Gen. Macarthur in his ca
pacity to tear the CUTS out of a
directive, but by and large he is
lscrupulously careful to maintain