Evening star., 1951-04-12

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pacity to inspire utter devotion in
his followers. Out of it, too, come
some negative traits like his
touchiness and sensitiveness TO
criticism, which is accentuated by
the extreme touchiness OF his
staff. Also he has a conspicuous
tendency to reward loyalty too
much for Its, own sake-7to count
too much on old comrades IN
arms who have grown, with him
during the years. There should
be newer blood around Gen. Mac
Arthur. But he will not tolerate
anybody near him being too big.
II even heard it said. None Of
MacArthur's men can risk being
first rate.
There is such a thing as man
being so vain that he is not vain.
To pretend to have no vanity is
the greatest of all yanities.s Gen.
MacArthur's ego is, in a way. Of
this special. type Everybody
knows about the tilt Of his gilt
edged cap. the carefully pressed
uniforms and shining boots, the
open-throated profile flung at
cameras The general has ter
rife style If. in the abstract,
you set out to draw a picture of
the enthusiastically ideal COM
mander, the perfect type Of COM
lposite Soldier-hero, it might turn
out to be astonishingly like Gen.
Macarthur.
Even the fact that he unosten-
tatiously wears no. decorations
whatever is part of his ostenta-
tion. But his peacockry is more
than merely a surface matter.
Once he said to an interviewer
/ (perhaps with tongue in cheek
that his major advisors were
Washington and Lincoln!
Son Overshadowed Father.
/ An eminent officer of World
War I, Gen. Enoch Crowder, once
told a high official of the State
Department. II thought that
Arthur Macarthur (the generals
father was the most fiamboyantly
egotistic man I had ever seen
until I met his son.
Perhaps it is his sense of duty
that makes Gen. Macarthur ego
tistic. He can be-and often is
relaxed. gay and even shy. He
carries the plumage of a flamingo,
but his voice can be modest too.
BY no means is he always stern,
pontifical. defiant. He is, in fact,
almost as notable winner-ovef
of the reluctant as Mr.. Roosevelt;
persuasiveness is one of his para
mount qualities, Consider what
a tremendous impression he is apt
to make on a casual visitor: then
estimate how magnetic he must
be to people close by.
Still. few people outside his i'm
mediate encourage really liked
him. They may respect him, ad-
mire him. emulate him, or even
worship him Gas many Japanese
and Filipinos undoubtedly do) but
it is hard to imagine him as a
universal mass leader, at least so
far as the rank and file of the
American public are concerned.
Gen. Macarthur Is d Caesar, and
not, let us say, a man overwhelm-
ingly beloved like Gandhi.
Adulated by Inner Circle.
But by his own men, the rock
fast inner circle, he was adulated.
Tokyo was full of retired oldsters
who practically stand on street
corners to. tell you with pride how
intimate they were with him even
if they hadn't laid eyes on him
for year. I have heard him
seriously compared to Alexander
the Great by a member of his
staff, to Alexander's disadvantage.
Another officer told me with alb
solute seriousness that he con-
sidered Gen. Macarthur to be the
greatest man who ever lived.
Another Macarthur trait is his
signal tendency to overoptimism
and wishful thinking. a charac-
teristic which has led him to
errors of judgment end blunders
on occasion. For instance. he did
genuinely think in the late 1930s
that the Philippines, given time,
could successfully defend them
selves against Japan. And-to
come up to date-he most dis
tinctly did not anticipate major
Chinese Intervention in Korea in
1850. though he had sounded
noisy warnings about how dam
gerous the situation was. He was,
most people in Tokyo believe, far
from realistic about the future
course of japanese affairs. Gen.
Macarthur wanted desperately to
believe that the characterization
of Japan would progress and stick,
if. only because this would be his
own supreme accomplishment.
But how much of the soap re-
formation will endure no man can
know. g..
Gen. MacArthur's positive quail
tiles and merits are, of course,
many. For one thing, he is packed
with brains. For another. let no..
body underestimate his sheer, i'm
mense force of character. An
American officer who was cadet
when he was superintendent of
West Point was asked his opinion
of the general. Reply: Hes the
only man in the world who could
walk into room full of drunks
and all would be stone sober
within five minutes" ~
Tomorrow. MacArthur's photo
graphic memory :. his eloquence
and bravery.
(From the book. The Riddle of Mac
Arthur, published by Harper and Bros.)
Copyright 1950-1951, by John Gunther
II A ~ SPECIAL ----.-