Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1951-05-11
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:S7dO33HY3 PEARSON
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The Midnight Statement
IT WAS not until about 11:15 Tues
1 day night that President Tru-
man actually decided to issue his
1 am. statement firing General
Macarthur.
The decision to make this mo-
mentous step had already been
taken, but the timing was set for
Friday, not Tuesday midnight. And
the reason for the sudden noctur-
nal press announcement was a tele-
phone call from Secretary of the
Army Pace in Tokyo tipping off
Truman that Macarthur planned
to jump the gun and get out his
own statement first.
The President was still Smarting
from an incident around March "a
when Macarthur had jumped the
gun on him, so naturally he was
leery. He had sent Macarthur a
policy statement for his perusal and
personal reaction-a policy which
the White House planned to an
nounce as a peace feeler to China.
But Macarthur without notifying
Washington, issued the statement
himself.
So when Secretary Pace
called from Tokyo Tuesday
night intimating that MacAr-
thur might rush into print
again, the President called Sec
rotary of State Acheson and
Deputy Undersecretary Dean
Rusk to the White House where
they prepared the Macarthur
press release.
Prior to that, late on Monday
afternoon the joint chiefs of staff
held a highly secret session at
which there was unanimous senti-
ment that Macarthur must go.
Bradley Gets Hot
Gen. Omar Bradley, chairman of
the joint chiefs of staff, and a most
mild-mannered man, was hottest
under the collar against Macarthur.
Adm. Forrest Sherman, chief of
naval operations, and reported by
some as favoring MacArthur's
strategy against China, actually
threw his weight behind Bradley.
Though MacArthurs tactics in
Guided a naval operation against
China, Admiral Sherman argued
that we can't afford to get involved
in a war with China, and that if
you go into China just little bit
as in bombing bases-you have to
be ready to go in all the way.
Only military man who
dragged his feet on MacAr-
tur's custer was Secretary of
Defense Marshall, who has
known Macarthur a long time,
is 70 years old against MacAr-
thurs II, and who was in
France as World War cap
tain when Macarthur was
brigadier general.
Ridgway Can Hold
One highly significant exchange
of information made between the
pentagon and Lieut.. Gen. Matthew
Ridgway in Tokyo was cable
from Ridgway stating that no mat
ter what happened, his troops
could hold out for 60 days. Regard
less of what was thrown at him,
Ridgway informed the joint chiefs
of staff, he could hold for two
months.
This cable was in reply to White
House fears that following Mac
Arthur's removal, there might be
a Chinese attack and a series of
American defeats for which Tru-'
man, having removed the supreme
commander, would get the blame.
Humble Harry
President Humans usual pep
perry remarks have not been in
evidence during the Macarthur
controversy-not even to his per-
sonal advisers. The nearest he
came to pepper was at last weeks
cabinet meeting, just after ex-
speaker Joe Martin released the
Macarthur letter.
Its time to show the Mac
Arthurs, the Time-Life people and
the Scripps-Howard newspapers
who is running American foreign
policy" he observed tartly.
Day after Macarthur was re-
lieved, however, Truman re-
ceived a call from eX-congress-
man Maury Maverick of Texas,
who congratulated him.
"What you have done will
make sure that my grandchil-
dren will be free and that
civilian government will con-
tinue in the United States"
Maverick said.
The President was neither cocky,
nor apologize. He looked a little
sad, as if he had made terrifi-
cally hard decision and knew that a
terrible storm was going to break
over his head.
"Thank you, Maury," he replied
And he wept just little. II do
my best. l have to follow the con-
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