General MacArthur and President Truman by Richard H. Rovere

Author:Richard H. Rovere [Rovere, Richard H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General, Americas (North; Central; South; West Indies)
ISBN: 9781000677027
Google: deRXEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2022-02-15T02:50:44+00:00

IV

In the Senate Office Building

ROOM 318

The MacArthur controversy was many things: it was the investigation conducted by the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees; it was the debate in the regular sessions of the House and Senate; it was thousands of newspaper editorials; it was Henry Luce bugling a “Tattoo for a Warrior” in Life; it was the music business turning a fast buck with recordings of “Old Soldiers Never Die”; it was General Eisenhower in Paris saying he hoped there wouldn’t be any controversy; it was Winston Churchill paying his respects to MacArthur—“that great soldier and great statesman”—and advising Europe to be discreet, which in general it was; it was Senator Wherry asking the public to compare the “monumental record of General MacArthur with that of his accusers—with the record of moral decay, greed, corruption, and confusion”; it was Norman Thomas saying that “if MacArthur had his way not one Asian would have believed the United States had civilian government”; it was the burning in effigy of the President and the telegrams demanding impeachment; it was the Seattle drinker shoving his companion’s head in a bucket of beer and three senators exchanging oaths and laborious blows outside a Washington radio station.

But the center—the controversy proper, so to speak—was the 2,045,000 words spoken and transcribed in the Senate Office Building between May 3 and June 25, 1951. The plans for this overpowering cascade of talk were begun before dawn broke on April 11. A half-hour after the White House announcement, Representative Martin was out of bed and hard at work. By noon, he had accomplished many things; he had talked with Tokyo and received the most reliable assurances that General MacArthur would be agreeable to addressing a joint session of Congress; he had presided over a conference of party leaders and worked out much of the strategy for the hearings, as well as some of the details of stage management for the General’s return; he had also alerted the press to the “possibility of impeachments”—meaning, it was generally presumed, the Secretary of State and perhaps the Secretary of Defense as well as the President.

There were several preliminary exchanges and debates. Senator Russell of Georgia, chairman of the Senate Military Affairs Committee, wished to have MacArthur testify immediately at a closed session. This did not suit MacArthur. In response to Russell’s invitation, he made a counter-suggestion that was in line with Martin’s plans:

I am advised resolutions are pending in Congress inviting me to address a joint session as was done in the cases of General’s Eisenhower and Clay and others when they first came from abroad and that until action has been taken on such resolutions I would deem it inappropriate to make any other plans. If such resolutions are approved, I would regard it a great honor and distinction to address the Congress in general terms.

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