Burnson President Truman v. General MacArthur Brandon Rubsamen History 8-A October 1, 2014 This essay contains only my own words and ideas. When I have paraphrased someone else’s words or ideas, I have used completely original wording and correctly cited my source. When I have used someone else’s exact words, I have used quotation marks properly and have correctly cited my source. I understand that any evidence of plagiarism will result in a “0.” SIGNED: Brandon Rubsamen DATE 10/1/14 “Old Soldiers never die, they just fade away.” This quote was made by General Douglas MacAthur at his farewell speech, and this is exactly what he did. Near the end of the Korean war, after the Chinese had pushed the United Nation and United States’ forces back below the 38th Parallel, General MacArthur and President Truman came into a disagreement. President Harry Truman was “terrified that a third World War was about to begin” (as he wrote in his journal), if the Allies (UN forces and US) kept fighting North Korea and China. General MacArthur believed otherwise. Mac Arthur thought that the Allies could win against the Communists. President Truman’s decision to fire General Douglas MacArthur was unjustified. …show more content…
Since joining the army, MacArthur had served in both World Wars as well as in Veracruz and in other small areas of military conflict. During the Korean War, MacArthur wanted to keep fighting and to defeat the Communist China and North Korea, but President Truman wanted peace and decided to fire MacArthur for his insubordination. This was a bad choice because MacArthur had tons of military experience, for he had been in the military for over fifty years, and would have been very helpful then, and in the future also. General MacArthur was a military expert, while President Truman was