Was Truman Right To Fire MacArthur?

[Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey]

...

[Хahar 🤔]

Yes (normal)

[Bo]

Yes. McArthur, as a U.S. army general, always has to follow the President's orders, and this he clearly did not do.

[Tuck!]

Yes.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Absolutely.

[Deldem]

Definitely.

[k-onmmunist]

Yeah. Macarthur was a nutter.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

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[Antonio the Sixth]

1000% right.

[??????????]

No. MacArthur could have easily won the Korean war for the US and its allies. He should have been disciplined for disobeying orders but the firing was a political move on the Presidents part.

[RIP Robert H Bork]

Of course not. We have Truman to thank for the fact that we still have North Korea.

No. MacArthur could have easily won the Korean war for the US and its allies. He should have been disciplined for disobeying orders but the firing was a political move on the Presidents part.

^^^^

[cpeeks]

Speaking as a formal soldier yes, there is a chain of command that he didnt follow. He could have easily been court martialed for dereliction of duty, disobeying a lawful order, conduct unbecoming and even mutiny, which is punishable by death in a combat zone.

[Bo]

Of course .. We have Truman to thank for the fact that we still have South Korea.

That's better.

[dead0man]

Yes of course.

[RIP Robert H Bork]

Of course .. We have Truman to thank for the fact that we still have South Korea.

That's better.

Haha, no, I do mean North Korea.

[J. J.]

Yes.

First, MacArthur made a major military mistake by believing and advising Truman that the Chinese would not engage in Korea.  I think I would have seriously considered removing him for that, because he ignored the intelligence.

Second, MacArthur was under orders not to speak publicly to the press, without State Department approval.  He did.  He was also dictating policy that contradicted US policy.

[GMantis]

Well, that depends on your viewpoint. If you think that a war with China and the Soviet Union, possibly nuclear, would be a good thing, then the answer is no. If - like most sane people - you think this wouldn't be a good thing, then the answer is yes.

[J. J.]

Well, that depends on your viewpoint. If you think that a war with China and the Soviet Union, possibly nuclear, would be a good thing, then the answer is no. If - like most sane people - you think this wouldn't be a good thing, then the answer is yes.

I disagree.  Had that been the policy of the US (and it was close to that), there would have been no problem.

[GMantis]

Well, that depends on your viewpoint. If you think that a war with China and the Soviet Union, possibly nuclear, would be a good thing, then the answer is no. If - like most sane people - you think this wouldn't be a good thing, then the answer is yes.

I disagree.  Had that been the policy of the US (and it was close to that), there would have been no problem.

Yes, but it wasn't policy so MacArthur was guilty of violating orders.  Now, whether he was right or not to disobey orders does depend on one's viewpoint.

[J. J.]

Well, that depends on your viewpoint. If you think that a war with China and the Soviet Union, possibly nuclear, would be a good thing, then the answer is no. If - like most sane people - you think this wouldn't be a good thing, then the answer is yes.

I disagree.  Had that been the policy of the US (and it was close to that), there would have been no problem.

Yes, but it wasn't policy so MacArthur was guilty of violating orders.  Now, whether he was right or not to disobey orders does depend on one's viewpoint.

Actually, the Truman Administration was drafting orders to authorize nuclear weapons to be used, at least according to some sources: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_MacArthur#CITEREFJames1985

[Magic 8-Ball]

MacArthur's insanity aside, any general that violates an order needs to go.

[Derek]

pure politics led to the firing of MacAruthur. would've been a great president

[Mechaman]

Yes actually.

Although I oppose the US involvement in the Korean Conflict I can see the difference between Truman's "limited war strategy" and MacArthur's even more imperialistic "let's kill them all" strategy.  The former, while I disagree with it, is alot more in line with what should've been reasonable US foreign policy.

[Derek]

pure politics led to the firing of MacAruthur. would've been a great president

There's only one scenario in which MacArthur makes it into the White House, and it involves him storming it with an army behind him.  Hope you like fascism.

I don't like fascism that's why I didn't vote for Obama so that he could run companies that are privately owned. Hope you like General Motors.

[Mechaman]

pure politics led to the firing of MacAruthur. would've been a great president

There's only one scenario in which MacArthur makes it into the White House, and it involves him storming it with an army behind him.  Hope you like fascism.

I don't like fascism that's why I didn't vote for Obama so that he could run companies that are privately owned. Hope you like Government Motors.

Fixed