The General vs. the President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars | 1,835 ratings

Price: 19.69

Last update: 06-30-2024


Top reviews from the United States

Jerry Brookman
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent bood - best one I've read on the subject
Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2020
I'm old enough to remember the events described in this book. I was a Junior in High school in the spring of 1951, when Truman fired MacArthur. I remember the "buzz" it created - we got our news on radio broadcasts and newspapers - some folks had TV then, but my family didn't. I remember going in to school the morning after the news had come out, and when I went in to my American History class, the teacher told us "I know what everyone is thinking about, so we'll skip the lesson that had been scheduled for today and I'll explain how our system works". Before that class I had been 100% for MacArthur and against Truman. After that class I wasn't 100% pro-Truman - my Father was a staunch Republican, and Truman was pretty unpopular before the MacArthur incident - but I had a whole different understanding of the matter. I enlisted in the Marine Corps on my 18th birthday and served in Korea (18 year olds aren't particularly smart, at least the ones I've known, and I'm no exception!), and having an interest in the Korean War I've read many books on the subject. This one is the best I've read on the subject of the Truman-MacArther controversy; it includes many extensive quotes from statements by MacArthur, Truman, and others concerned, and is, in my opinion, very well written; I haven't read any other books by the author, but will probably do so, when I've made a dent in the pile of books I have that I haven't read yet.
Ambrose Rankin
4.0 out of 5 stars Detailed Account of MacArthur Truman Controversy
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2017
Brands gives a good deep dive into the MacArthur-Truman controversy. Most people know the overall story, but this book fills in a lot of the details with an almost day by day narrative and extensive quoting from correspondence, press conferences and the ulitmate Congressional hearings, At the same time, Brands writes so well this reads at times like a 1950s suspense novel. The book doesn't really break any new ground - with the famous Bradley quote about MacArthur's advocacy for the "wrong war, wrong enemy, wrong time, etc" still the best summary - but it is well worth a history fan's time.
Wayne A. Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Great History, Great Writing, Important Test for our Constitutional System
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2017
Brands is a very good writer of history. He has David McCullough's ability to make non-fiction read like a ripping good story.

The "General Vs. the President..." is an excellent case study of political maneuver, international affairs and constitutional checks and balances in one book. The author's treatment of the dance Gen. Douglas MacArthur and Harry Truman performed in trying to grapple with the Korean War and each other is a very good cautionary tale. What to do when a weak leader has a star underling who is a proven winner and both the leader, underling and other stakeholders know it? This is the situation that faced Truman when the North Koreans attacked the South and caught the US unawares and unprepared. MacArthur was a hero - the master of the Pacific in WWII. Although he was difficult to control and not willingly subordinate and provided Truman with ample reason to relieve the General, MacArthur's early success in flanking the NK at Inchon and crushing the enemy divisions as he chased them toward the Chinese border excused a lot of behavior that should have gotten him cashiered.

Chinese intervention drasticly changed the nature of the war, proved MacArthur fallible, and made his maverick and insubordinate behavior intolerable. Particularly since the stakes were so high - MacArthur's statements, actions and disobedience risked a regional war igniting a larger, perhaps global, conflict - one the United States was ill prepared to see to victory and which would kill many even if we were. Truman had to fire MacArthur and right the relationship between President and military commander. (For those knowledgeable of the Civil War, this story will echo what Lincoln faced with Fremont, Butler, McClellan and Hooker among others).

Truman and his Administration certainly made their share of mistakes in the run up to the North Korean invasion, and the author is honest in portraying the positive and negative of his actions as well as the good decisions MacArthur made and his laudable success in remaking Japan. But, for the sake of our Constitutional system, Truman took the only course of action he could (and arguably - even he argued to himself - should have taken earlier).

Brands gives the right amount of background as he focuses on the machinations of MacArthur and Truman's response over many months as he tried to bring the hero-General to heel. It is a terrific and dramatic story with larger than life players and important issues. In Brand's hands a treasure of a book.

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