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Great biography

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William Manchester provides one of the best overviews of the life of General MacArthur that has been written about the man. MacArthur was an enigma to many who knew him (which was a precious few) and brought out the best and worst qualities of a human. He was a military genius who cared deeply for his troops wining tremendous tactical victories and caring for his wife and son deeply. He was paranoid, vain and manipulated everyone for his own personal gain. This book which starts from his time growing up in Manila and Michigan and ending with his funeral is very thorough. It spends a great deal of time on World War II where he developed tactically but also covers his rise in the military via his mother and his hubris in the Korean War. It is an excellent and well written book that is clear and easy to follow. For those who want to learn about Macarthur you can do no better.

From the Philippine Insurrection to Inchon

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Of the biographies of military figures I have read, I would rank Manchester's American Caesar near the top, along with Freeman's Lee and D'Este's Patton. It is extremely well researched, well written and carries the reader along until you barely notice seven hundred pages have gone by. Previously, out of Manchester's works I was familiar only with Goodbye, Darkness, the surreal memoir of Manchester's own time in the Pacific war. I found little of the bawdiness of Goodbye, Darkness in American Caesar, just a simile at the beginning of chapter nine comparing the Korean peninsula to a "lumpy phallus."

Already familiar with Macarthur's exploits in WWII and Korea, I was most eager to learn about his personal life and military career before WWII, and I wasn't disappointed. Manchester masterfully relates all this, from the son of a Union war hero, West Point, Philippine Insurrection, Vera Cruz, Rainbow Division, Bonus Army incident, failed first marriage, mistress and second marriage. I found it amusing that Mac, the son of a Union Medal of Honor winner at Missionary Ridge, married the granddaughter of a Confederate officer.

Much later, after the brilliant stroke at Inchon, it is sad to see Macarthur run afoul of civilian authority because of his reluctance to come to grips with post-WWII military realities. We see the great warrior who had his baptism of fire in the Philippine Insurrection realizing that he is in a war where his forces are "circumscribed by a web of artificial conditions...in a war without a definite objective..." That quote of Mac's, found in chapter ten, sums up for me why my own interest in military history may start at Marathon, but ends at the Chosin Reservoir.

Superb Look at Complex Figure

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This superb biography examines the many sides to General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964); superb commander in war and peace, vain malcontent, and megalomaniac. The author begins by examining his famous father`s service in the Civil War. Then we learn of MacArthur's upbringing and days at West Point (graduating first in his class in 1900), and his reckless bravery during World War I. As the author shows, MacArthur was a progressive-minded superintendent at West Point from 1919-1922, and chief of staff during the 1930's (where his aide was Major Eisenhower). Then we learn of his skilful island-hopping as commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific during World War II. My late uncle served in the Philippines and cursed MacArthur's name 50 years later, but Mac was talented and sparing of his soldier's lives. Ironically, his greatest success may have been as military governor of occupied Japan, where he helped implement democratic reforms. Then came his blundering command in Korea (1950-51) where he misread Chinese intentions and went over President Truman`s head - for which Truman rightly fired him. Mac had previously doubled-crossed President Hoover over the Bonus Army and made juvenile threats to President Roosevelt over retaking the Philippines. In his last years, he advised against action in Vietnam. As the author shows, a complex figure, talented but flawed.

William Manchester (1922-2004) was a superbly readable historian, who used a nice mix of quotes, memos, messages, and family life to describe MacArthur. The result is a well-crafted, balanced account of a man the author probably disliked but admired. Readers should also consider the author`s other superb books, THE GLORY AND THE DREAM, ARMS OF KRUPP, etc.

A True American Hero & The Last Shogun of Japan

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I could not put the book down... Douglas MacArthur's life from beginning to end was so interesting... His life had meaning... Say anything you wish about his personality but his accomplishments during his life will never be out done... Well written book.. and well worth reading...

ON BEING "DUGOUT DOUG"

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General Douglas MacArthur is one of the few military figures in American history who, even today, evokes heated partisan responses. The title of the headline for this piece clearly tells where this writer is on the partisan divide. The nickname "Dugout Doug" goes back to the days when after the Japanese invasion of the Philippines General MacArthur got himself out of harm's way, with a due fanfare, while his subordinates and the troops for the most part got left behind to face the brunt of the Japanese forces. It was not pretty. This story and many others are detailed in the late journalist William Manchester's biography of the general.

The history of the United States has produced a few military figures who were flamboyant. It has also produced a fair number with some military skills. It is, however, unusual to have the two come together as they did in the self-advertised grandeur of MacArthur. Europe has had some familiarity with the `man on horse back'. One thinks of France, in particular. In America that notion, at least publicly, has not been presented by military leaders while in uniform. MacArthur was an exception. Manchester is not incorrect to see that if there were such a candidate for the role of Caesar (or its modern variant, Bonaparte) in the United States MacArthur by skill, élan and appetite fit the bill. That thread runs through the whole story line here.

No one can question that MacArthur had exceptional military skill in both World Wars, especially his role in the Pacific in World War II. One, however, should note, and note carefully his role in dispersing the Bonus Army in Washington, D.C. in the early 1930's. That might provide a taste of what the American Caesar had in store if he ever took power. Furthermore, one should note that MacArthur was well out of his element when he faced essentially `unconventional' armies in Korea. Call it `limited warfare' if you will but he totally underestimated his North Korean and Chinese opposites in the age of new `warfare'. Later American generals faced, and are today facing, similar conditions. And making the same wrong estimation. That MacArthur's reputation has mainly survived his Korea debacle owes more to hubris, including his own, than reality. In any case, read this book to get a flavor of the old American Army and its most well known general.