Should General MacArthur have been fired?

Answer 1

I believe he should have been. I am uncertain whether you mean during the Korean War or WWII, since this question is posted in both categories, but I think he deserved to be removed in both wars. In Korea MacArthur kept questioning the decisions and policies of his Commander in Chief in public, making sure his statements appeared in the press. This is unacceptable in a nation which is supposed to have civilian control of the military. MacArthur had been in the service around fifty years at that point and certainly knew better. He always had a lofty opinion of himself and a low opinion of others, so I feel his actions were really a reaction to the great MacArthur having to take orders from a failed Kansas City haberdasher and ward heeler. Truman had been a captain in WWI; MacArthur had been a brigadier general.

MacArthur was always a difficult man for his superiors to deal with. He did have an exalted opinion of himself. On learning that Eisenhower had been appointed to command the D-Day invasion of Europe MacArthur said of him "The best clerk I ever had". I am certain MacArthur thought he should have been brought to Europe to be commander. Upon learning of Franklin Roosevelt's death MacArthur said "The end of a man who never told the truth when a lie would suffice". MacArthur was personally very brave - he had a well-earned Distinguished Service Cross from WWI - and he had a brilliant mind. He would see a man not having spoken to him in thirty years and recall the exact conversation they had had on the previous occasion, and pick up where they left off. These gifts perhaps fueled his outsized ego.

On the eve of WWII MacArthur was in command in the Philippine Islands. He had code breaking equipment not allowed to commanders in Hawaii, and access to information from intelligence branches in Washington not shared with the army and navy commanders in Hawaii. He had radio warnings from Hawaii while the bombs were still falling there, almost as soon as the attack began. It was many hours before the Japanese also struck in the Philippines, and despite the warnings MacArthur was unprepared. His aircraft were parked, lined up down the middle of the runway to prevent sabotage, and were destroyed on the first pass. MacArthur did fairly well trying to contend with the Japanese troops when they landed, but their force was far greater than his. He ordered a retreat into the Bataan peninsula, but neglected to order food depots moved there as well, so as soon as his men arrived they immediately had to go on half-rations, which only got smaller over the next four months as the men tried to fight a jungle war while starving. Because of his prestige (MacArthur had been the highly visible highest ranking army officer, the Chief of Staff of the US Army, for four years in the thirties) MacArthur was ordered out of the Philippines and escaped. He was given (and I say given, not earned) a Medal of Honor and rewarded by having an anomalous Theater Command, the Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations, carved out just for him, in deference to his prestige. Meanwhile, the army and navy commanders in Hawaii, who had much less information than MacArthur and much less reason to be alert, were crucified and had their careers ruined.