The Americans would eventually push the Japanese back across the Pacific, and one of the most instrumental leaders in the effort was Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who commanded the U.S. Pacific Fleet and helped coordinate joint operations with the legendary General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area. The ensuing strategies would lead to decisive operations at places like Midway, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and others before the use of the atomic bombs compelled Japan’s surrender in August 1945.
Today, Nimitz’s name doesn’t ring as many bells as his counterpart’s, because of all the military men America produced during the 19th and 20th centuries, it’s hard to find one as important, successful, and controversial as General MacArthur. The son of a Civil War veteran, MacArthur rose to become the most instrumental commander in the Pacific Theater during World War II. His legendary return to the Philippines in 1944 made good on one of the war’s most famous vows, and it was MacArthur who fittingly oversaw the occupation and reconstruction of Japan following the war.
Given his long and celebrated career, MacArthur was the obvious choice to lead the newly created United Nations’ troops during the Korean War, but his arguments over war strategy and policy eventually led to his controversial firing by President Harry Truman in 1951. After that, in his own words, he “faded away,” living out his remaining days on the top floor of the Waldorf Hotel until his death in 1964. For many with a conservative disposition he remains a hero who, had he been listened to, would have prevented the current impasse with the rogue state that is modern North Korea. For some liberal thinkers he was dangerously obsessive while wholly ignorant of geopolitics, and he has been branded as a general who would have used atomic weapons and potentially triggered the third world war.
The truth is far more difficult to discern and much more subtle. Douglas MacArthur was one of the most intelligent soldiers America has produced, and he was also one of the most prominent statesmen of the 20th century. He made his mark from flamboyant staff officer in the Vera Cruz expedition of 1914 to United Nations Commander in the Korean War. Along the way he found fame in World War I, participated in the controversial Bonus Army incident, lost and won campaigns in World War II, and served as Army Chief of Staff, Superintendent at West Point and as effective ruler of Japan. Rarely out of the limelight, MacArthur was as much an administrator as he was a soldier and a combat commander, and in all of his endeavors he found success and controversy.
General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz: The Lives and Careers of America’s Commanders-in-Chief in the Pacific Theater during World War II chronicles the dramatic paths each one took on the way to becoming the two most important Americans in charge in the Pacific. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about General MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz like never before.