Lot 227

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Lot 227
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General Douglas MacArthur Addresses Congress Just Days after Truman Relieves Him from Duty
General Douglas MacArthur Addresses Congress Just Days after Truman Relieves Him from Duty
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Description:

General Douglas MacArthur Addresses Congress Just Days after Truman Relieves Him from Duty

DOUGLAS MACARTHUR, Contemporary Typed Speech Signed, April 19, 1951, Washington, D.C. 6 pp. (verso only of 6 leaves), folio, signed at the head of the first page, and titled "Address delivered by General of the Army Douglas MacArthur at Washington, D.C., on 19 April 1951, before the joint meeting of the houses of Congress in the hall of the House of Representatives"; in a single frame.

Excerpts:

"I stand on this rostrum with a sense of deep humility and great pride – humility in the wake of those great American architects of our history who have stood here before me; pride in the reflection that this forum of legislative debate represents human liberty in the purest form yet devised." (p1)

"The Communist threat is a global one. Its successful advance in one sector threatens the destruction of every other sector. You cannot appease or otherwise surrender to communism in Asia without simultaneously undermining our efforts to halt its advance in Europe." (p1)

"The Japanese people, since the war, have undergone the greatest reformation recorded in modern history. With a commendable will, eagerness to learn, and marked capacity to understand, they have, from the ashes left in war's wake, erected in Japan an edifice dedicated to the supremacy of individual liberty and personal dignity; and in the ensuing process there has been created a truly representative government committed to the advance of political morality, freedom of economic enterprise, and social justice." (p3)

"It has been said, in effect, that I was a warmonger. Nothing could be further from the truth. I know war as few other men now living know it, and nothing to me is more revolting. I have long advocated its complete abolition, as its very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a means of settling international disputes." (p5)

"In war, indeed, there can be no substitute for victory." (p5)

"Of the nations of the world, Korea alone, up to now, is the sole one which has risked its all against communism. The magnificence of the courage and fortitude of the Korean people defies description." (p6)

"I am closing my 52 years of military service. When I joined the Army, even before the turn of the century, it was the fulfillment of all of my boyish hopes and dreams. The world has turned over many times since I took the oath on the plain at West Point, and the hopes and dreams have long since vanished, but I still remember the refrain of one of the most popular barrack ballads of that day which proclaimed most proudly that ‘Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.'" (p6)

Historical Background:

On April 11, 1951, President Harry S. Truman relieved General of the Army Douglas MacArthur of his position as Commander of the United Nations forces in South Korea. Truman made the decision because MacArthur had made public statements that contradicted the Truman administration’s policies. For example, he told a reporter in December 1950 that the administration’s restrictions on operations against Chinese forces involved in the Korean War but located in China were "an enormous handicap" to effective military operations, "unprecedented in military history." When MacArthur authorized General Matthew B. Ridgway to advance up to 20 miles north of the 38th Parallel, without regard to Truman's directives, Truman could no longer tolerate MacArthur’s insubordination.

When Truman relieved the popular hero of World War II, who had received the surrender of Japan on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, much of the American public was outraged. Senator Robert A. Taft called for the impeachment of Truman.

MacArthur flew back to the United States on April 17, and received a hero’s parade in San Francisco attended by 500,000 people. The Joint Chiefs of Staff greeted MacArthur when he arrived in Washington on April 19. Later that day, he accepted an invitation to address a joint session of Congress and delivered this famed "Old Soldiers Never Die" speech. MacArthur then flew to New York City, where he received the largest ticker-tape parade in history to that time.

Two Senate committees held a joint inquiry in May and June 1951, but the Democratic Congress was reluctant to overturn the action of a Democratic President. Meanwhile, Truman's public approval rating fell to 23 percent in mid-1951, the lowest approval rating ever recorded.

Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) was born in Arkansas into a military family and spent the early years of his life at a succession of military posts in the West. He graduated first in his class from the United States Military Academy in 1903. Commissioned in the Corps of Engineers, MacArthur served in a variety of posts until assigned to Washington in 1912. During World War I, MacArthur won several medals in combat and gained promotion to brigadier general. From 1919 to 1922, MacArthur served as superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy, then transferred to the Philippines, where he took command of the Military District of Manila. In 1925, he became the Army's youngest major general at the age of 44. Late in 1930, he became Chief of Staff of the United States Army, a position he held until 1935. That year, he became a military adviser to the government of the Philippines to help it create an army. He resigned from the U.S. Army in 1937, but President Franklin D. Roosevelt called him back into active duty in 1941 as commander of U.S. forces in the Far East. As Japanese forces gained control of the Philippines, MacArthur fled to Australia, and Congress awarded him the Medal of Honor. MacArthur directed allied opposition to the Japanese in the southwestern Pacific Ocean from Australia. In October 1944, MacArthur accompanied American troops in their return to the Philippines, and two months later received promotion to the new rank of five-star general. Early in September 1945, he accepted the formal Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri. From 1945 to 1951, MacArthur served as the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan. In 1950, he also became Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations command in Korea, which included command of all South Korean forces as well. Dismissing the threat of Chinese intervention, MacArthur failed to anticipate the massive Chinese counterattack in November 1950. Although United Nations forces lost control of Seoul briefly in early 1951, by March, MacArthur called upon China to admit it had been defeated. His actions violated President Truman’s order not to make public statements on policy matters and posed an indirect threat to civilian control of the military. Despite MacArthur’s popularity with the American public, President Truman relieved him of command in April 1951. In the final years of his life, MacArthur was a popular speaker, adviser to presidents, and chairman of the board of Remington Rand, manufacturer of business machines.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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