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MacArthur has great respect for authority. During much of his career, he worked under chiefs with whom he did not wholly agree. He and Roosevelt clashed on global strategy for World War II. The fact that he differed with Roosevelt was well known. MacArthur, however, fought a highly satisfactory war within Roosevelt's overall strategy, and the disagreement never became a scandal. The MacArthur-Truman scandal grew out of the fact that MacArthur's view on the Korean war was firmly stated and well-known while Truman's view was still a matter of hot debate among the President's advisers
Every time MacArthur stated his opinion of what the strategy should be, he called attention to the fact that Washington had no idea of how to win the Korean war.
Truman Had a Right To Fire MacArthur
Whatever may be thought of Truman's judgment in firing MacArthur, the fact remains that he had a right to fire him. Such an act was clearly within his constitutional authority.
In 1862, President Lincoln removed General George B. McClellan from command of the Army of the Potomac. They had been in disagreement for a long time. Lincoln (like MacArthur) believed that McClellan's mission was to defeat the enemy. McClellan (like Truman) believed that the objective was to defend a piece of ground. McClellan (like MacArthur) had thousands of devoted admirers, and his removal was certain to bring a torrent of political criticism down on Lincoln's head.
Lincoln, however, made no public defense. Harry Truman went on the air with the best defense that Lawyer Acheson could give him.
Truman's argument gets its appeal from the fact that all sane men prefer peace to war and a small war to a big war. Truman's speech was constructed to give the impression that MacArthur was in favor of unlimited war while Truman was for limited war.
In fact, both the Truman policy and the MacArthur policy on the Far East are aimed at a limited war. The differences between them are: 1) Truman's limits are geographical, MacArthur's strategic; 2) Truman invites the enemy to set the limits; MacArthur wants the U.S. to set them; 3) Truman thinks that carrying the war to Manchuria and the coast of China would provoke the Russians to come in; MacArthur does not think so.
MacArthur has been fighting the left flank of the Red Chinese army. The center of that army has been shifting north, and may soon be flung against the U.N. forces in Korea. The right flank of the Chinese Reds is still pinned down in South China, fighting guerrillas and guarding against an invasion from Formosa.
The surer the Chinese feel that South China is safe from attack, the more men they can shift to the Korea front. Truman's speech gave them, in effect, a guarantee that South China is safe.
To Attack the Enemy? Or to Await His Blows?