- Graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. on June 11, 1903 and later returned to head the school (1919-22) before returning to his military career.
- Accepted the surrender of the Japanese aboard the USS Missouri on 2 September 1945. MacArthur directed the occupation of Japan from 1945-1950, instituting such reforms as female suffrage, freedom of the press, workers' unionization rights, and ownership of land for peasants.
- Awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1962.
- Truman's removal of MacArthur caused the former's popularity to plummet and contributed to his decision to not seek re-election. To this day, Truman still has one of the lowest approval ratings ever recorded for a President in office.
- Army officer who retired with the rank General of the Army (5 stars).
- Pictured on a 6¢ US commemorative postage stamp issued in his honor, 26 January 1971 (91st anniversary of birth).
- Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor during WWII as a General.
- He and his father, Arthur MacArthur, are the first father and son to be awarded the Medal of Honor (MacArthur was awarded the medal for his service during World War II. His father was awarded the medal as a private in a Wisconsin regiment during the Battle of Missionary Ridge in Tennessee during the US CIvil War). In 2001 Theodore Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the medal; his son was awarded the medal for his efforts on D-Day.
- Relieved as Supreme Allied Commander by US Pres. Harry S. Truman in April 1951 during the Korean War. Fearing nuclear war with the USSR, Truman warned MacArthur against an incursion into Soviet-backed China, even after Chinese troops began pouring across the North Korean side of the 38th parallel. MacArthur publicly criticized that policy. Truman interpreted that as MacArthur challenging longtime US policy of civilian control over the military, and relieved him of command. When he returned home, he was met with massive adulation, epitomized by his famous "Old soldiers never die" address to Congress, which was interrupted by 30 ovations.
- A movie buff, MacArthur was known to attend the movies with his wife Jean MacArthur most evenings during his pre-war tenure as military commander of the Phillipines.
- Only American officer to hold the rank of Field Marshal - as commander of the Phillippine armed forces.
- Father, with Jean MacArthur, of son Arthur MacArthur.
- Famous for smoking a corncob pipe and being very outspoken in the same manner as George S. Patton.
- Grand Cross Knight in the Order of Orange Nassau, the official military and civil order of the Netherlands. It is the highest honor a foreigner can receive.
- Buried in the MacArthur memorial, Norfolk, Virginia, USA.
- MacArthur promoted himself aggressively to get a Medal of Honor, even going so far as to recommend himself for one after a mission. Quite a few people feel that his Medal of Honor should never have been awarded for "Defense of the Philippines" because the Philippines fell to Japan, and because he did not personally see or engage in combat during the battle, instead being evacuated as soon as possible. Quite a few people felt that he should not have been decorated at all after the fall of the Philippines, and would have preferred to see him court-martialed for incompetence. Eisenhower himself blocked efforts to be awarded his own Medal of Honor at the end of the war, precisely because he had not been in combat, and he regarded the Medal as something to be awarded only for actions under fire. MacArthur knew he was stepping onto very thin ice regarding the Medal, and at the award ceremony he made a comment about only accepting it in recognition for the valiant efforts of the men under his command. He's on record as stating, early in his career, that he was willing to sell his soul for the Medal of Honor.
- MacArthur rarely approached the front lines, which meant he had no conception of the horrific New Guinea terrain, which meant he thought his men were slackers when they were literally hung up on mountains and bunkers. On at least two occasions, commanders were sacked right at the point where they were about to succeed, and their replacements got all the credit.
- Around late 1930, he began to refer to himself exclusively by his last name, even conversationally.
- Contrary to popular belief, MacArthur never recommended the use of atomic weapons during the Korean War, although he did suggest using radioactive poisons to cut off North Korea if the Soviet Union formally entered the conflict. However in an interview published after his death he was quoted as saying he did want to use atomic weapons.
- A classic "mama's boy", the married MacArthur was so afraid that his mother would learn of his affair with a woman while he was living with his wife and mother in the Philippines that he paid muckraking columnist Drew Pearson $15,000 to return letters the couple wrote each other.
- Barring the landing at Incheon, which is widely considered the greatest accomplishment of his military career, MacArthur conducted majority of his campaign as Supreme Commander of the UN Coalition Forces in Korea from relative safety in Japan.
- After his refusal for an integrated allied command structure in Australia and heavy insistence that Americans in the Pacific theatre would never report to Australian superiors, even those who had experience fighting Germans in North Africa and the Middle East, one of the officers on the front is said to have sarcastically retorted that "MacArthur doesn't have a staff, he has an imperial court".
- Topped his batch of 1903 at the United States Military Academy.
- Head of the US Committee for the 1928 Summer Olympics.
- Critics maintained that his leapfrogging, or island hopping, strategy was unnecessary and caused heavy American casualties during the Pacific Campaign.
- Had an intense dislike for United States Navy commander for the Pacific Theatre Of Operations during World War 2 and fellow 5 star officer Admiral Chester Nimitz, and the feeling was mutual.
- President Harry Truman, who relieved MacArthur as Supreme Allied Commander in Korea in 1951, was a native of Independence, Missouri. Coincidentally, MacArthur had accepted the Japanese surrender which ended World War 2 in September 1945 aboard the US Navy battleship USS MISSOURI.
- Australia's General Thomas Blamey, who served as one of the senior field commanders in the Pacific Theatre during World War 2 under MacArthur and was the first(and as of 2023 remains the only) Australian military officer to be promoted to 5 star rank, recounted in an interview before his demise in 1950 that "the best things you would hear about MacArthur are true whilst the worst are indeed true" as a reference to MacArthur's disdainful treatment of Australian troops who effectively served in the theatre under adverse conditions yet were rarely given any due credit by MacArthur for their performance.
- Although he sarcastically commented that Dwight Eisenhower was "the best desk clerk I ever had", referring to the latter's tenure as his Chief-Of-Staff in Phillipines prior to World War 2 upon Eisenhower's appointment as Supreme Allied Commander for the European Theatre Of Operations for World War 2 despite his lack of combat experience, MacArthur, upon his appointment as Supreme Commander of all Allied Forces in the Pacific Theatre during World War 2, himself had never been in a field command barring the Poncho Villa Expedition which was widely regarded as a mere skirmish and a regiment followed by a brigade for a considerably short duration during World War 1.
- Former stepfather of Tanya Brooks.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content