The Cold War General Douglas MacArthur
General Douglas MacArthur was Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Army. The UN soldiers had a difficult battle in North Korea because North Korean planes flew in from China to attack them. Also, beginning on October 16, 1950 Chinese troops came in to help the North Koreans. They were not a true army, but volunteers who wanted to fight Americans.
President Truman and General MacArthur disagreed about what to do to win the war. MacArthur wanted to send planes in to attack China. Truman wanted to prevent war. He did not want to attack China. MacArthur wanted to use Chinese troops from Taiwan to fight. Truman disagreed.
In April of 1951, MacArthur sent a letter to Congress telling them that Truman was wrong. MacArthur told Congress that he wanted to bomb China and use Chinese troops from Taiwan to fight.
President Truman was the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army. He became angry that MacArthur had publicly argued with him. The top military people in the United States agreed with Truman. They did not want MacArthur to cause what could turn into a large war. When Truman met with MacArthur at an airstrip in the Philippine Islands in April 1951 to talk, MacArthur would not back down. Truman decided to fire MacArthur.
Some Americans were angry with Truman; they felt MacArthur was a military hero. Other Americans agreed with Truman; they felt MacArthur had let them down.
In 1953, three years after the fighting began, the war was over. The war ended in a truce. The 38th parallel divides North and South Korea.
