The War Of The United States

President Truman’s actions during the war were most reasonable because he had been “duped” by MacArthur and his belief that China would not enter the war when their troops reached Yalu River. Truman’s response to this was firing MacArthur; the action he took was justified as MacArthur needed punishment for his blunder in the war. While MacArthur did deserve to be relieved of his position, maybe it was not the right time to do so. He was an exceptional general with experience, and surely he would not have made a mistake of the same magnitude again.

A Japanese invasion that same year caused his forces to leave that country. a year after that he made many successful offensive operations against the Japanese military in that region.in 1945 president Harry S. Truman appointed MacArthur supreme allied commander. For the next six years he stayed in japan to command the occupation forces. When North Korean army invaded South Korea in 1950, he started to command the newly united nation’s forces. On April 11, 1951, Truman removed MacArthur from his command for insubordination. This made people in America very mad, but Truman stayed focused on keeping the conflict with North Korea a limited war. Americans started to understand that MacArthur’s recommendations might have led to a massively expanded war in

Another factor for the US becoming militarily involved in Korea was the US domestic policies. US ideology was highlighted in NCS 68 which said ‘the assault on free institutions is worldwide now,’ and ‘a defeat of free institutions anywhere is a defeat of everywhere,’ therefore they felt it was their duty to stand against communism. However, NSC 68 also says ‘half measures will be…more dangerous,’ in reference to the 1930’s. Truman feels guilt over not getting involved in the British policy of appeasement against the Nazi’s in Europe, which led to WW2. In his memoirs he wrote ‘democracies failed to act it encouraged the aggressors to keep going.’ However, as this was written in his memoirs, it is written in hind sight, therefore will not be completely accurate. Furthermore, in 1949, Spy Trials were hosted in the US, when scientists and politicians were interrogated by HUAAC, the House of Un-American Activities Committee, and found to be giving nuclear research to Russia. This included Klaus Fuchs, a member of the Manhattan Project. As well as this, the US lost their nuclear monopoly when Russia successfully exploded their first Atomic Bomb, several years before expected, and China became communist. This led to the fear of more spies within the US government, and Truman was accused of ‘losing China’

Offner, Arnold, "Provincialism and Confrontation: Truman’s Responsibility" in Major Problems in American Foreign Relations, Volume II.

Additionally, Americans feared Soviet motives. In April 1941, the Soviet Union signed the non-aggression pact with Japan, however after Germany’s defeat, they declared war on Japan on August 9th, 1945. The increase in Soviet influence in Eastern Europe, after the surrender of Germany, and perhaps in Asia, if the declaration of war actually occurred, troubled the United States. Unease at the fact that an attack on Japan would cause extreme American military losses resulted in the atomic bomb drop. Due to this, President Truman delivered the Truman Doctrine. “The Truman Doctrine amounted to a declaration against Russian influence beyond the boundaries laid down in 1945” (73). This document showed America’s first strides towards repressing communism. Truman reacted before Russia had the chance to expand its communism across Europe.

On the outbreak of the Korean War (Jul 1950), he became commander of United Nations forces in Korea, in which capacity he directed the Inchon offensive that forced the invading North Koreans to surrender most of their gains. When Chinese forces began fighting alongside the North Koreans in November 1950, he forcefully advocated an extension of the war into China. This led to conflict with President Truman, who relieved MacArthur from command (11 Apr 1951). This caused great controversy; MacArthur returned home to the hero's welcome he had not yet enjoyed; and concluded his address to Congress with his citation of an old military song, ‘Old soldiers never die, they just fade away’. Talk of his running for president came to nothing, and after

In 1941, President Roosevelt recruited him to return to his duty in the US army and he was appointed as the Commander of US Army Forces in the Far East to defend Philippine against the Japanese attacks. He was unable to protect Philippines and he was directed to escape to Australia, where he became the supreme commander of Southwest Pacific theatre. Unhappy with his defeat in the Philippines, he began to plan his counterattacks towards Japan and slowly took over all of New Guinea, the Admiralties, western New Britain, and Morotai. Japanese surrendered in 1945 and he was sent to Japan to occupy it until 1951. The Korean War broke out in 1950 and he was appointed as the supreme commander of the Allied Powers. However, in 1951, President Truman and General Macarthur had conflicting policies for Korea and the President relieved him from his duties. In April 1951, he gave his farewell speech to the Congress (Gale Research).

During WW2 Truman, the United States President at the time, was asked to make one the toughest decision in History. Choosing between dropping an atomic bomb or invading are both choices that will result in a lot of deaths. The huge diffrence between the two was who died wether it be the Japanese with the bomb, or the American soldiers with the invasion. Trumans decision was supposed to end the war sooner, hence reducing the amount of agony,deaths, stress or any other negative effects that could result in the continous war. Truman's decision on dropping the Atomic Bomb's was an efficient course of action for the Americans, but was deffinantly not the most educated decision. If I had been placed in Truman's shoes and had to make this

Truman’s time as president came at a point full of conflict and social changes that affected the world. Only a month after being sworn into office the Germans surrendered, putting a halt

Surprising the American Lt. General Matthew Ridgeway the Chinese army pushed them back the 38th parallel. President Truman wanted to end the way quickly so he told MacArthur (their strategist) to be more aggressive and to think of a way to counter the Chinese army. MacArthur told him that they needed to be defensive, but Truman getting the support of Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) he fired MacArthur. America hated Truman for doing this since MacArthur was seen as a war hero and would’ve been impeached if he was without support of JCS. Lt. General Matthew Ridgway took MacArthur’s place, also going on a sort of defensive and guerilla warfare type style. Keeping communists at bay with strong defenses and good fortifications while every so often sending

Efforts to unify Korea resulted in more than 100,000 deaths due to guerilla warfare. In April 1950, North Korean leader Kim II Sung persuaded Joseph Stalin to back an invasion of South Korea, convincing Stalin that the United States would not intervene. Stalin agreed to provide arms, equipment, and advisors to the North Koreans (“Korean War”). Kim II Sung did not stop there as he also persuaded the newly communist Chinese to aid the North Koreans. The Korean War, (June 25,1950 – July 27, 1953), occurred when over 75,000 North Korean Army invaded the land across of the 38th parallel. American president Harry Truman was feeling heat after “letting China fall”, so Truman ordered American troops into action on South July, the United Sates entered the conflict on South Korea’s behalf. The next three years would be the darkest and most horrific in Korean history. As seen in American reporter Bill Shinn’s account, “the North Koreans were gruesome…during the occupation of South Korea, they killed over 165,000 civilians. Also, I witnessed a South Korean mass execution of civilians suspected of having helped the communists. Korea was a mess” (“The Forgotten War Remembered: Korea, 1950-1953). This shows the depths of the horror that was perpetrated in Korea for three years.

MacArthur was the Chief of Staff of the United States Army amid the 1930s and assumed an unmistakable part in the Pacific Campaign within World War II. After the Philippine fiasco, MacArthur started the long crusade to crush Japanese military force in the pacific. Hampered in the early months by deficiencies of

The United States geared up for a war against communism. Not more than a day after Seoul fell, the US had officially entered the war and had ground troops committed, an action backed by the U.N. At the beginning of the war the U.S. soldiers had little combat experience and they were in a foreign land. This was the reason for the mass casualties sustained by the U.S. “US Army casualties from June 25 through July 31, 1950 totaled 6,003: 1,884 Killed In Action, 2,695 Wounded In Action, 523 Missing In Action and 901 reported captured. Of these more than half were from the 24th Infantry Division- 3,610.”( Evanhoe, Ed. "The Korean War." The Korean War. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2012. <http://www.korean-war.com>.)

War broke out in the Communist state of Korea, splitting the country into North Korea and South Korea. Near the end of the war, General Douglas MacArthur, head of U.S. and U.N. forces, disputed President Truman and other leaders of America and their plan of “containment”, resulting in General MacArthur’s being relieved of his position and replaced with General Matthew B. Ridgeway. Consequently, the results of “containment” being fulfilled were the many casualties, $67 billion output during the war, and the numerous soldiers made prisoner of the enemy or abandoned in Communist incarceration camps. All of these insurrections were the result of the weakness of America in fighting

On 25 June 1950, North Korea forces launched a surprise invasion on South Korea under the command of Kim Il-sung and the North Korean People’s Army. During this time, the North Korean People’s Army forced through the 38th parallel and pushed through the unprepared Republic of Korea forces to the Southeast Pusan peninsula. The approximately 125 mile defensive perimeter was where United Nation forces withdrew to by August, 1950 and held that Southeast position of the peninsula. While UN forces were outnumbered, commanders were in search for a new course of action that would help skew the war in favor of them. It was then General of the Army Douglas MacArthur first envisioned his plan for what would become the Battle of Inchon.