The American Spectator : MacArthur Defeats Truman: The Real McChrystal Message

The American Spectator : MacArthur Defeats Truman: The Real McChrystal Message

Harry Truman was no dove.

But Douglas MacArthur made him look like one.

And the political consequences for Democrats of Truman's legendary dismissal of the iconic hero of World War II -- at the height of the Korean War -- were both dramatic and long-lasting. In fact, those consequences are part of the political baggage of the American left -- and the Obama administration -- to this day. It is a history that stirs yet again with the decision of President Obama to fire General Stanley McChrystal in the wake of the now infamous Rolling Stone interview with the General and his aides.

First, the history.

World War II was over, and the world celebrated. Within a month of Truman's decision to drop two atomic bombs -- the brand new weapon of the day -- on Japan, the Japanese had finally yielded. General Douglas MacArthur, the hero of the Pacific Theater, had accepted the Japanese surrender onboard the battleship USS Missouri.