The Years of Macarthur 1941-1945 [Hardcover]

Dorris Clayton James (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 960 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (T) (May 1975)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395204461
• ISBN-13: 978-0395204467
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #829,985 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing depiction of both the man and his mission in WWII, December 14, 2010

By 

Luke Killion - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Years of Macarthur 1941-1945 (Hardcover)

General Douglas MacArthur was perhaps one of the most controversial and studied military figures of the WWII era. Along with Patton and Eisenhower, MacArthur became emblematic for the U.S. war effort in his theater of operations. "The Years of MacArthur, Vol. 2" by D. Clayton James is an excellent biographical work that covers both the military details of the General's most important campaigns and his personal dealings both with civilian and military leadership.

MacArthur was viewed by many to be a threatening figure--both in the world of politics back home and in the Navy-controlled Pacific where he commanded the South West Pacific Area (SWPA). Though he was a highly charismatic figure with a definite right-wing cult of personality, he was given to ego-centrism and some would even say messianic delusions. He was constantly scornful of the civilian authority which oversaw all of his activities. Roosevelt in particular thought the General could be someone with dangerous despotic tendencies toward military absolutism. While he provoked the ire of some, others adored the man and his father who had won the Medal of Honor in the Civil War in Tennessee. MacArthur was a man of tradition and even romanticism; at once highly theatrical and extremely articulate he could captivate a crowd or turn them off with his grandiose persona.

It was just this tension which many believed had MacArthur assigned to head the U.S.-Filipino armed forces out of Manila in the 1930s. His father had been a key administrator there after the islands were under U.S. control in 1898. Here began MacArthur's great journey throughout the Pacific and his deep seated sentimental attachment and obligation to the people of the Philippines. Many believed MacArthur's love of the islands was quite sincere, extending beyond mere colonial territoriality, which was quite progressive for Right wing Republicanism of the day. He had a genuine fondness for the people and the land, which made his defeat there in 1942 an extremely painful and humiliating one which haunted him for the years to come.

This is where James' biography picks up; he gives a brief description of Bataan then of MacArthur's life in Australia after he was shuttled there in March 1942. MacArthur begins to juggle the tasks of civilian administrator within the Australian populace and theater commander in the South West Pacific. Here begins one of the constant themes outlined by James in the first half of the book--the bitter struggle for supremacy that occurred between MacArthur's camp and the Navy. His main competitor for men and material was Admiral Chester Nimitz. The two were constantly griping to the Joint Chiefs about which route of advance would be taken against the Japanese. As witnessed in the early days of the war, both theaters would operate in unison despite attempts by each to gain overall supremacy of the Pacific.

The first joint-theater offensive begins with the naval victories in MacArthur's theater at Coral Sea and Nimitz's victory at Midway. This allowed the undersupplied Allies to take the offensive in New Guinea and Guadalcanal. The two prong offensive would take nearly six months to complete its final objectives but the momentum had shifted In the Pacific with the victories at Buna and Guadalcanal. MacArthur continued his drive with U.S. and Australian troops through the Huon Peninsula while Halsey (the one Naval commander who liked MacArthur) pushed steadily up the Solomon's chain, with the eventual goal a pincer movement on the stronghold of Rabaul. With Rabaul isolated instead of attacked, the Joint chiefs once again made peace between the theater commanders and granted them each an axis of advance; MacArthur was to advance along the coast of New Guinea to the Philippines while Nimitiz was to drive through the central Pacific to the Marianna's.

MacArthur's New Guinea campaign in 1944 was defined by a leapfrogging tactic, which emphasized bypassing strong Japanese garrison's, surrounding them and slowly cutting off their supply line. This was incredibly successful in 1944 as Wewak was bypassed in favor of landings in Dutch New Guinea, saving many lives in MacArthur's Army. MacArthur was immensely proud of his strategy which kept his casualty figures extremely low in comparison with the operations of the Marines in the Central Pacific. Though his operations in the first two years of the war saw relatively light casualties, this was not to last forever as the invasion of the Philippine occurred in October of 1944 at Leyte Gulf. This was a crowning moment of redemption for MacArthur who fulfilled his promise to liberate the archipelago, but one that was hotly debated among the war planners. Many Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) felt that the islands could be bypassed in favor of a landing in China and Formosa. Roosevelt eventually decided against this as the war in China was not going well in 1944; he also felt that in an election year giving MacArthur his moment of glory would be an excellent political move. The liberation of the Philippines had a strong socio-political aspect as the SWP forces enjoyed the act of freeing a people that the soldiers in Europe knew all to well.

James' writing of the Leyte and Luzon campaigns is superbly detailed, both in a strategic and political sense. His descriptions of divisional movements of the 6th Army on Luzon shed light on a campaign that was often overshadowed by Iwo Jima and Okinawa which overlapped with the operation in early 1945. The reader gets an excellent sense of the immense value MacArthur put upon the lives of his men, as the campaign is not rushed as many Marine operations were, thus allowing enemy positions to be eliminated in a slower and more methodical sense. There were a quarter of a million Japanese troops on Luzon and US losses were only 8,000 for a six month period. When compared to Iwo Jima where 7,000 Marines were killed by an enemy garrison of 22,000, the Army found a way to minimize it losses, albeit at the expense of time.

With the Victor operations in the central and southern Philippines from March until June, MacArthur effectively liberated 17,000,000 Filipinos, restoring freedom and democracy to his "second home." With the Australian invasion of Borneo in May through July, the SWPA saw its last amphibious operation before the bomb was dropped on Japan. The volume ends with MacArthur's speech aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo harbor during the surrender ceremony, as the "Big Chief" shows both his mastery of language and melodramatic mannerisms. I though this book was an excellent work, covering both the man and his mission. James has written two more volumes of equal length, totaling 3000 pages in all.