The Film & More
Enhanced Transcript
David McCullough, Series Host: Hello. I'm David McCullough. Welcome
to the American Experience.
We present now the second and concluding part of "MacArthur." On Thursday,
April 19, 1951, in the midst of the Korean War, a 71-year-old, five star
American general, drawing to the conclusion of a powerful address to Congress,
quoted lines from an old barracks ballad: " 'Old soldiers never die, they just
fade away.' And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military
career and just fade away -- an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God
gave him the light to see that duty." And then he said, "Good-bye."
It was a moment like no other, the famous curtain line for one of the longest
most dramatic military careers in our history. Fired for insubordination by
President Harry Truman, General Douglas MacArthur had flown home from Japan to
a triumphant hero's welcome. Some likened it to the return of Caesar.
As we saw in Part One, MacArthur was not a man to evoke indifference. He was
idolized and ardently disliked. He was thought an awful ham- and the most
admirable American of the age. Interestingly, he knew little of American
life. When he flew home that spring of 1951, to address Congress, he hadn't
set foot in the United States for fourteen years.
In half a century in the service of his country, MacArthur had seen more of war
than any American. And watching this film, one is reminded again of how many
wars there were and the horror and terrible cost of them.
To anyone interested in the complexities of human nature, MacArthur is an
infinitely fascinating figure, and a vivid example of how often events turn on
the personality of a leader.
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